United States – West Coast road trip in 20 days – Part 4

I’ve just realized (very lately) that I’ve completely mixed up the East coast and West coast of USA. Sorry!!! I’m quite hopeless with direction. There are many times when my partner asks me “turn left or right”; I would say “left” with my finger pointing to the right… Anyway, now I’ve fixed this, we’ll continue with the rest of this 20 day road trip along the West Coast…

Day 8+9+10:  Las Vegas to Grand Canyon

Day 8 was spent resting after a long trip the previous day coming out of Death Valley. We just walked around the area near our hotel in Las Vegas, doing nothing much. There are much to talk about my first impressions about Las Vegas but it’s better to leave it to the next part.

We started to get to Grand Canyon on day 9. The boring drive would take about 5 hours. There’s an option for you to visit Grand Canyon from Las Vegas by helicopter within a day. It would be interesting but it’s pricey for us so we decided to drive there and spend a night.

the road from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon is so very popular. It’s packed with tourists at every corner. Come to visitor center first to get your map. Follow this map to drive along the Canyon and stop at different points to view the Canyon from different angles.

the usual red Grand Canyon

the unusual Grand Canyon with sprinkle of snow covering on top

Personally, I don’t get or feel Grand Canyon. I was excited for 15 minutes, hurriedly snapping pictures of million-year-old rocks. It was a cool feeling standing in front of the vast scene which seemed so still and quiet (well, they are just rocks). However, after the initial 15 minutes, I just got enough of red rocks and the Canyon just looked the same whenever I looked.

It would be more interesting if we had had enough time to trek down to the bottom of the Canyon, where river Colorado flows, spend a night at the camp and trek back up the next day. There’s also an option to let mules carry you to the bottom if trekking is not your thing. But honestly, the idea of riding on an animal that is skinner than me is not very appealing…

Next up – back to Viva Las Vegas!!!

… to be continue…

United States – West coast road trip in 20 days – part 2

Day 2+3: San Francisco to South Lake Tahoe

From San Francisco, you could make a stop at Napa Valley to visit winery and sit on hot air balloon to enjoy the beautiful scenery from up and above. If you don’t know how to appreciate good wine like us, head straight to South Lake Tahoe.

Lake Tahoe is a very popular holiday destination for people in California and surrounding areas.  There are ample of accommodation choices even during peak seasons. The scenery is very peaceful with clear water lake Tahoe and there’s also a ski resort on top of the mountain. It’s a perfect holiday location for the whole family.

Beautiful Lake Tahoe

Crystal clear water – lake Tahoe

Unfortunately, El Nino hit Lake Tahoe last year so there was not enough snow for us to ski. Nevertheless,  we stayed at Lake Tahoe for two days, just chilled and relaxed, and went to village for late night movies on both days. Perfect vacation lazy style! Another favorite activity to try here is to submerge yourselves in an outdoor hot pool under freezing cold weather. Unfortunately, our age didn’t allow us to try that.

Ice skating at the activity village, in front of the cinema

Awww, a celebrity dog, so cute!!!

Day 4+5: Lake Tahoe to Yosemite National Park

“Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its spectacular granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, Giant Sequoia groves, and biological diversity. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness.” – Wikipedia

Take note that there’s an entrance fee of $20 per car. Talking about entrance fee, it’s worthy to purchase a 1 year membership national park entrance pass that costs about $80 which gives you access to all the state national parks in US. Since we visited a few national parks during these 20 days, the pass saved us some money.

Beautiful scene along the drive to Yosemite

With Yosemite village is so deep in the wood, you would expect minimal convenience and comfort here but it is surprisingly well accommodating. There’s even a supermarket selling fresh meat, fruits, water, souvenirs… There are many convenience stores lying around. Accommodations are plenty with different styles catered to different preferences. There’s even unlimited FREE WIFI at Curry Village common lounge.

We planned our itinerary so that we could spend Christmas’ Eve in Yosemite, sleeping in tent, next to bears and racoons. It’s pretty awesome!

Bring glow sticks to have some fun in the dark – Merry Christmas everyone!

Curry Village tent – the tent has a big heater but it’s not well insulated so we slept with our jackets on

This is our sleeping tent with a big metal box to securely protect our food. It’s a MUST to put food here instead of putting them in the tent to prevent bears from attacking us during our sleep. We actually met two racoons roaming around our tent. Also, remember to clear all food from your cars if you don’t want to wake up to broken window cars.

Ice skating in a beautiful setting – Curry Village

Yosemite has more things to see and more activities to enjoy during summer. During winter, the waterfalls are not as manificient (almost no water) and most of climbing tracks are not open. If you stay at House Keeping camp, you could have your own BBQ right in front of your tent. Be ware of friendly bear visit at night though.

Yosemite is famous for granite walls… during good weather, you can climb on them

… giant sequoia…

… and crystal clear streams…

…

To be continued…

United States – West coast road trip in 20 days

Today, I am going to start on the series about road trips along East Coast of US. Self-driving on the roads from days to days is probably the best way to see this part of the country. We’ve been able to see many breath-taking sceneries, drive on some of the most beautiful roads in the world and experience activities that leave deep impressions in us for the rest of our lives.

The road trip started and also ended in San Francisco – the City of Love. Here is the overview of our loop trip.

Day 1: San Francisco

What’s there to do in San Francisco? Have you ever been to a tourist place that you don’t feel the need to waste money on touristy activities but at the same time feel the inevitable regret if you don’t do those things? Well, San Francisco might be one of those places. If you are a fan of big cities, you’ll love San Francisco. If you are more into nature and free activities like us, fortunately, there are still some for you to explore. One thing to take note is parking is super expensive. We paid $20 for 2 hrs parking near to Pier 39. It’s better if there’s public transport connecting from your hotel to the harbor area.

First and foremost, visit the harbor area and the famous pier 39 to enjoy the weather, a cup of coffee, a snack or simply just people watch.

Pier 39 – San Francisco

Art gallery on Pier 39

Next, take the Alcatraz tour from the harbor. Remember to book in advance at least 1 day. So, what is Alcatraz and what is there for you in this tour? Alcatraz – the Rock- is the famous “prison” which used to “house” some of the most notorious criminals including the God Father Al Capone. It is rumored that no-one was known to escape Alcatraz alive. The prison is of course no longer in use and now converted to a tourist destination. Alcatraz Island offers a view of San Francisco city from the other bank. If you are not into history or museum kinda stuff, you can skip this tour and opt for a Golden Gate boat tour which will bring you up closed to the famous bridge for some photo opportunities.

Alcatraz island viewed from Pier 39

San Francisco city viewed from Alcatraz Island – guess this was what the prisoners saw of the freedom world across the bank

And then of course drive to see the iconic Golden Gate. This is probably the most photographed bridge in the world and it is not even golden. There’s even a detailed guide in Lonely Planet to tell you the best 10 places to view this… bridge. Here

Golden Gate bridge from a seldom-seen angle

Next, locate Lombard street on your GPS to experience driving through the most interesting crooked lane in the world! On your way there, enjoy driving on some of the stiffest roads which are also San Francisco’s signatures. Remember to shift to 1st gear hehehe.

Lombard street decided to look its worst for our visit. Usually, there are beautiful flowers grown along the lane. I always feel pity towards people who live here. They have to put up with crowded tourists everyday. Some houses put up signs like “No loitering”

Finally, wrap up a day with delicious seafood dinner at Thang Long restaurant by orderring their signature dish “garlic butter crab with fried noodle”. The dish is so tasty, buttery, creamy and fragrant with fried garlic. I’ve never tasted fried crab done so good! Okie, I’m starting to drool thinking of it now.

Heavenly garlic crab at Thang Long restaurant at 4101 Judah st, SF, CA 94122. When I was there, the lady sitting at the next table ordered the same thing. After finishing about half of the crab, she complained to the waiter that the crab is cold. The waiter quickly apologized, took away the half eaten crab and came back with a newly cooked one (not sure if spit included)

To be continued…

United States – East coast – 20 days – Part 1

This itinerary uses Atlanta as starting and ending point. If you are coming from Asia, there’s a direct flight from Korea to Atlanta by Korean Air. Flying to Atlanta is not as popular as flying to New York but it has many advantages:

–       It is cheaper than flying to New York

–       Atlanta’s airport is the busiest airport in the world so there are many flights coming and departing from this airport, which gives you many options and freedom to plan your itinerary

–       Atlanta is in the middle of New York and Florida which can serve as a nice base and transition point to explore different states along West Coast

–       Atlanta has many touristy things to do

Tips on car rental: remember to bring your International driving permit (especially Asian countries). This permit is in additional to your driving license. In Singapore, you can get this at AA. I was told by a Hertz agent that she has turnt away a few customers because they didn’t carry the International Driving Permit with them.

The recommended time to make this trip is during the festive season (obviously), because:

–       Seeing the decorations everywhere and feeling Christmas in the air is the best thing in the world

–       You’ve got to be at Time Square for the biggest New Year’s Eve party in the world

1.    Part 1: Exploring states in the South of Atlanta by car 

South of Atlanta route map

a. Atlanta

Atlanta Aquarium – The biggest in the world of its kind. You could also book a night in the aquarium to sleep next to giant fish under florescence blue light. How cool is that!

World of Coca Cola museum in its birthplace for every Coke’s fan. You would get to sample hundreds of soft drinks’ flavors from all around the world

Stone Mountain is a great destination to celebrate Christmas together with your loved ones. Bring marshmallow and hot chocolate drink and cozy up around warm fire logs. There are also firework display and snow making.

b. Atlanta to Savannah (250 miles/ 400 km)– Savannah is charming with its historic architecture. Personally, I find it’s rather boring but it’s worth a rest stop. 

c. Savannah to St Augustine (180 miles/ 290 km) – St Augustine has the oldest village in Florida which  is worth visiting or stopping for a cup of coffee in the village garden.

St Augustine garden with little houses in Spanish architecture

Sea view from the fort that is next to the Spanish village – St Augustine

Or have a ghost walk if you feel like it

 d. St Augustine to Orlando (100 miles/ 167 km)

Orlando is the city of all theme parks for all ages: Disney World, Sea World, Universal Studio, Legoland… If you have visited the Universal Studio in Los Angeles, you can skip the one here because simply it is not as good as the real studio in LA.

Tip: It’s better to hunt for cheap entrance tickets on Craiglist or eBay.

It’s a wonderful thing to visit theme parks during festive season. Look at all those decorations! Can’t help to feel exceedingly happy – Universal Studio – Florida

 e. Orlando to Miami (235 miles/ 380 km)– nude beach and party capital 

f. Miami – Key West (160 miles/ 257 km)– Cuban style town, furthest point of USA

Key West is an island which is connected to Miami via a 200-km-long-man-made Overseas Highway. Driving on such route is such an awesome feeling.

 

Key West is also the southern most point of USA, only 90 miles away from Cuba. It’s “important” to have your photo taken here. In fact, tourists line up to do so.

g. Key West – Orlando – Destin passing through Alabama state

You will be clocking your miles most of the time on this stretch. It’s interesting to pass by Alabama state. You would know it when you are in it without being prompted by any GPS system.

h. Destin – Atlanta

Amazing white sand beach and crystal clear water – Destin, Florida

 

To be continued here with part 2 – New York and others