Road trip October

Old Jun 29th, 2015, 09:03 AM
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Road trip October

Hi! My friend and I are planning a road trip from LA to Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley (from here we're thinking to drive through Utah then in to Colorado then down to New Mexico), Santa Fe, one night in Deming, Phoenix, San Diego and back to LA.

We are going last week of October, first week of November. (Gonna see if we can manage to get two-three week off beginning of October.)

How is the weather that time of year?
Any possibilities of snow?! And so, where?

We don't really care if it's colder than usual, but we'd rather not drive on snow. We're used to it here in Norway, but we don't want to take a change since we're renting a car.

Any help is appreciated !
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Old Jun 29th, 2015, 09:42 AM
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That's a lot of places for two weeks. Where do you plan to travel in Utah and Colorado? Are you just driving though or going to be making stops to site-see?

Colorado can definitely have snow in late October.

Utahtea
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Old Jun 29th, 2015, 09:54 AM
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In stead of driving back down from Monument Valley, we just figure we'd continue up towards Mexican hat and Buff (Utah) and stop at Four Corners Monument and from there drive down to New Mexico.

As I could tell from google maps it's about the same driving time, this way we'll get to make a little stop at Four Corners Monument as well.

Other than that, no stop in Utah or Colorado.
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Old Jun 29th, 2015, 10:10 AM
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Didn't realize it was just a short drive though Utah & Colorado. You could easily do a detour and stay south if the weather was bad. We usually have finished traveling in these parts by late October because the weather can start getting cold. I'm sure some of the Arizona & New Mexico experts will chime in on the weather you could expect.

Happy Travels,

Utahtea
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Old Jun 29th, 2015, 10:14 AM
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It would be nice to see more of Utah and Colorado, but the trip is already long enough.

Worst case scenario, we'll just go south and hope for better weather and no snow.

Thanks so much for your replies!
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Old Jun 29th, 2015, 10:20 AM
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Little to no threat of snow in here in New Mexico in late October/early November. Never say never, but pretty unlikely.
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Old Jun 29th, 2015, 10:24 AM
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That is really good to hear! Thanks DebitNM!
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Old Jun 29th, 2015, 11:02 AM
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Unless you have a particular reason for wanting to stay in Deming, you could easily drive from Santa Fe to Phoenix in a day.

Lee Ann
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Old Jun 29th, 2015, 01:02 PM
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Haha! :')

No, it's just that we're gonna spend most of the day in Roswell and if we're staying in Deming, we have only a few hours on the road before we reach Phoenix. We're only staying there (Phoenix) for one night, so we want as much time there as possible.
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Old Jun 29th, 2015, 01:17 PM
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You won't need a full day in Roswell. Unless you a huge Sci Fi fan. Even then a half day would be more than enough.

What do you plan on doing in Phoenix? It is an expansive city, and traffic can be awful. Have a plan.
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Old Jun 29th, 2015, 10:43 PM
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We've been to Norway and remain amazed how well Norwegian master the American English Language as evidenced by your writing. Bergen is our favorite village.

It would be helpful if we knew what you prefer seeing on this extensive drive other than gasoline stations. Scenery, buffalo, deserts, mountains, historic places, Hollywood, ?????
Example:
New Mexico:
http://www.nps.gov/chcu/index.htm
http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/

Colorado: http://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm
Utah: http://www.ccnationalparks.com/index.htm

Agree with DebitNM - ignore Phoenix.
Snow - not a problem. Worry about it when/if it happens.

Roswell - this is where the Alien landing occurred. Fascinating and entertaining town. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roswell_UFO_incident

Las Vegas - If you plan to see a major stage show make reservations early as possible to obtain a good seat location.

Vaga
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Old Jun 30th, 2015, 09:22 AM
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DebitNM, we're not planning on staying too long in Roswell, my guess is just a few hours to half a day. It's going to be a long day considering we're driving from Santa Fe through Roswell then to Deming.

We haven't really discussed Phoenix yet. But we want to find a hotel a little bit out of the city.
So any tips as of what we can do while we're there? Something scenic or special around Phoenix? If not, it's going to be an early start to San Diego

RVvagabond, yeah in Norway we start learning English at an early age. It's pretty awesome!

We only have a few ideas of what we want to see in some of the big cities. This is the plan as of today:

Los Angeles: Hollywood sign, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Universal Studios, maybe take a trip to Runyon Canyon Park. Not sure if all of there are doable, but we'd rather make a big list of things to see and places to visit and then see what we have time for when we're there. Gonna start with our favorites!

LA - Las Vegas: Calico ghost town, Peggy Sue's 50's diner, maybe stop at Baker and Primm.

Las Vegas: no solid plans yet other than to see the strip. (?)

LV - Grand Canyon: Hoover Dam (maybe), small stop at Kingman and Seligman.

Grand Canyon & Monument Valley: take a look around, go hiking etc.

Monument Valley - Santa Fe: we're thinking about driving through Utah then into Colorado to see Four Corners Monument.

Santa Fe: think we're staying in the old town or something.
Georgia O'Keeffe museum.

Roswell: look around all alien related.

Deming: just staying there for one night. Just to cut down the driving hours that day and for the next. Original plan was to stay a night i El Paso, but my friend read something about that city so she didn't want to stay there

Phoenix: no plans yet.

San Diego: nothing set in stone.

We are open to tips! Like the buffalo's, deserts, mountains, historic planes etc.

We were so clever to google snow and the different places we planned to go to, that we wanted to know if we needed to change the route if there could be snow there. That's why we haven't really planned what we want to do yet in the cities, and planned what to see or where to make small stops along the way.

But we're going to make alternative routes just in case. Not really worried about snow anymore!
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Old Jul 2nd, 2015, 11:56 AM
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We haven't really discussed Phoenix yet. But we want to find a hotel a little bit out of the city.

Los Angeles: Ensure you visit Venice Beach. My favorite beach because of the unusual people: Surfing - Huntington Beach pier - you can rent a surf board. Drive Mulholland drive in the evening. You can Google above.

LA - Las Vegas: Cross off Calico ghost town, - insert Oakman ghost town, but it is on the way FROM Grand Canyon. Google It.
LV Atomic Bomb museum is interesting - history of the bomb.
In the evening walk the strip and see all the outside display. My favorite casino is Venetian patterned after Venica, Italy. Complete with gondola and opera singers. St. Marks square is replicated.

Your command of our language will enable you to visit Mob Museum - all about the criminal element in US and especially LV.

Baker/Prim - waste of time.

Kingman - nothing of interest for people from Norway
Seligman - famous for Route 66. NOW - Google Route 66. Then drive from Seligman to Kingman ON Route 66 - historic.

Four Corners Monument look at the picture via Google. Anyway it not is the correct location per GPS.

Santa Fe: Also visit Kit Carson Museum. FAMOUS mountain man. His grave is nearby. Google Kit Caron.
Authentic Indian Pueblo (village in Spanish) Village. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/492


Phoenix: no plans yet. Good

San Diego: Visit Old Town where San Diego began. Started by Mormons. Excellent Mexican Restaurants. For an adventure, cross over the border to Tijuana. Walk across, negotiate a price for a ride to town center. Been there many, many times.

Hotel center of driving across desert -= Winslow, Arizona: THE BEST hotel/motel - http://laposada.org/

While there, see:
Standing On the Corner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standi...he_Corner_Park

Eagle's song that inspired this monument
https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt...arizona%20song

vaga
Bergen smoked fish ! Memorable.
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Old Jul 2nd, 2015, 12:06 PM
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>>Santa Fe: Also visit Kit Carson Museum. FAMOUS mountain man. His grave is nearby. Google Kit Caron.
Authentic Indian Pueblo (village in Spanish) Village. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/492
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Old Jul 2nd, 2015, 01:33 PM
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"For an adventure, cross over the border to Tijuana. Walk across, negotiate a price for a ride to town center. Been there many, many times."
----------
Adventure, that's putting it mildly. This has to be one of the worst suggestion ever put on here. Seriously, that is not a good idea- we drove across once, 10 years ago and it was awful then.

I am not sure if jencec is a guy or gal. Doesn't much matter, it's not a good idea.


http://travel.state.gov/content/pass...l-warning.html
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Old Jul 2nd, 2015, 01:34 PM
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BTW - I agree completely with LeeAnn.
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Old Jul 2nd, 2015, 01:53 PM
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RVvagabond: Tijuana is a truly HORRIBLE idea. I have a friend w/ a house at Rosarito Beach so am traversing TJ a few times every year -- and it is just the absolute worst . . .
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Old Jul 3rd, 2015, 12:51 AM
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jencec - Re the San Diego portion of your trip:

How many nights / days do you plan on spending here? And, at this moment I'm guessing it's not many. In which case, I'd concentrate on San Diego and not spending hours crossing the border back into the US. A waste of time unless you are going to be here a week.

So tell us more about San Diego. I'm sure you'll get advice on every part of your trip. But, as a SD resident, I (and others I'm sure) can help with that part of your trip.
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Old Jul 3rd, 2015, 07:31 AM
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Lots of replies, I like it!

It's been a change of plans. We're now going to stay for three weeks!

First day in LA we're just going to pick up the rental and shop for stuff needed for the road trip like a cooler etc. Early night.

Las Vegas: try on of the casinos, some shopping, look around. Gonna try to find something else to do too, tho.

Grand Canyon & Monument Valley: some hiking and maybe a tour in MV.

Santa Fe: Georgia O'Keeffe museum.

Roswell: we're going to stop by here anyways haha

NEW: we're skipping Deming and staying in Alamogordo so we're close to White Sands National Monument.

Phoenix: yes, we're going there. We were going to skip Phoenix, but decided to check out the Desert Botanical Garden and go horseback riding. But I guess both of those are located out of the city.

San Diego: Here we thought about a spa day, maybe going on a tour bus down to Mexico. We'll see.

LA: Hollywood sign, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, Universal Studios, maybe take a trip to Runyon Canyon Park. Not sure if all of there are doable, but we'd rather make a big list of things to see and places to visit and then see what we have time for when we're there. Gonna start with our favorites!

RVvagabond:
Los Angeles: Ensure you visit Venice Beach. My favorite beach because of the unusual people: Surfing - Huntington Beach pier - you can rent a surf board. Drive Mulholland drive in the evening.

We now have a few more days in LA, so I'm sure we're going to check out Venice Beach

LA - Las Vegas: Cross off Calico ghost town, - insert Oakman ghost town, but it is on the way FROM Grand Canyon. Google It.

Is there a reason Oakman ghost town is better than the Calico ghost town? Not really sure what we expect from a ghost town tho

LV Atomic Bomb museum is interesting - history of the bomb.

That's cool!

In the evening walk the strip and see all the outside display. My favorite casino is Venetian patterned after Venica, Italy. Complete with gondola and opera singers. St. Marks square is replicated.



Your command of our language will enable you to visit Mob Museum - all about the criminal element in US and especially LV.

Your command of our language? Don't really understand that one? Is it only for US citizens?


Kingman - nothing of interest for people from Norway
Seligman - famous for Route 66. NOW - Google Route 66. Then drive from Seligman to Kingman ON Route 66 - historic.

But that's the wrong way At least for the route we're taking So ur saying we should drive from Seligman to Kingman insted of Kingman to Seligman? Or do you mean drive up from Kingman to Valentine - Peach Springs and down to Seligman?


Santa Fe: Also visit Kit Carson Museum. FAMOUS mountain man. His grave is nearby. Google Kit Caron.
Authentic Indian Pueblo (village in Spanish) Village. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/492




San Diego: Visit Old Town where San Diego began. Started by Mormons. Excellent Mexican Restaurants. For an adventure, cross over the border to Tijuana. Walk across, negotiate a price for a ride to town center. Been there many, many times.

Oh, didn't know San Diego had an old town, too If we're going to Mexico we're going to join a tour bus or something

Hotel center of driving across desert -= Winslow, Arizona: THE BEST hotel/motel - http://laposada.org/

While there, see:
Standing On the Corner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standi...he_Corner_Park

Eagle's song that inspired this monument
https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt...arizona%20song



Lee Ann:

>>Santa Fe: Also visit Kit Carson Museum. FAMOUS mountain man. His grave is nearby. Google Kit Caron.
Authentic Indian Pueblo (village in Spanish) Village. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/492
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Old Jul 3rd, 2015, 07:32 AM
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And I'm sorry for that looooong post. Next time I'll answer one person in one post. Might be easier to find what to reply to etc
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