ggreen

asking for the nearest Century21 office and being greeted by the yellow jackets

LOL can you imagine?? Talk about Lost in Translation!

Today in NYC, the weather is absolutely positively gorgeous. I'm waiting for some northern Cali friends visiting for the weekend, or I wouldn't even be inside. I think they brought the blue skies, warm temps and dry air with them. Not complaining!!

mrwunrfl

South Rim is the Grand Canyon that you've seen in pictures, not West or North rims.

You can get an airplane and bus tour from L.V. to G.C. They (Look Tours in my case) fly from a small airport, not LAS, to GCY where there is a coach waiting. You go to some of the best canyon viewpoints. Good view Hoover Dam and the lake from the plane.

Another option would be to fly from LAX or Long Beach (LGB) to Flagstaff. USAir has flights to FLG via Phoenix. Get a car in Flagstaff, go see GC, drive across Hoover Dam to Las Vegas. The flight would cost more that LAX-LAS and you would probably have a one-way dropoff fee for the car. If are willing to spend money to save time then this might be an option. This would be more than one day, though.

lynntigon

mlgb - no probs about hijacking - seem to be back on track now.

I seem to have started an arguement on another thread of mine about whether to explore LA with a car or use public transport which a few people are saying would be very problamatic. Any suggestions on here?

Thanx for the GC info - will definitely do the South Rim then.

ggreen

Haha, that question brings back memories of my first trip to LA. Growing up in the northeast and then living in NYC, it didn't occur to me to rent a car - and I ended up feeling very guilty for having my friend drive me everywhere! Subsequent visits have been much more successful having my own wheels...

ggreen

Oh and I meant to add that while I wouldn't wish NYC driving on most of my enemies, driving in southern CA is much better. (Yes, there's traffic. But it's still so nice and straightforward! My CA friends say that when you hear a car horn being honked in CA, you know it's a transplanted NYer... )

november_moon

Yes, southern CA was built for cars, so the roads make sense. Even inner-city areas are pretty decent with a car. It isn't at all like back east where highways were shoehorned into existing neighborhoods.

mlgb

I responded on your other thread, lynntigon. I am in favor on leaving the car in Santa Barbara. I suggested staying in downtown Los Angeles.

mrwunrfl

What do you plan to do in L.A.?

You'll be a veteran at driving on the right by the time you get to L.A.

Having a car opens up a lot of options. Not having a car means not having to pay for parking if you want to stay in the city.

On another thread someone posted that car rentals by foreign visitors don't incur drop-off charges.

lynntigon

mrwunrfl - I know that I will have prob got over all the nervousness by then, but I want a break from driving and time to chill. mlgb has come up with the starline site that has a hop on hop off bus in LA that sounds perfect for the things we want to see and do and to get an overview of the whole city. I have used the hop on/off in Dublin and York in the UK and found them to be very good.

lynntigon

We are not at all sure what we want to do in LA, so the bus may even help with that. As I have said before, my son is not really a beach person, although I do want to spend a little time at the beach, even if it is just to people watch, and he understands that.

garyt22

we used the Grayline tour and found it the best way to see everything without the driving... also Venice beach on the weekends is probably the best "People watch" place in all of America...

Taos6

You'll love staying in the Washington Square area (my favorite part of New York). On the PCH drive I'd suggest staying 2 nights in Carmel/Monterey and 2 nights in Santa Barbara. I know it's hard to understand coming from the U.K. ... but you should know that public transportation in the L.A. area is really BAD.

lynntigon

Taos6 - Any tips for getting around NYC from Washington Sq to make the most of our time there - so we dont keep doubling back and forth. We want to see the usual sights and have 4 days.

suze

I think 6 of any one thing is too many. I'd definitely want some capris with tops and sandals for what you describe. I wouldn't want to wear a summer dress to the Grand Canyon or in downtown SF for instance.

ggreen

lynntigon, you should do a search on these boards for NYC itineraries, as they have been covered a lot.

Or better yet, start a new thread asking about it in order to get the most specific responses. If you do start your own thread, be prepared to define more than "the usual sights" - what's "usual" for you might not be for someone else, and NYC has a *lot* of angles you could cover!