Yeah, what are you talking about??
I'm plenty oversized, but I don't watch NASCAR.
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I'm coming to Phoenix, AZ from the UK
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Yeah, what are you talking about??
I'm plenty oversized, but I don't watch NASCAR.
When in Arizona, you should take a ride to camelback mountain. It's maybe 15 minutes (or less) from where you will be staying. Try hiking to the top. If you had more time, I would recommend spending a day driving through the Apache Trail. It's a 40mile (I believe) trail that you can drive through. It is very scenic. You can stop at various locations and explore a little. On the way, there is a ghost town that used to be used by the gold miners. And once you get on the trail, there is a good restaurant at a town called Tortilla Flat (they are famous for their chili). Tortilla Flat is the smallest down in the U.S. with a post office. It's population is only 6. Near the end of the trail, you will be able to see the Roosevelt Dam which is pretty neat.
However, the Apache Trail can take a good 6 hours to drive through not including the various stops you may have. So, its an all day thing.
However, the Apache Trail can take a good 6 hours to drive through not including the various stops you may have. So, its an all day thing.
I'm trying to think if in my 14 years of driving in the UK, I ever saw anything the same as a 4-way stop sign I don't think I did. It would either be a roundabout, have traffic lights, or one road would have the right of way.
ANYhooo - if you're doing Vegas to LA... this is the way to do it ( I did this backwards, literally, 5 weeks ago )
Head west to Red Rock Canyon - it's right outside Vegas and there's a road that loops through it. From there - hit the 160 and head west toward Pahrump
When you get there - there's a big shopping centre for drinks and snacks and lunch etc etc. (And without being rude to the fine people of Pahrump - that's ALL there is - it's really not a very nice place)
Turn west out of Pahrump onto the road that becomes the 190 and takes you to Death Valley.
Before you get to Death Valley - there are two stops to make. Dantes Peak ( a viewing point across the valley ) and Zabriskie Point ( just a few miles before Furnace Creek ) Both have views you would not believe.
Hopefully - by about this time it's early evening. Set up camp just north of Furnace Creek at the camp site near Furnace Creek Ranch ( the ranch has a restaurent, but it's DAMN expensive ) if you've the time. Then you want to head south a few miles from Furnace Creek toward Artists Drive. This is the place from which to watch the sun go down- it lights up the valley sides like you would not believe. Then - back to the camp sight and enjoy the night sky that will literally make you swear out loud. It's that good.
Following morning - head south from the campsite - enjoy Badwater Basin (lowest point in North America) - then head back north - get gas at Furnace Creek... it's expensive, but it's the only gas for about 80 miles in any direction and you do NOT want to run out. Carry on PAST the camp site and up toward Stovepipe Wells - stoping off at the little pull-off near Stovepipe Wells to take in the Sand Dunes - utterly spectacular.
Leaving Death Valley from this road is awesome - you climb up from -200 ft, to over 4000 ft... it's a lot cooler up there and you get awesome views back into Death Valley - PLUS - you then end up driving through Panamint Valley - the views driving into it are utterly breathtaking. There are plenty of places you can pull over and stop to get out and take it all in - the road is fairly quiet as well - if you're stopped for 10 minutes and see more than one car, consider it the rush hour.
That road then takes you back up to 4000ft to come out of Panamint valley - and you end up at Owens Dry Lake - where you can head west, still technically on the 190 ( but you will feel like you're turning off it ) to Olancha.
Head south from there on the 395 - towards Mojave. If you're running ahead of time - stop for lunch - behind schedule - an early dinner at Mojave Airport's cafe. You can't miss it - it's basically at the foot of the air-traffic control tower. You never know what you might see there, and there's a full sized model of Space Ship One. It's where Scaled Composites, XCor and others are all based. http://www.mojaveairport.com/voyager.htm - Take a tour if you can (just ask at the cafe ) - the Airplane graveyard is the weirdest place you'll ever see.
From Mojave airport - you're about 90 minutes from the LA basin - maybe 2 hrs from downtown LA itself.
These photos document the trip from Vegas, through Red Rock Canyon, Death Valley - Zabriskie Point - Badwater Basin - Artists Drive - Mequite Dunes - Panamint Valley and as far as about Olancha - but in reverse - http://gallery.me.com/djellison#100108 - I started at home in Pasadena, and finished in Vegas - with a night in Furnace Creek Ranch.
Or - you know - just do your own thing
ANYhooo - if you're doing Vegas to LA... this is the way to do it ( I did this backwards, literally, 5 weeks ago )
Head west to Red Rock Canyon - it's right outside Vegas and there's a road that loops through it. From there - hit the 160 and head west toward Pahrump
When you get there - there's a big shopping centre for drinks and snacks and lunch etc etc. (And without being rude to the fine people of Pahrump - that's ALL there is - it's really not a very nice place)
Turn west out of Pahrump onto the road that becomes the 190 and takes you to Death Valley.
Before you get to Death Valley - there are two stops to make. Dantes Peak ( a viewing point across the valley ) and Zabriskie Point ( just a few miles before Furnace Creek ) Both have views you would not believe.
Hopefully - by about this time it's early evening. Set up camp just north of Furnace Creek at the camp site near Furnace Creek Ranch ( the ranch has a restaurent, but it's DAMN expensive ) if you've the time. Then you want to head south a few miles from Furnace Creek toward Artists Drive. This is the place from which to watch the sun go down- it lights up the valley sides like you would not believe. Then - back to the camp sight and enjoy the night sky that will literally make you swear out loud. It's that good.
Following morning - head south from the campsite - enjoy Badwater Basin (lowest point in North America) - then head back north - get gas at Furnace Creek... it's expensive, but it's the only gas for about 80 miles in any direction and you do NOT want to run out. Carry on PAST the camp site and up toward Stovepipe Wells - stoping off at the little pull-off near Stovepipe Wells to take in the Sand Dunes - utterly spectacular.
Leaving Death Valley from this road is awesome - you climb up from -200 ft, to over 4000 ft... it's a lot cooler up there and you get awesome views back into Death Valley - PLUS - you then end up driving through Panamint Valley - the views driving into it are utterly breathtaking. There are plenty of places you can pull over and stop to get out and take it all in - the road is fairly quiet as well - if you're stopped for 10 minutes and see more than one car, consider it the rush hour.
That road then takes you back up to 4000ft to come out of Panamint valley - and you end up at Owens Dry Lake - where you can head west, still technically on the 190 ( but you will feel like you're turning off it ) to Olancha.
Head south from there on the 395 - towards Mojave. If you're running ahead of time - stop for lunch - behind schedule - an early dinner
at Mojave Airport's cafe. You can't miss it - it's basically at the foot of the air-traffic control tower. You never know what you might see there, and there's a full sized model of Space Ship One. It's where Scaled Composites, XCor and others are all based. http://www.mojaveairport.com/voyager.htm - Take a tour if you can (just ask at the cafe ) - the Airplane graveyard is the weirdest place you'll ever see.From Mojave airport - you're about 90 minutes from the LA basin - maybe 2 hrs from downtown LA itself.
These photos document the trip from Vegas, through Red Rock Canyon, Death Valley - Zabriskie Point - Badwater Basin - Artists Drive - Mequite Dunes - Panamint Valley and as far as about Olancha - but in reverse - http://gallery.me.com/djellison#100108 - I started at home in Pasadena, and finished in Vegas - with a night in Furnace Creek Ranch.
Or - you know - just do your own thing
Well, since you're from the UK and it may be a once in a lifetime thing..just go to Hollywood. The city is pretty nasty and there is nothing special about it, but get it out of the way and realize it isn't that awesome ha
The Arizona Diamondbacks (Baseball team) are in town and playing from the Aug 30th (I believe) you arrive until September 8th, so you'll easily be able to catch a game there if you wanted. It isn't expensive at all to get tickets.
Couple of places to eat in Phoenix:
Pizzeria Bianco - Voted the best Pizza in the US
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/its-pizza-oscar-for-bianco-says-rachael-ray/
http://www.pizzeriabianco.com/
(It'll be packed more than likely, so be prepared to wait)
LoLo's Chicken and Waffles - Many professional athletes and celebrities eat here. It is similar to LA's Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles
http://loloschickenandwaffles.com/
Both are located downtown.
The Arizona Diamondbacks (Baseball team) are in town and playing from the Aug 30th (I believe) you arrive until September 8th, so you'll easily be able to catch a game there if you wanted. It isn't expensive at all to get tickets.
Couple of places to eat in Phoenix:
Pizzeria Bianco - Voted the best Pizza in the US
http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/15/its-pizza-oscar-for-bianco-says-rachael-ray/
http://www.pizzeriabianco.com/
(It'll be packed more than likely, so be prepared to wait)
LoLo's Chicken and Waffles - Many professional athletes and celebrities eat here. It is similar to LA's Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles
http://loloschickenandwaffles.com/
Both are located downtown.
The good thing about going to a D-Backs game is it's right near the airport and it's also a closed stadium with a partial retractable roof. So if it's to hot while your here they leave the roof closed during a day game and if it's evening and you go the open it half way through the game it it's decent out. I've been to Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium but to me the D'Back's Stadium was just awesome, kinda took my breath away when I walked into it for the first time.
Just enjoy everything you can while your here and do what you think you will really enjoy and take lots of pictures
Just enjoy everything you can while your here and do what you think you will really enjoy and take lots of pictures
I'm going to add in another few spots for you to think about.
If you're landing in PHX and heading up to Flagstaff, you'll be going north on I-17. That will take you right by Sedona, if you wanted to check out the hype around that town.
But seeing that you're going to Flagstaff, 2 things come to mind. 1) Chuck Berry, meaning 2) Route 66. You'll be on it, and its one of the classic roads in the country. You'll see a lot of nostalgia on that road, as it takes you all the way to Kingman. Since you're going to Vegas (about 1:30 north), I'd suggest taking a trip down to it, and run through Oatman, AZ. It's an old mining/ghost town that just came back to life as a huge tourist spot. I literally mean it when I say that the asses run the town. They do. Everyone stops to pet/feed the mules that live there, gunfights every day, and it's really just a fun place.
On the way to LA, you'll be crossing that route a couple of times (Flagstaff, Seligman, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino) up until it ends in Santa Monica.
If you're heading up to SFO, If you have the time, take the scenic route. Highway 101, up the coast. That should put you close to Cupertino as well (hint).
Ditto to everything djellison said about Vegas (I live there).
BL.
If you're landing in PHX and heading up to Flagstaff, you'll be going north on I-17. That will take you right by Sedona, if you wanted to check out the hype around that town.
But seeing that you're going to Flagstaff, 2 things come to mind. 1) Chuck Berry, meaning 2) Route 66. You'll be on it, and its one of the classic roads in the country. You'll see a lot of nostalgia on that road, as it takes you all the way to Kingman. Since you're going to Vegas (about 1:30 north), I'd suggest taking a trip down to it, and run through Oatman, AZ. It's an old mining/ghost town that just came back to life as a huge tourist spot. I literally mean it when I say that the asses run the town. They do. Everyone stops to pet/feed the mules that live there, gunfights every day, and it's really just a fun place.
On the way to LA, you'll be crossing that route a couple of times (Flagstaff, Seligman, Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino) up until it ends in Santa Monica.
If you're heading up to SFO, If you have the time, take the scenic route. Highway 101, up the coast. That should put you close to Cupertino as well (hint).
Ditto to everything djellison said about Vegas (I live there).
BL.
I'm sure some people love Vegas...but 18 hours was enough for me. I'd go again - but ONLY to catch a specific show or conference. The highlight for me was Penn and Teller...which could have been in any theatre in the world.
Every star scattered across the sky above Death Valley was replaced with boobs on flyers on the side-walks. Don't get me wrong - I love boobs ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpl5KvmWL5Y - from 1:20 ) - I really do - but Vegas - it is hedonism, extortion and chauvinistic extremism all wrapped in neon clad vulgarity.
No offense BL If I lived there, I think I'd go insane.
Every star scattered across the sky above Death Valley was replaced with boobs on flyers on the side-walks. Don't get me wrong - I love boobs ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpl5KvmWL5Y - from 1:20 ) - I really do - but Vegas - it is hedonism, extortion and chauvinistic extremism all wrapped in neon clad vulgarity.
No offense BL
If I lived there, I think I'd go insane.