west coast in 2 weeks
 

Hi everyone!
My husband and I are traveling to LAX this Saturday march 18 and want to start from there and visit grand canyon, Sedona, Vegas, San Francisco ,Yosemite and go all the way to Portland even if it is only for 1 day... we decided to avoid the different drop off location fee with the car rental and drive up to Portland thru the coast and try to return using a different road to get to know different places, but then we are lost with so many routes and ideas we,ve read and would really appreciate if you could give some advice on what ORDER should be more time efficient or if we need to skip a place what would that be ( Portland not an option) ... We know is super fast but its fine, we are happy to take a glimpse of most places we can ..

Thanks in advance for anny sugesstions on the route youll take!

Regards from Monterrey ,Mexico

If you plan to spend any time at all in the locations you name, and Portland is a given, then I suggest you remove Grand Canyon, Sedona and Las Vegas from your itinerary. Los Angeles to Portland, with stops along the coast, in San Francisco and places north, especially if you plan to return to LA, will leave you no time for the rest. I think it would be a mistake to try.

If you are committed to flying to LAX, Spend a day or less in Los Angeles and then fly to Las Vegas. From Las Vegas rent a car and see Hoover Dam on the way to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. There may be more snow there than you expect.
On the way back to Las Vegas try to see Zion NP and maybe Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada.
Return the car in LV and then fly to Portland (PDX). Rent a car there to see all you can of Oregon from the beautiful Columbia Gorge to the coastline south of Cannon Beach all the way down to Reedsport. Take Rt. 38 back to I-5 near Drain and then I-5 back to Portland.
If you still have a day or two left, take the Amtrak Coast Starlight south from Portland to Emeryville with a bus over into the city of San Francisco.
Fly home from either PDX or SFO depending on your schedule.
Along Rt. 38 in Oregon about 5 miles east of Reedsport you can see Roosevelt elk at Dean's Creek Viewing area.

Have you made reservations for Yosemite? If so, where and what dates are you there?


Since you've been doing some research, you've probably heard that Route 1 on the California coast is closed between San Simeon and Carmel, you'll have to travel on route 101.

You don't have time for Portland. Looks easy on a map, it's a lot of driving that you don't have time for if you don't want to cut something else.

Car should be in the $500 neighborhood for the two weeks, is that what you found? Make sure the quote includes collision coverage and liability insurance, if it's added at pickup time your price will double. (I'm assuming your driver's license is from Mexico?)

Not doable in summer with the very long days. In march with possible storms and the various road closures this is totally I possible.

Thank you very much guys, the thruth is that you are right and it is going to be really hard to accomplish all of the sites by car! We are definitely thinking on flying LAX or SFO to PDX so we can save a little time and if we are lucky cover most of the original plan... Amtrak sounds great! and thanks for the car rental tips, well verify it´s all included °

Good vibes everyone!