I’ve had a lot of people ask for our itinerary for our trip west, and I knew I would do a blog post about it so I just decided to wait and do it all at once. I’ll give the itinerary and also any changes/suggestions I would have made. I’ll also link all of the activities and companies and Airbnb’s that we used. I’ll talk money a little bit.
Disclaimer:
I do want to note that a trip like this is not for everyone. There are two important considerations if you are interested in our trip.
I am a fan of what I call a “survey trip”. If I told some people that we hit 7 national parks and 2 state parks in 9 days in four states, they would be almost offended. Yosemite in a day?!?!?! That’s a disgrace, they might say. However, I love to “sample” places on trips so that then I know where I would like to return to and spend more time.
We don’t do downtime when we travel. We don’t nap, we don’t sit in a hotel room, we don’t sleep in, we don’t go to bed early (although on this trip we stayed with Cleveland time, so we did sleep later than we would have), we don’t lounge at restaurants, we don’t sit around. We go and we see and we do. A Davis trip (or a school trip run by Athena Davis, haha!) requires travel stamina. I’m the person who, if I have a long layover, will plan an activity in the city of the layover so as to see more. If this isn’t your way to travel, I do not AT ALL recommend this itinerary. It was constant going and doing and seeing and it was tiring even for people like us who are used to this sort of travel.
I’ll do the quick and dirty itinerary below, then go into more detail by day for those who want to read that.
Basic Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive in Vegas, sightsee there, overnight at Residence Inn Marriott Airport
Day 2: Drive to Grand Canyon North Rim, short walk and pics, drive to Page, Arizona, Horseshoe Bend, overnight at Shash Dine Eco Retreat
Day 3: Drive to Kanab, Utah, ATV/UTV excursion at Pink Coral Sand Dunes State Park, drive to Zion National Park, hikes and the Narrows, overnight at Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort
Day 4: Drive to Bryce Canyon City, E-bikes around town and park, drive to Bryce Canyon National Park, tour/hike/sunset, overnight at Airbnb in Panguitch, Utah
Day 5: Drive to Great Basin National Park, hike, drive to Bishop, CA, overnight at Eastside Guesthouse
Day 6: Yosemite National Park, hike and sightsee and tour, overnight at Eastside Guesthouse
Day 7: Drive to Manzanar, auto tour and pictures, drive to Alabama Hills and Mobius Arch, hike and pics, drive to Death Valley and drive through, stopping at Father Crawley’s Point/Mesquite Sand Dunes/Badwater Basin, drive to Joshua Tree, CA, go in park after dinner for sky-watching, overnight at Airbnb in Joshua Tree
Day 8: Joshua Tree National Park, hike and pics, drive to San Diego, sightsee and pics, kayak excursion at sunset, overnight at Airbnb in San Diego
Day 9: Flight home from San Diego
National Parks Information:
America the Beautiful National Parks Pass ($80) is ESSENTIAL. It saved us hundreds of dollars. Plus, it’s good for a year so if we are able to do an RV trip this summer with my mom and dad, it will pay for itself about 5 times.
Stay up to date using the NPS websites! This is especially important in the time of Covid (many visitor centers are closed still and some areas of parks are closed.) This is how I knew that we needed shuttle tickets at Zion and reservations to get into Yosemite. Several people in front of us at Yosemite were turned around because they didn’t know they had to have reservations. It’s also how I knew when parks were closed due to wildfires and that I needed to adjust our itinerary the week before we went.
Travel Details and Notes:
By flying into one airport and out of another, we were able to maximize our time. And surprisingly, it actually didn’t increase the flight prices. It DID increase the rental car price, but it was worth it to have more time.
We bought waters at a Walmart in Vegas, again in Springdale at a DG, and again in a little market outside Death Valley. We kept them in the cooler and left it in the car at night to stay chilled. Where there were refrigerators, we put them in at night. We all had our hydroflasks, which we kept filled from the water bottles.
In packing, we had to consider six people and 3 seasons, as we knew it may get cold in the northern areas and at night. We also had to pack in such a way that everything would fit into the van. Plus we wanted to take snacks and a cooler. We went with 3 hard shell suitcases and 3 duffles, with each person having their own packing cubes in the suitcases. We swear by packing cubes in this house!!! We put the soft sided cooler in one of the duffles and packed our food in the suitcases. This ended up being GENIUS, because dragging in 6 bags at every overnight stop was senseless. In the Vegas hotel that night, I had everyone get out clothes for the next two days. We put those clothes in one of the duffles and that’s what we carried in on Sunday and Monday nights. On Tuesday night, we rearranged again, packing a duffle for Wed and Thursday nights, and putting dirty clothes in one duffle.. Thursday night we rearranged again, and then Saturday night we took everything in to begin the puzzle of making weight in each bag.
I had read that driving in the dark is not advisable out west due to wildlife on the road (ironically, I hit a deer at 2:00 in the afternoon in a national park, so there’s that). Therefore, I planned everything in order to try to be where we were landing by dark every night. We did leave in the dark a few times, since we stayed on Cleveland time in our planning.
Staying on Cleveland time had a lot of benefit for us. My original thought was that it would decrease jetlag, which it did. It also worked well in regard to the stopping before dark in our driving. It also worked well mentally for teens, because when I said we were leaving at 8 or 9 AM, they didn’t feel like it was as early (whereas local time was 5 or 6 AM). :)
Preparation:
I am pretty certain I spent more time planning and researching this trip than I did my bachelor’s honors thesis. Haha! The internet is an incredible thing, and I suggest using it as much as you can to gather from the experience of others. It was especially helpful to find blog posts from people with teens, people who were somewhat out of shape, and people who were “strangers in a foreign land”, so to speak. I also joined several fb groups (two for national parks in general and one for Zion specifically. Those helped a whole lot.
In learning about things, I realized a few purchases we needed to make to be prepared. One was hiking sticks, which Kraig thought were pointless and very quickly realized that they were so helpful. I plan to take them with me every time I go on a hike from now on, whether it is in a national park out west or in my own backyard. They are awesome! We bought relatively cheap ones from amazon (3 sets of 2) and we each just used one. I also purchased neoprene socks for all of us after reading info on the Narrows. I didn’t want to spend $50 per person to rent a stick, socks, and boots when we didn’t even really know how long we would stay in the water. This was also a great decision on our part and our socks and old tennis shoes were perfect for our needs.
Walmart bags. These were our best friend and I am so glad I took so many. They were perfect for dusty shoes, for neoprene socks, for wet clothes, for trash, and on and on.
Time. Everything is going to take a little bit longer than you anticipated, so make sure to work in some wiggle room. I really did NOT, and we were very blessed that it never adversely affected our plans.
I knew that phone service would be an issue in a lot of places, so I had taken screenshots of the driving directions, and that was wise. I would screenshot anything you might need because you go looooooong periods of time with no service.
Money:
We did a lot of meals in the car as snacks. This served two purposes, saving us time and saving us money. It was also more practical since Covid means that a lot of places aren’t open anyway, close early, and are difficult to access for different reasons.
For us, Airbnb’s are the cheapest way to stay due to having to have two hotel rooms for a family of our size. In addition, that offers the chance to refrigerate, to prepare food if needed (we didn’t on this trip), and to wash clothes (we DID on this trip). The key to Airbnb’s is twofold: REVIEWS and FEES. I can almost recite the reviews for every Airbnb we have stayed in because I read them so often. {Only one time have I stayed somewhere with no reviews, and it was because it was brand new and I told him how nervous I was to go without any reviews. He said, “ Well, the fact that we are new should make you more comfortable because you know that we are desperate for good reviews, so it will be perfect for you.” That was a great point.} Get familiar with reading into what is NOT said, as many reviewers are too nice to point out negative things (although some will). Use the reviews for info about the area as well! Reviews are wonderful.
As for fees, don’t just go on the initial price it shows. Click “reserve” so that you can see the actual amount. Many of the places I looked at for this trip, likely due to Covid, had a cleaning fee that was equal the cost of the rental! Make sure the amount is what you are really willing to pay.
The major expenses on this trip were car rental and gas. We used airmiles for a ticket plus flights were actually really reasonable right now, either due to the time of year or Covid, I’m not sure. With flights, make sure to look at different times of day and on different days and also be flexible with where and when you are flying. We did do a LOT of driving, so the car part wasn’t cheap. Other than our $80 national parks pass and the $10 at Horseshoe Bend, every visit was free. Therefore, much like Washington, D.C., a national parks trip is a pretty cheap way to vacation! As mentioned above, we only bought one meal a day. We ate breakfast and lunch in the car from our giant snack bag and ate supper out. This resulted in relatively low dining costs. We chose to do 3 excursions on our trip, and one (the ATV/UTV trip) was pretty costly. (Let’s be honest, anything is costly with six people…) However, it also ended up being the one that most of us enjoyed the most, so I believe it was worth it. I suggest having a couple of activities on a trip of this length and this scope that are out of the ordinary. We did three and I wouldn’t change a thing.
Seasons make such a difference for costs. This same trip would have cost a lot more during a busier season, I am certain. October is off-season in most parts of the country, which makes fall break trips both cheaper AND much less crowded! In addition, I suspect that Covid meant some dropped rates on some things since places are desperate to lure back their tourism funds.
I have had several large families ask me for more information about this trip and the cost. I will say this, since funds are often limited for large families and travel (or maybe all families and travel! Or most!)… We are people who prefer the experience to the THING. We always will choose to spend our money on travel and trips rather than items. And I had been saving money for a while (my “fun money”) for an anniversary trip for me and Kraig, for an extension this past summer onto a European mission trip in which I would have stayed longer and gone on a train trip of Europe to see all of the sights I teach about, and for a summer RV trip with my mom and dad. None of those things happened due to Covid, so I put a chunk of my change into the collective pot for this, our last trip with Emma. In addition, we had already booked a fall break cruise and we had that money refunded.
That being said, this is a perfect trip for a large family because there aren’t any added “per person” type costs, other than airfare. The parks passes are per car, the rental car is basically the same (just have to pay for a van instead of a car), gas is the same, we can save on food, etc..
Quick Links to Excursions, Airbnb’s, Hotels, etc:
Shash Dine Eco Retreat, Page, Arizona (booked through Airbnb)
ATV/UTV excursions in Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park
Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort, Orderville, UT (booked through Airbnb)
Eastside Guesthouse, Bishop, CA
Detailed Itinerary with Links
Day 1: Flight into Las Vegas
Our Delta flight landed at 11:30 (I love gaining time by flying into a time zone that is behind us!) and we had our luggage and rental car and were out the door by 1. (The rental car company took quite literally forever but we were lucky they eventually had the car we had reserved. There were people waiting for Enterprise who had reserved a car and THEY DID NOT HAVE THEIR CAR AT ALL. They were “out of cars”. How does that happen when you reserved??? We used Thrifty Car Rental Company.)
Our hotel room was ready (we called to check) so we were able to drop off our luggage before we explored. We stayed at Residence Inn by Marriott at the Las Vegas airport. It was literally 8 minutes from the airport and was a really nice hotel. We were actually able to get a suite so that we didn’t have to have two rooms.
Emma had scouted out a place called 7 Magic Mountains that she wanted to see. It was about 15 min from the hotel, so we headed that way, making a quick drive-through stop for Burger King. It was a really fun (and popular on a Saturday) little stop. I highly recommend it.
When we left there, we headed to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area (about 45 min away). We did the scenic drive and took a few really short hike-walks while we were there. It was a stunning place and I am so glad we started our trip there.
We made a stop for Little Caesar’s pizza in the car, and by then it was dark enough to get the full impact of the Vegas Strip. We didn’t time our drive right for the Bellagio fountains, which was unfortunate, but it wasn’t worth driving down the street again. Kraig was planning to make an indoor visit to a casino, so we decided that it made the most sense for us to drop him off and then head back to the hotel and for him to get a cab back. That’s how we did it, and he came back $250 richer, so it was a win for all.
Day 2: Arizona (Grand Canyon, Horseshoe Bend)
We left at daybreak and turned toward Arizona for the North Rim of the Grand Canyon (drive of 4.5 hours, 274 miles).
I somehow took a wrong turn somewhere along the way and we ended up having to backtrack to Vegas, which cost us 2 hours of time we didn’t have to spare. {eyeroll} This driving morning was long and tiresome. The last section of the drive to the Grand Canyon North Rim was pretty awful. Nothing to see, ready to get out of the car, boring, etc.. We arrived at the parking lot for the North Rim Visitor Center and lodge (Visitor Center closed due to Covid, Lodge open but closes October 15, I believe) at 2:30 Cleveland time. We took in the views from the patio of the lodge (absolutely stunning— truly took my breath away at the scope of the Grand Canyon), then took a short walk out to Bright Angel Point. We had planned to do some other hikes here but the time I lost with my misdirection meant that we couldn’t. Honestly, the whole place made me a nervous wreck that someone was going to fall so I wasn’t sad about it. Just seeing it was enough for me. We ate our lunch from our snack bag, then passed a fried bread truck (WHAT?!?!?!) in some little town and stopped for the most delicious funnel cakes.
The next part of the drive (2 hrs, 112 miles) was likely my favorite of the whole trip. We drove beside the Vermillion Cliffs for what seemed like forever. We wound out of the mountains and down into the most beautiful Arizona valley with gorgeous scenery surrounding us. We stopped once at a little roadside area in Cliff Dweller (that’s the name of the city) to see… you guessed it, Cliff Dwellings. Unbelievable.
Our final destination that day was our first Airbnb, the Shash Dine Eco Retreat. This is a working sheep farm on the Navajo reservation. I was so very excited about this stop, but there were lots of particulars about it, once of which being that you cannot arrive later than 6 and they prefer you to come even earlier. My goal had been to get there around 3, check in, then go see Horseshoe Bend, grab some food, and be back with enough daylight to walk around and see a sunset. It didn’t work out quite that way, but pretty close. We got there a little later, checked in, then headed to Horseshoe Bend and dinner. The farm is in the town of Page, Arizona, and is about 12 minutes from Horseshoe Bend.
Horseshoe Bend was very, very cool, but not necessary to see unless you are already in the area. They now have a paid parking lot ($10 entry and NP pass doesn’t cover it) and a nice set up to walk to the Bend. It IS, however, and LONG WALK down (and an even longer walk back UP). We loved seeing it, but again, it could be skipped unless you’re there anyway. We drove about ten minutes into Page, found a Mexican restaurant with patio dining (most places in Arizona seemed to be open, but we are still trying to stay away from others so we always hoped for outdoor dining), then headed back to the farm.
Shash Dine is the most exceptional Airbnb, but definitely unusual. We chose canvas tent accommodations but several other traditional Navajo dwellings were options (another canvas tent, the mudhouse/anthill looking place, a wooden box home, and two wagons). The “shower” is open, with just wooden walls for privacy. The water is simply buckets of water heated by the sun and a dipper that you use to wash off. The toilets are true outhouses. We didn’t think towels were provided, but they were in our tents. Only two of us used the shower accommodations-- the boys. ;) The tents obviously have no electricity, no outlets, no heat, and no air. They do have a solar light inside and one outside. They provide wool blankets and extra sleeping bags for cold nights, and we used all of that. The girls LOVED playing with the Great Pyraneese and the cat. There were also sheep (obviously) and horses. This experience was my favorite lodging of the whole trip. My only regret is that we weren’t there at least one more night so that we could have used the fire pit, eaten the Navajo breakfast, and enjoyed walks on the farm.
If you are in this area post-covid, Antelope Canyon is here and is apparently the most amazing thing ever. We missed out on it, thanks to Covid.
Day 3: Utah (Pink Coral Sand Dunes, Zion National Park)
We left before sunrise to head to Pink Coral Sand Dunes State Park (1.5 hrs, 105 miles) for our ATV/UTV adventure. This drive, too, was a beautiful one! We drove past the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and through so many beautiful places. I think I’m a big fan of Arizona’s scenery.
This excursion was THE BOMB. We seriously loved every single second of it. We used Coral Pink ATV Tours and they could not have been any better. Emma and Roman were old enough to drive the ATV’s and Kelsey and Angela rode in the back of our UTV. It was a BLAST. We rode for SO LONG to a slot canyon, took a quick hike through it, then headed back to the big dunes. He took us on a such a fun ride through the dunes, then we stopped at the biggest one to try sand-sledding and sand-boarding. The kids adored every second of this activity. I think that, for most of us, this was our top activity on the trip.
We finished there around 11:30 and I had 1:00 (until 2:00) shuttle tickets booked at Zion. My preference was to use the shuttle tickets that day and hike the Narrows and whatever else we had time for, but I did have backup tickets for the next morning at 10 if we didn’t make it. We got there at ten minutes till 1 and started searching desperately for a parking place. After multiple false starts and following so many people to their cars, we FINALLY found one right at the front of the lot! By this time it was 1:25 and we needed to get changed into our Narrows shoes and grab our hiking poles and neoprene socks and water bottles. We made it onto the shuttle (no line at all) by 1:30— perfect timing!
We stopped at a couple of stops and took short hike/walks, then rode to the Temple of Sinawava stop where the Narrows are located. I had done a lot of research on this and knew that we would need hiking poles and neoprene socks (we did not rent anything, just wore old tennis shoes that we could throw away afterward and that was a great decision). (Right now, the river is filled with a bacteria that they have issued warnings against getting in. We did realize that we were likely safe as long as we had no open wounds and didn’t get any in our mouths, so we took the chance.) I did NOT anticipate the long walk down to the Narrows. We changed into our neoprene socks and old tennis shoes and headed out. It was so cool and I’m so glad we did it. A few of us just went far enough to get a feel for it, then Kraig, Angela, and Kelsey adventured further. When we all finished, we headed up the long journey back to the top where we found the shuttle line (at 5 PM— nowhere NEAR the last shuttle) snaking back through the park. We were probably in line an hour or so, maybe longer. We got back to the car, threw away our old shoes and bagged our socks, then headed out for dinner in Springdale. We ate inside for the first time since March but they were doing every other booth. I would give the name of the restaurant but I 10/10 do NOT recommend. ;) The kids did some souvenir shopping with their money from Granna and Grandad and then it was time to head for our next Airbnb.
At this point, we made what could have been a fatal mistake. The only way back through the park to Orderville was…. back through the park. On the most dangerous road we drove the whole trip. In the dark. At a time of night when wildlife were likely most active. We just went really slowly and I prayed fervently the whole time.
We arrived at the Zion Ponderosa Ranch Resort about an hour later and checked in, then found our Conestoga wagon. I think the kids found this to be the greatest lodging we had on the trip, and it was cool. The bathhouses in this resort were top-notch. We took showers and tucked in for the night.
Day 4: Utah (Bryce Canyon National Park)
The next morning, we didn’t get up terribly early by Cleveland or local time. We enjoyed the provided resort breakfast (so good!) and got to see the resort in the daylight. It was soooo nice and all the kids wished that we had spent a second night here. It’s somewhere I would love to return to one day, for sure. We had planned to return to Zion on this day, but ultimately felt like we would prefer to e-bike Bryce Canyon instead of Zion, so we headed on to Bryce (1.5 hrs, 78 miles).
After a lunch at Subway and a stop for souvenirs, we booked e-bikes from the greatest little company, Bryce Canyon EZ Riders. They were cheaper than most at Zion and, once we figured out how the route worked, we preferred biking Bryce to biking Zion. The bike rental place is a little airport just outside of town. You bike down the greatest little bike path, then go through town, then pick up the shared use path through Bryce Canyon National Park. We actually rode right up to Sunset Point and were dazzled by the sights. We took a rest, took pics, then biked back. We had done the two hour rental (which was just enough time), but a four hour one would also allow you to bike the opposite way to Red Canyon as well.
After our biking, we got the car and went back to Bryce, driving to the very top of the scenic drive since the tops were all on the same side of the road and we could stop at them on our way down. We stopped at several spots, taking pics and looking around, then parked at the Sunset Point parking lot to stay till sunset. At that point, Kraig, Roman, Kelsey, and Angela did the hike down Queen’s Garden/Navajo Loop Trail to Wall Street. It was a tough one, but they were awesome. We waited until we realized sunset was going to be anticlimactic, at which point we headed for the car and left Bryce. We actually caught a beautiful sunset on the way out of town at Red Canyon.
We stopped for pizza on our way to Panguitch (1 hr, 41.1 mi) at C-Stop Pizza, one of the only places to eat in the area. It was pretty decent, then we drove on to our AirBnb. This one probably isn’t one I would recommend unless you are like us and don’t have a lot of options in the area. I kind of wish we had done two nights at Zion Ponderosa Ranch instead and just had a longer drive, but it is what it is. We were at a guesthouse on something called Lazy Ass Ranch. It was decent, but very outdated, had shag carpet that I worried was dirty, and was in the middle of NOWHERE (and a little creepy).
Day 5: Nevada (Great Basin National Park)
We woke well before dawn the next morning to start a longish drive (3 hrs, 177 mi) to Great Basin National Park. This drive took so long and was soooooo boring. In about 2 hours, we literally only saw 4 other cars. No houses. No cities. No cell service. No NOTHING.
We stopped in Baker, Nevada, just outside the park, for gas. The visitor center was closed, we knew, due to covid, but luckily the bathrooms were still open, as was a little shop/cafe. We made that stop first, then headed up the scenic trail to Wheeler Peak. We parked at the top and took our hike, which was gorgeously beautiful, to Stella and Helen Lakes. We had hoped to get in one more, but we were pretty tired when we got back and knew we had a long drive ahead, so we skipped the other. This national park is seldom visited and it is GORGEOUS!!! It was a great addition that I put in last minute to replace King’s Canyon and Sequoyah, which were closed due to wildfires.
We ate our lunch in the car since we didn’t think there were many options on the road and headed on to California (6 hrs, 368 mi). This drive was a rough and long one. I had mapped a couple of leg-stretching places (the Extra Terrestrial Highway sign and the International Car Forest), so we made those stops (the International Car Forest changed our route a bit and that was a bad decision— I should have left it as it was). but we were a little later getting started and ended up on a terrible road in the dark. I am so thankful Kraig was driving and that he had learned to drive in mountainous WV, because I would not have done well.
We finally arrived in Baker, California where our Airbnb was. We thought about going to a restaurant but it appeared there weren’t many choices at that time of night and we needed to shower and such, so we just drove through the only fast food option, a McDonald’s. That night, we were staying in the Eastside Guesthouse and Bivy. It is a hostel sort of stay, but A. There are six beds in each room and there were six of us and B. They are renting rooms only to people who are traveling together and not to strangers due to Covid, so it worked well for us. This place… I had been a little nervous but OH MY GOODNESS, it was darling. We got checked in and it was as clean as could be and so nice. I was a little worried about our accommodations the following night (a motel in Lone Pine) that was only an hour down the road, so I quickly called to see if the guesthouse had room the next night (they did) and if I could cancel the motel (I could), so I made that change and we settled in for the only night of the whole trip that we were in the same place for two nights.
Day 6: California (Yosemite National Park)
We took our time leaving the following morning, taking time to stop at Schat’s Bakery and OHMYWORD was it delicious!!! Then we drove to Yosemite (1 hr, 65 mi), coming in the back entrance down Tioga Road. I am so thankful we came in this way because that was actually my favorite part of the park (due to the wildfire smoke, we didn’t get any great views in the other parts). We stopped at Olmsted Point, then headed on to the valley, stopping at El Capitan Meadow and Bridalveil Falls (trailhead closed but we could see it). We made a quick stop in the visitor’s center, then did the Yosemite Falls Trail. We skipped out on a lot of the places we had intended to stop due to the smoke hindering all of the views. (We did, however, SEE A BEAR!!! On our WALK!) On the way out, we stopped in two different meadows and explored. I love that area of the park. Once we got back into Bishop, we went to eat at a roadhouse that was very good and was practicing excellent social distancing, so we didn’t mind eating inside.
We had an early night, took showers and went to bed before our big drive the following day.
Day 7: California (Manzanar, Death Valley, Joshua Tree)
We left an hour before sunrise since our drive to Manzanar was 1 hour. We arrived at daybreak. It meant so much to me to see this site of the Japanese-American Internment Camps, and it was a stop I am so thankful we made. It was surreal to stand in front of that memorial as the sun came up and think about where we were and how far we have (not???) come since then.
On the way to Death Valley, I had seen a place called Alabama Hills, Movie Flat Road (the backdrop for several famous movies) and Mobius Arch. I mapped it and realized there was a back way in, so we took a tiny little sand road. We ended up taking a lot of wrong turns, trying to figure out the directions from backward, but we finally found the Mobius Arch trailhead and the beautiful Alabama Hills. I was so glad that we made that stop, it was really pretty and let us do some walking that day.
From there, it was on to Death Valley (1 hr, 54 mi). This is the part of the trip I should have skipped. It’s the part I recommend you skip. See, originally, when King’s Canyon and Sequoyah were open, we were going to go to Bishop, CA, from Bryce Canyon and we were just going to DRIVE THROUGH Death Valley as part of the route before Manzanar. Then after Yosemite, we were coming out on the other side and hitting King’s Canyon and Sequoyah on the way down to Joshua Tree. When the two parks were closed and I add Great Basin, it changed things and I wanted to keep Death Valley. However, instead of a drive THROUGH Death Valley on the way somewhere else, it became a Death Valley in and out loop that was pointless. We ate a snack lunch in the car. We did see Father Crawley’s Overlook where military jets run training missions, which was awesome. We also got out and walked the Mesquite Sand Dunes and Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America. Then we decided to take the south route out of DV in an effort to be more efficient with our driving. The whole things was a total disappointment and a lot of driving to be disappointed. However, we can all say we have been to DV.
From Death Valley south exit, we drove a very long way (3 hr, 202 mi) that felt even longer to get to Joshua Tree, CA. Once in Joshua Tree, we checked into our Airbnb just in time for a gorgeous desert sunset. We then went back out and ate at Crossroads Cafe, a place that only offered outdoor dining and takeout. It was ok, not the greatest, though. Somewhat revived by the food, we went on into Joshua Tree National Park in the dark to catch some views of the Milky Way and stars. That was pretty cool, then back to our Airbnb (which was in a weird place and hard to get to and a somewhat creepy location, but the place itself wasn’t bad) for bed.
Day 8: Joshua Tree National Park and San Diego
We got up before the sun to go to Joshua Tree National Park (just 15 min from our house). It was a great drive over, saw some wildlife on the way in, and got to our hike just as the sun was coming up. I LOVED Joshua Tree so much! I think other than Zion, it was my very favorite park. There were a few times I worried that we should have done the trip in reverse order (which was how it was originally planned) because it felt anti-climactic to go from the Grand Canyon to Zion to Joshua Tree, but it ended up working out beautifully by that evening. We scrambled over some rocks at JTree, took some walks, made some pictures, and were heading out the East exit by around noon or shortly thereafter.
The next drive was from Joshua Tree to San Diego (3 hr, 175 mi). This one felt longer than it was, probably because we were all exhausted by that point. We stopped at an In-N-Out Burger on the way and OHMYWORD, so stinking delicious!!!
We got to San Diego a little later than expected. In addition, I had not reserved a kayak tour in advance and by the time I looked, most companies were booked up and only one had one time slot left— 4:20. I hated to do it so late (I had considered a sunset tour earlier but didn’t want to pay extra for it and then decided it would be warmer earlier in the day), but we had no choice. We stopped first at Tuna Park and saw the USS Midway and the soldier kissing the nurse statue. Then we headed to the beach area to find a parking spot (which literally took over 30 min and I didn’t think we were going to find one). We walked around the beach and shops in that district for about an hour, then it was time for our kayak sea caves tour.
In hindsight, I wish we had driven to La Jolla Cove Children’s Pool instead of Tuna Park because I would have liked to get that iconic photo of the seals from above. However, we didn’t. At time for our kayak tour, we went to the establishment and waited. And waited. And waited. Just when people were starting to get SO upset, they came to get us to take us on the tour. The girl told us that they wouldn’t short us, that we would get the full time, which meant that a normal tour turned into a sunset one. {hearteyes}
For me, this may have been the high point of the trip, honestly. I have never been in the Pacific Ocean. In fact, none of us had unless you count the Philippine Sea where our kids are from. To have your first dip in the Pacific be done in kayaks, beside the famous seals of La Jolla, at sunset, was almost more than I could bear. It was incredible. We were out in the kayaks for what felt like forever, and we loved every second of it and our guides. We closed out the adventure with watching the last rays of light fade over La Jolla beach and then heading back to the car. We stopped for the girls to get souvenirs, then it was time for dinner and our Airbnb.
Our Airbnb was only about 15 min away, so we found a Denny’s (which Emma thought was the greatest thing she had ever put in her mouth) where we were the only patrons, and went to the house. This Airbnb blew my socks off. We knew we would be crowded here, with only one bed, a sofa sleeper, and an air mattress. However, it was gated, it was plenty big enough, and aside from my mom’s house and my mother-in-law’s houses, it was the cleanest place I have ever been. The sofa sleeper was exceptionally comfortable. It was seriously the perfect end to the trip.
Day 9: Flight Home
We left the house really early to return our car and catch a flight home. The house was only 16 min from the airport, so it was perfect. The only downside of this day was a five hour layover in Detroit. If I had thought about it, we would have planned something to do in Detroit, but also… Detroit. ;) We got back to the Knoxville airport at 8:45 and my parents brought our car for the drive home! Rolled into our house around 10 PM, exhausted, happy, and with so many memories!
Reflections/Changes:
There really aren’t many things at all that I would change. There WERE a couple of long days for driving (two of them), but in order to see all that we saw, they had to be that way. I would love to have been able to add two more days in order to spread out the driving some (and see more), but it wasn’t possible for this trip.
I wouldn’t necessarily take out Death Valley, but I wish there had been a way to drive THROUGH as we had originally planned instead of going out of our way to see it. And I definitely won’t head back there again.
We had the opportunity (and had planned to) take another half day in Zion, e-biking, but we e-biked Bryce instead. I think that was the best choice for the e-bikes, but Zion is somewhere I want to go back to some day and spend more time in Kolob Canyons and other parts of the park. I think that I want to do a trip that hits Arches and Canyonlands and some Colorado parks, and maybe drop by Zion again on that trip.
I never need to visit Las Vegas again, just like I never need to visit Death Valley again, or really Bryce or Great Basin either.
We definitely need to return to Yosemite when we can actually SEE, maybe on a trip that includes King’s Canyon and Sequoyah (and maybe the Pacific Hwy to Washington state). I feel like our opinion of Yosemite was deeply affected by the lack of views and that it didn’t get a fair shake at all.
I am SO THANKFUL that I included Manzanar. Seeing it was very very special to me.
Some of the last minute additions/explorations made for the most fun parts. Always leave enough room for some flexibility.
The Grand Canyon was AMAZING to see— once. I don’t have any desire to return to there and I’m not sure I even care much about seeing the South Rim either.
I want to spend more time in Arizona. It was stunning. I have been before, to 4 Corners, but it’s been a while.
Joshua Tree was such a neat little park. I wouldn’t mind going back there, although I don’t necessarily think I need to have more time to see more.
San Diego was really a cool city and, if ever on the west coast, I would love to return there and spend more time.
The time of year for this trip was IDEAL. It wasn’t too hot anywhere and it wasn’t cold anywhere. We were prepared for all range of temperatures and we didn’t need a lot of what we brought.