Itinerary for 2010 CA-NV-UT-AR

Frank
Welcome.

When in the San Diego area, Campland by the Bay is more convenient for you and your family and also had good recreational facilities for the kids.  Its close to Sea World and much closer to San Diego downtown area (Balboa Park, Martime museums - aircraft carrier/tall ships etc. and Old Town).  If heading for Los Angeles, then Doheny is somewhat convenient but can be noisy from LAX aircraft.  Campsites are few and far between in the Greater L.A.area.  There are a couple of campgrounds/resorts close to Disney Land, which is not actually in L.A. but in Orange County - approx. 60 miles south of downtown LA .  Universal Studios is approx 20 miles north east of downtown LA.  The distances aren't that great but traffic and the freeway system can be a real problem making unfamiliar driving extremely difficult.  I think I would stay in one of the campgrounds at Disney Land and rent a car or mini bus for a few days to visit the rest of the LA area.  The greater LA or LA Metro are is huge by any standards (approx 90 miles n-s and 60 miles e-w). I would not try to sight-see it in an RV.

There are several campgrounds along The Coast Highway (Rte.1) between Campland and the Disney Land area, San Elio and South Carlsbad State Beach campgrounds are close to each other but you will definitely have to reserve well ahead of time - they fill up months in advance. Most of the sites at these two campgrounds are not full service (Electric/Water/sewer) and may only have water with a dump station.    Paradise By the Bay is a private campground in Oceanside which is the most northern city in the San Diego area.  It's convenient, gets crowded and somwhat noisy from traffic and trains but it's an alternative - again book well in advance.  It will be full every day that time of the year.  There are a couple of campgrounds just north of Oceanside, San Mateo and San Clemente - both similar to San Elio, but San Mateo is a mile or two inland as opposed to overlooking the ocean.

North of LA, also on Route 1 (Coast Highway) is a private campground at Malibu (Malibu Beach RV resort).  It's very scenic, on a bluff overlooking the Pacific and convenient to Santa Monica,  approx. 15 miles north.  A very popular campground for International tourists but also a little expensive - still you are on vacation, who cares about the money!     

Good Luck and reserve ahead.
BT

Its a high of 100 degrees today in Las Vegas.  Unless you wanted a day to play in the casinos I would stay one night and add the day to Zion and Bryce as they are diificult to see in one day let alone both in the same day.  If you stay in Las Vegas getting around the casinos is not easy and you need to use a lot of taxi time so maybe consider staying the night at a casino and parking the RV.  If you do stay in Las Vegas as planned day trips include redrock canyon and the Charleston Mountains (cooler)

Buddy Tott said:

 If heading for Los Angeles, then Doheny is somewhat convenient but can be noisy from LAX aircraft. 

Click to expand...

I think you mean Dockweiler. Doheny is south of LA, near San Juan Capistrano.

Any of the California State Beaches require reservations in the summer (also in the winter on weekends). They mostly book up the day they go on sale, seven months out.

Don't try to see Zion AND Bryce in the same day, you'll be disappointed in both. Give each park a whole day.

Enjoy your trip
Wendy

I live in LA.  If I were came to the LA area in an RV to tour, I would base the RV in a campground in the Pomona area and rent a car to tour LA with.  The streets and freeways will handle an RV with few problems; however, parking would be impossible -- much easier in a rented sedan.  Campsites in the coastal areas, particularly the beaches are impossible in the summer -- hell, parking is darn near impossible. 

Anyway, Disneyland is mandatory I suppose tho with kids your ages, Knotts Berry Farm with its Wild West motif might be more enjoyable.  Hollywood Blvd is tacky but worth a look in.  The Paige Museum at the La Brea Tar Pits is a nice relief (lots of fossil monster critters) and the LA County Museum of Art is next door to bore the kids with. 

The Pier at Santa Monica has a nice carnival and the famous carousel from the movie "The Sting".  The nearby Third Street Promenade is fun to shop in.  Catch the British fish 'n chips and beer at the Kings Head Pub on Broadway and 2nd.  All are in walking distance in Santa Monica.  Paramount Studios have tours of a real working studio.

If you want to catch the studio crowd at lunch or dinner, take in downtown Culver City and eyeball the folks from Sony, Tri Star, Columbia, and such at a dozen or so trendy bistros and wine bars.

The art museum to end all art museums is the spectaluar Getty Center in West LA.  Take it in the evening for a spectacular view of coastal LA.

By the way those mountains north and east of the town are 6000 to 10,000 feet high.

Yes Wendy, you are correct...just having a little brain fade.

Carl, the RV parks at Pomona (Raceway - KOA I believe and at East Shore??? - basically same location) are resonably convenient when visiting LA - but as you suggested, not in an RV.  Beyond these two parks, those near Disneyland and Dockweiler there isn't much else to offer.    I definitely second the Santa Monica trip...and the Kings Head pub, but it's in the 100 blk of Santa Monica Blvd., not Broadway (one block north).  Evenings on 3rd St (mostly T/F/S) are filled with street entertainers and well worth a visit. 

BT

Indeed, 132 Santa Monica Blvd. 

There are some parks in the San Fernando Valley but they tend to monthly renters and are even more isolated from the LA Basin and its sights. 

May I also recommend Venice Beach for sightseeing.  There is rarely a moment on Venice Beach that there is not a sight to be seen:  drum circles, chainsaw jugglers, weight lifters at Muscle Beach, guitar players, hip-hop dancers, etc. etc..

Enter at Venice Blvd or Washington Blvd and walk between them.

What about Bolsa Chica to the south or Malibu Creek to the west?

Wendy

The places Frank hopes to visit are very similar to our own itinery only we are lucky enough to be travelling from Mid Sept to Mid Dec. Has anyone got any comments on the weather during this period. Particularly towards end of Nov/Dec. Coming from the UK we are very unused to the large variances you seem to get within one area due to altitude. In the UK as a generalisation it is warmer in the south than the north and a bit cooler up our so called mountains - nothing on your scale!! We are planning Vegas in OCtober and then in to Utah returning further south in end Nov/Dec. Julie

Julie,

As an ex-pat Taff, I understand your concern; We were used to being perpetually wet and rusty, but rarely had the same extremes of weather.

Parts of Southern Utah will have snow, and many RV parks will likely be closed &/or unreachable, others will see below freezing temperatures. e.g. see these pages for some Utah Parks weather:

http://www.zion.national-park.com/weather.htm

http://www.arches.national-park.com/weather.htm

Hopefully, someone with first hand knowledge of Utah winter weather will jump in.
[edit]Fixed typos.[/edit]

We traveled across southern Utah last fall. You can see some pictures and info here. The weather, as I recall, was delightful. Chilly at night but not too cold and great hiking weather during the day. However, you never know what the weather is going to do in the area and snow before Thanksgiving weekend is not unusual, especially at higher elevations. The further northeast you go in Utah and the higher you go in elevation, the better your chances of hitting cold weather and/or snow. The good news is that usually any snow is short-lived and melts away quickly.

Wendy

Hi Tom

What a heat!!!  :'(

I have used your link and looked for the weather forecast for St. George and Zion NP. Today they will have 106 ?F (41 ?C)....unbelievable...terrible!
Today, also Thursday, the weather stations here have announced the hottest day in Germany for this year and since 10 Years - unbelievable 35 ?C (95 ?F). This is not comparable but enough for German "Softies"  .
I hope our A/C in the RV will work.

Currently we are also discussing our stopover in Las Vegas. Because of the heat in LV we would like to go in a hotel. So we get away from the heat in the noon and in the night! I think this is the best idea! My daughter (15 years old) has explored some hotels there because she would sleep in a "Princess Hotel", like a little sweet princess.
You see, we are all exited!

My countdown shows : 10 Month 25 Days ( America - we are coming)  ;D ;D ;D ;D

Hi,

Vegas isn't all that bad; hot and dry. The last time we visited (I grew up in Maine), we walked the strip from end to end during the heat of the day - it was July 4. If you really want misery, try Houston in the summer 95-100 deg. F and 80-90% relative humidity.

I'd suggest you find an RV park with a pool and make sure any RV over 25 feet has dual air conditioners (implies a need for 50A service).

Have a great visit!

Ernie

We were in Vegas in August 2007 with temperatures in region of 100 degrees. Coming from the UK thats obviously something we were not used to. Walked out of the airport and like hitting a wall- totally unexpected that it was so hot! But it wasn't as bad as it sounds. We hit the pool in the morning, did attractions inside the hotels or slept through the middle of the day and did the strip once the sun had gone down which in my opinion is the best time anyway to appreciate the lights etc.
At the beginning of the holiday we stayed at Excaliber - a true fairy tale to look at and we had no complaints, nice rooms, lovely pool and good reasonable restaurant for breakfast. At the end of the holiday we stayed on the Circus Circus RV Campground. Expensive as campgrounds go but convenient because its on The Strip. Nice pool on the campground although quite small. We had great weather throughout our trip - only 1 night was a problem which was at Lake Havasau and the air con just couldn't cope.

Julie