San Diego to San Francisco via ???

GSPeP

We (4 friends) are planning a trip to the US end September till early October 2016.

We'll be attending :
- Sept 24th, 2016 - MCAS Miramar Airshow near San Diego
- Oct 8th, 2016 - Fleet Week in San Francisco

We did the same in 2011, but then there was only 1 week between the airshow and Fleet Week. Now there are 2 weeks to fill.
In 2011 we drove along the coast (Pacific Coast Highway). Pictures: http://gspep.smugmug.com/Travel/USA-2011
In 2009 we visited the Grand Canyon & Las Vegas and returned to San Diego. Pictures: http://gspep.smugmug.com/Travel/USA-2009

This time we would like to visit some more National Parks, and also wanted to include Las Vegas once again.
Our trip will probably will take us from California to Arizona, Utah (maybe), Nevada, back to California.

Can anyone recommend some places to visit (and maybe some places to avoid)

Thanks in advance.

denisegoldberg

GSPeP wrote: »

This time we would like to visit some more National Parks, and also wanted to include Las Vegas once again.
Our trip will probably will take us from California to Arizona, Utah (maybe), Nevada, back to California.

Can anyone recommend some places to visit (and maybe some places to avoid)

Las Vegas is a good jumping off point for a number of parks.

Red Rock Canyon is wonderful. It is just to the west of Las Vegas, off of one of the loop roads around the city - http://www.redrockcanyonlv.org/.

Valley of Fire State Park is well worth a visit - http://parks.nv.gov/parks/valley-of-fire-state-park/.

If you haven't been to Death Valley National Park or Zion National Park I'd add those to your list as well.

I also found the new bridge over the Hoover Dam to be interesting.

--- Denise

Sand

I ;ike Denise's suggestions and would also suggest considering the following:
Brice Canyon - near Zion known for its hoodoos, a geological formation
the bristlecone pines at Schulman Grove, California - near Bishop California, the oldest living things on the planet. Weather permitting, high altitude, could be closed due to snow
Mono Lake - known for its tufa formations and mountain backgrounds
Bodie - a ghost town now run as a national park, (no overnight stays)
Yosemite - Tuolumne meadows, Half dome, water falls (assuming the drought ends), Sequoias - the pass should not be closed by snow yet
Don

GSPeP

Thanks already for the tips. Our "planner" can start working

In 2011 we noticed that snow can already be there. In Yosemite most roads were already closed. On the pass towards the sequoias we had snow. (On Oct 1st, 2011 we had 90°F at the Miramar Airshow, on Oct 5th, 2011 we had 35°F and snow in Yosemite)

Picture taken October 5th, 2011

sarasphotos

Hi Peter,

I took a look at your photos from the past trips to California to see if I could add anything. Looks like you've gotten around quite a bit! I see you've visited Napa, but if you're in the mood for wine tasting once again I would strongly suggest the Sonoma/Russian RIver area. Late September/early October is a lovely time to visit. I have been making "wine country safaris" since the early 80s and have always found the Sonoma/Russian River to be more charming and slightly less "new-touristy, big winery" as Napa. And I find the countryside prettier.

And I couldn't help browsing through the Castle Air Museum shots - my father was a volunteer there (and indeed president of the board for a couple of years) in the 80s and early 90s. As a matter of fact, I see you photographed "his" plane the B-47 - that's his name in the second triangle. He was instrumental in digging this plane out of the desert at China Lake NAS and restoring it so that it could be flown back to Castle. It was the last of its type to ever fly. This is all pretty fresh in my mind because I was recently in California and helped my sister sort through the many thousands of family photos, hundreds of which were from the restoration of the B-47 and a couple of the other Castle planes.

http://www.steendorp.com/Travel/USA-2011/USA-2011-Day-6/i-SjMjhfJ/A

Have a great trip to my home state!

Cheers, Sara

GSPeP

Hi Sara,

Thanks for the info. Interesting to know this about your father. (I didn't know you are originally from the US)

Unfortunately, the trip got postponed till next year. The guy organizing the trip has some additional expenses this year. (Two kids who do their Communion this year and unexpected renovation works to be done at his house) He also cannot get more than 2 weeks vacation at a time. The two weeks between Miramar Airshow and San Francisco Fleet week was too much.

Instead we will do a three day trip to the UK in July this year. Two days at the Fairford Airshow and one day at the Duxford airshow. (We will get an overdose of airplanes )

Probably the mess at Brussels airport will have settled by then.

sarasphotos

Hi Peter,

Sorry to hear about the postponement but certainly understandable. Yes, I'm a third-generation native Californian who has ended up in Germany. Love it here in Europe, wouldn't move back!

Cheers, Sara