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West Coast US trip from Sep to Oct 15 for 30days

West Coast US trip from Sep to Oct 15 for 30days

Old Apr 16th, 2015, 03:28 AM
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West Coast US trip from Sep to Oct 15 for 30days

Hi Guys,

I am doing a big road trip with my family from Australia along with my mother-in-law and Father-in-law. I want your guidance in terms of the trip itself, hotels, rental cars, anything I should be aware of and best bargains. The objective is to see the beautiful US west coast. Below is my itinerary for hotel stay
Hawai 1.5days (fly to Vancouver)
Vancouver 2 days (Train to Seattle as it is very expensive by rental car)
Seattle 2 days
Portland 1 day
Medford 1 day (because I heard that route is beautiful)
Garberville 1 day
San Fran 4 days (Includes 1 day Sacramento; Yosemite National Park - does it makes sense drive early in the morning from San Fran to Yosemite and drive back in the evening. We are not hikers)
Cambria 1 day (to see the Big Sur)
LA 5 days (stoping @ santa barbara, doing the Disney things)
San Diego 2 days (drive in the night to Las Vegas)
Las Vegas 2 days
Flagstaff 1 day (drive Vegas to grand canyon (which side is better during my visit month) then spend the night to Flagstaff)
Albuquerque
Oklahoma City
Austin
San Antonio (not staying the night)
Houston
Dallas 1 night (fly from Dallas to Hawaii)
Hawaii Night (next day Sydney)

My wife wants to do alot of shopping. I plan to let her wild (shopping I meant) in Texas as we get the sales tax back.

Car rental
I was thinking of picking up the rental car in Seattle and drop it off in Dallas. Whereas Hawaii and Vancouver return the car to the pickup stops. We will be taking a 7 seater minvan. The one way fees are a killer. What about Road Side assistance. I have purchased world maps on my Sygic GPS software for iPhone.

Hotels:
Do I pick a chain of hotel such as Choice (free breakfast) or look for deals sites such as Groupon or are they anything good site to book hotels. We did a 16day trip in NZ and stayed in hotels against renting a RV.

Does it makes sense to become a member of AAA or Entertainment book in the US and how can a foreigner enroll. What is the cheapest way to book theme park tickets and local activities tickets such as discount coupon? Can we shop online and pickup the goods in Texas and claim the sales tax back?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Cheers
Steve
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 04:30 AM
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According to the AAA website, it has reciprocal agreements with some foreign auto clubs. I don't know where you are from in Australia, but look at the list on the AAA website. It could be that you can access some AAA benefits through your local club.

The only use I have for AAA has been roadside assistance, which you probably don't need with a rental car (that usually seems to be included in the agreement) and hotel discounts. I don't know how old your inlaws are, but if they qualify as "senior citizens", a lot of chain hotels give a similar discount as long as they book the room under their name. My parents dropped their AAA membership for that reason. No AAA disney discounts sadly, because I did look that up last month.

Hotels: all I can say is be very careful with fine print when it comes to third party booking sites or groupon. Always shop around- sometimes the price on the "deals" site is not actually better than on the hotels own site; the latter will almost always be more easy to deal with directly.

I don't really stick with any single hotel chain, but given the choice, I prefer Marriott, La Quinta, or Best Western, usually in that order, but it really depends on location and sometimes age of hotel. I use motel 6's and kamping kabins at KOAs when I'm in a relatively rural area and am feeling cheap.

I don't think you can shop online and claim the sales tax back, but I could be wrong. I'm unaware of the exemption you're talking about, but really curious. Enlightenment, please? (Btw- no one has to pay sales tax in Oregon, so maybe that's another good place to shop til you drop.)

Hope all that is somewhat helpful! Good luck.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 04:41 AM
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A couple of observations.

Driving from San Francisco to Yosemite and back in one day leaves you no time to actually see anything in Yosemite.

Since you plan to drive via Albuquerque to Texas, the south rim of the Grand Canyon is the only one that makes sense.

There is a lot to see between Grand Canyon and Albuquerque - National Parks/Monuments, Native American parks, etc.

It will be a VERY LONG drive from Albuquerque to Texas.

As to hotels/motels we either book with them directly or if we are winging it, get one of the RoomSaver coupon books (also have coupons on line) and see what is offered for extras (hot breakfast, pool, ets) and decide when we want to stop.

I would buy an inexpensive road atlas with maps of the US (available everywhere) when I get here as there are places where you won't have service for your iPhone.

Here is a trip report from a fellow Australian that might be informative.


http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...lden-state.cfm
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 06:36 AM
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Oregon has no sales tax. You don't have to worry about getting reimbursed. I don't think prices are any cheaper than in Oregon. Think about how much you will be spending on gasoline.
Ride Amtrak from Seattle to Portland. Rent your car in Portland.
Turn the car in in Los Angeles after Disneyland. If you do want to go to Albuquerque (or Flagstaff) you can do it on the Amtrak Southwest Chief and rent a car to go to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. Return the car where you rented it (Flagstaff or ABQ).
Take the Southwest Chief back to Los Angeles and then a Pacific Surfliner train down to San Diego if you still have the time and desire to go. The stop in Hawaii is probably good to combat the jet lag going from/to Australia.
The Surfliner train is also a good choice for going to Santa Barbara from Los Angeles or San Diego.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 06:40 AM
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You lost me after Flagstaff. You're spending 6 nights driving and shopping? It seems like a waste of time to go all that way unless you have some specific things you want to see in those cities.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 06:53 AM
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Autumn will be HOT in Southern California and the Southwest. California is in extreme drought, and you'll be there in fire season.

You can appreciate the Pacific Coast in a few hours; no need to drive it for hours and hours. Fly or take the train San Francisco-LA.

You don't need to stay in both LA and San Diego -- close.

I'd fly to Hawaii from Vegas to relax in one place. Skip the Oklahoma-to-Texas portion.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 06:59 AM
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You need to pare down this itinerary. Too much driving and not enough time enjoying the sites. You would need a vacation to recover when you got home.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 07:17 AM
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I agree with MichelleY. You are trying to cover too much too quickly.

You did not state if children will be traveling with you. What are you interested in seeing or experiencing? Have you visited the USA before? Some of the distances in the Southwest are long. Texas is a BIG state. Are you only visiting Texas because of the QF flight from DFW? If so, you may want to rethink your itinerary. Tell us more about what you like and we can help refine your itinerary.

Oregon does indeed have no sales tax. It is a great place to shop.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 08:05 AM
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Instead of Medford (Oregon) you may enjoy Ashland more. It's a smaller town, has a beautiful park right in the center (Lithia), and a lovely downtown with unique shops and restaurants. Also home to one of the oldest Shakespeare venues anywhere in the west.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 08:14 AM
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You are going quickly through the Northwest from what I can tell...might want to slow that part a bit. You don't mention Mt. Rainier, Columbia Gorge or the Oregon Coast, which are usually the sights people want to see between Portland and Seattle.

That's a lot of time in Texas...maybe give a little more time to other places in between. If you're going to the Grand Canyon south rim, you aren't too far from Sedona, which is gorgeous.

Have a great trip!
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 08:23 AM
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Based on your list, it seems you have 22-1/2 days scheduled in various places up to and including Flagstaff, but no time scheduled to actually get from place to place. I think your itinerary will have to end in Flagstaff for you to actually have the time you allocated to each place in that place.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 08:32 AM
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More detail:

Vancouver to Seattle by train -- 4 hours
Seattle to Portland - 3 hours
Portland to Medford - 4 hours
Medford to Garberville - 5 hours
Garberville to San Francisco - 4 hours
San Francisco to Yosemite (return) - 8 hours
San Francisco to Cambria - 4 hours (without a single stop!)
Cambria to Los Angeles - 4 hours
Los Angeles to San Diego - 2 hours if there's zero traffic (which is never)
San Diego to Las Vegas -5 hours
Las Vegas to Flagstaff - 4 hours
Flagstaff to Albuquerque - 5 hours
Albuquerque to Oklahoma City - 8 hours
OKC to Austin - 6 hours
Austin to San Antonio - 1-1/4 hours
San Antonio to Houston - 3 hours
Houston to Dallas - 3/-1/2 hours

In other words, you need 10 days just to drive between the cities on the itinerary, without stopping and without time to see or do anything once you get there.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 09:21 AM
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Agree you have way too much time just sitting in a car and not nearly enough time actualy doing or seeing anything.

Trying to do Yosemite in a day is close to madness. You should spend at least one night there - if you can get a place to stay.

Also don;t get racing all over Texas. Shopping there is no better than anyplace else and you're not really seeing anything.

As for shopping online - you will pay sales tax if you are in a state in which the merchant has a store. Only shipping out of state - to a state in which the merchant does not have a store - will avoid sales tax. But you can do that in Oregon and actually see/try on the things you're buying.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 09:30 AM
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It might help us to help you plan if you tell us what attracted you to everything on your itinerary after San Diego. None of the places in the southwest are on the west coast, obviously, so what do you want to do in New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas?

Lee Ann
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 09:52 AM
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When you said family plus MIL/FIL I assume you mean kids too. Even w/o children along, this borders on insanity. W/ kids - close to child abuse (only a slight exaggeration ).

You'll likely come back w/ "We're from OZ, we know about long drives.". Fine - but you will be driving through some of the most amazing scenery in the US (in the world for that matter) and have not one minute of down time.

W/ your time you could manage a bit of WA (Washington - not Western Aus.) , OR, CA Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and maybe a couple of the Utah parks. That's it.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 09:53 AM
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. . . That would be plus your few days in Hawaii
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 10:19 AM
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I don't know how old your kids are, or whether you've taken them on a month-long trip before, but I do have one bit of advice in case you haven't ---- we took our kids then ages 11 and 13 to Europe for a month in 1998. The one and only mistake we made, itinerary-wise, on what was otherwise an amazing trip, was to save "down-time" (beach) for the last few days (Viareggio). We should have had a 3-4 days break in the middle, too.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 12:18 PM
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I Agree this is way too rushed, and don't care if you are used to long drives in Australia, this is a vacation with family. I think you need one more night along the Highway 1 drive, stay in Monterey and Cambria (or maybe Pismo Beach or Morro Bay, both a bit more family oriented). Drop Houston and OK City.
I'd also visit Santa Fe (one hour drive north of ABQ) instead, much more interesting although if you stick with ABQ then try to visit Acoma Pueblo right off the interstate west of ABQ. Well worth a visit to Sky City, you take a small van from the Visitor Center (steep drive up to there) and tour the pueblo, very interesting.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 02:13 PM
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This is WAY too much for 30 days!

I agree with others if you stop at Vegas and fly to Hawaii from there, adding that "extra" time you've saved to the previous places, then you have an OK itinerary.

SKIP: Flagstaff, Albuquerque, Oklahoma City, Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas.
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Old Apr 16th, 2015, 02:29 PM
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Try this instead:
Vancouver 3
Seattle 3
Portland 2
Medford 1
Garberville 1
San Francisco 4
Sacramento 1
Yosemite 1
Cambria 1
Los Angeles 3
Santa Barbara 1
Disney 1
San Diego 2
Las Vegas 2

... that's 26 days right there!
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