chandra108's Globetrooper News Feed

ali_bc Yep, I'm Aussie so I understand distances! To me a five hour drive is a short one! And I've just traveled East to West of Canada by Greyhound too... now that's distance. But I take onboard what you're saying. The plan is fairly broad at the moment and subject to change at any point, especially once we're on the road. We'll review our destinations in more detail once we've go a more firm plan in place. Thanks for the advice!

twoeightnine True, very true. My Aussie pax we're the only ones who understood. I was talking with a friend the other day I figured out how messed up my ideas of driving are now.
Under an hour = might as well bike
1-2 hours = running an errand
2-4 hours = quick trip
4-5 hours = short drive
5-7 hours = average day
7-9 hours = long drive
9+ = I guess I should get a good night's sleep the night before. (Never happens.)

Let me know if you have any specific questions when you get your route figured out, I know most of the areas way too well. I'd actually join you if I had the money. I'm always stuck going to the same places in the parks and never have a chance to see what I want to see.

chandra108 Are there any places you'd recommend as must sees that arn't on the list? Also, as you've done similar trips..what kind of budget would you say approx for this kind of 3 week road trip? Any help would be great. Thanks!

twoeightnine I guess it depends on what exactly you want to see? Mountains? Canyons? Lakes? Towns? Cities? It's kind of hard to say exactly how much to budget since I lead groups of 10-13 through there. First thing I'd purchase though is a National Parks pass. http://www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm It'll save you money in the long run.

Some things I'd definitely check out:
Seligman, AZ and Route 66.
Zion National Park is just over an hour from Bryce and is a must.
Canyonlands NP and Dead Horse State Park are also in Moab with Arches.
If you can spend the money do a helicopter tour at the Grand Canyon. (Go with Maverick.)
I've got a bunch of pictures up that you can go through. http://www.flickr.com/photos/twoeightnine/

ali_bc Sweet - Chandra did you get all that! We have lots of planning to do! Actually 289 - a question - accommodation on that route like motels and such, cheap ones, if we decide to just hire a car and drive, will there be cheap motels along the way, any ideas about cost per night there?

twoeightnine Hmm, almost all of the trips that I've done have been camping so it's tough to say. I know that in a few areas you can stay at a KOA campground in a cabin for around $75 a night.

Vegas I could probably get you a room for around $25 in a variety of places depending on the night.

Bryce is going to be really expensive in that there's only one hotel there, so $130-200.

Zion is rather isolated too, you're looking at $120+.

Death Valley, as long as you have sleeping bags you could sleep outside in one of the campgrounds no problem this time of year.

Moab should be relatively doable for cheap, it's getting to be the offseason and there are a ton of hotels there.

Anytime you're near a bigger city you should be able to find a relatively inexpensive hotel, say $49 or so.