USA 2011/2012
nice reporting!
making me keen as sh!t, only a month and 5 days till im in Tahoe
Hmm I’m kinda looking at Mammoth as another option at the moment, doesn’t look like there’s much around there but might be fun and seems like it get heaps of sunny days which is a big plus with the missus! Any opinions?
Has anyone ever hired an RV (motorhome) to go travelling through the US. We are tossing up options as to what to do, looks more likely that we will be in California most of the time. I notice that Kirkwood has the option to park you’r RV on the mountain for $25 a night, do a lot of mountains allow that sort of thing? We are kinda looking at getting there on 22 Dec and leaving 4 Jan so we have about 2 weeks to have a good look around.
Have a couple of ideas in mind, one is fly into LA, go straight to Vegas, head up to mammoth, then Tahoe, stay there for a 5-6 days then head to San Fran and take the coast back to LA. Another was go from LA to Vegas then onto to Utah.
Motorhome seems good and bad, will be slightly cheaper than accom and hire car but throwing an RV around the streets especially in the snow might be a recipe for disaster, having not been there I don’t know. Rates are pretty good for hotels in the Tahoe area and if we were to do the hotel we would get an SUV hire car making the trips up and down the mountain easier. Any thoughts?
Not a fan of RVs here. I reckon it would be more expensive than hotels too. There are plenty of cheap hotels where you are heading; Motel 6 etc. Much better coming home to a spa and a warm room than a smelly RV.
Accomm is easy in the States. I’m doing a similar trip to you, 30ish days, and we are just going to wing it accomm wise 
.
I had a look into RVs for our trip, but because they are winterised by the rental companies to prevent leaks, etc, you can’t use the toilet or shower on them. Which really is a pain in the arse. Plus they are very pricey.
Your idea about having an SUV and coming from the towns each day is solid. If you’re coming to Kirkwood then South Lake Tahoe is easily doable as a day-trip. As is Heavenly, and really almost all the Tahoe resorts. And that way you have a bit more flexibility.
1 week and 6 days!!! yewwwwwww
Just found out Kirkwood isn’t opening 7 days a week until Friday 9th. So my mate and I have decided to kill some time from the 4th and do a road trip.
I’ll be arriving in San Fran on the 4th, and leaving either late on the 5th or early on the 6th to drive down to LA to meet my mate.
What would you do if you had a car and 3 days to get from LA to Kirkwood? Big Sur, Vegas, Yosemite, Death Valley? We’re up for anything, and don’t mind doing a lot of driving.
yeah i saw that on Kirkwood facebook thought it was a bit strange…. (BTW Kirkwood facebook dude is pretty cool - i don’t mind him being in my newsfeed even though i am not sure when i am ever getting back there!).
Anyway in relation to your question I did the reverse of your trip. Left south lake and heading to vegas…
We did Kings Canyon/Sequoia National park, Death Valley, Yosemite (a great place to stay is The Bug Hostel. I even took my parents back there a few years later)
3days or 3 nites? If you could do Vegas in that I would try… so LA 4hr drive to vegas, cut across to Death Valley and Sequoia NP, Stay at The Bug Hostel and then on to South lake. thats if you don’t mind inland.
If you do this trip bare in mind that highway 88 (what looks like the most direct route) i closed in “winter”. The term Winter being very loose… ie when snow is on the road!
Or go along the coast which is a pretty cool road in itself. If you do the return via the coast then just hotfoot it to LA via highway 5…. but if you do I can also suggest heading to 6 Flags Magic Mountain (I am a bit of a theme park geek!)
Awesome info, thanks for that ozgirl! I think the inland route is the go - really want to see Sequoia NP.
How long did the coast road take? I might drive down it to LA that way, then back up to South Lake via Vegas etc.
We did it in two days but i am pretty sure you can do it in a day.
Well our trip is starting to take shape, extra bonus could be in the pipeline as the gf is having a final interview tomorrow for another role at her airline which will kick her seniority up enough for us to go to LA business class baby! Although I can deal with economy, we’re paying bugger all anyway.
Hitting the ground in the US on 22/12 in the morning, jump in the hire car and hammer up to Mammoth, will probably only do one or two days there before heading to South Lake Tahoe. We’re planning on leaving there for Vegas on the morning of 31st so we can do NYE in Vegas, should be one to remember if we can…........
Do a day or two in Vegas then head back to LA to fly home on the 4th. None of that is set in stone but it should give me about 7 days boarding which isn’t too bad at all. Nailed down a Ford Escape through Thrifty for $400AUD for 13 days, so very cheap couldn’t believe it. 7 nights in South Lake we can pick up still for about $8-900AUD, probably book that this week although I wouldn’t mind knowing where the Heavenly Gondola leaves from and being close to that. Not a massive consideration as will probably only do a couple of days there, my main hitlist is Kirkwood, Squaw and maybe Northstar but will just roll with the weather and take it as it comes.
After that we only need to sort out a night or so in or near Mammoth and something in Vegas although I hear thats very easy and cheap.
so we can ride tahoe together and rock NYE in vegas together haha
i arrive in tahoe on the 20th, then head to vegas on the 29th
Just a thought - vegas is great but South Lake goes off for NYE. it is one of the biggest parties in the country.
Are you sure Vegas on NYE is going to be cheap?
I know where the gondola goes from but could not tell you. LOL. sorry… you want to stay as close to stateline as possible, the gondola is about a block or two from that.
If you want message me the places you are thinking of staying and i can tell you.
The gondola is also is right by Reilys supermarket.
Okay i just google mapped it for you.
Type in Heavenly Valley Cinemas, its in that block there where fire and ice is.
Heavenly bus network is pretty good so i wouldn’t stress too much about location. You might find you walk further from your super close hotel than you woudl busing it.
Again send me you accom ideas and i can tell you my thoughts. (i used to live there and looking at this stuff is making me teary! in a good way!)
so we can ride tahoe together and rock NYE in vegas together haha
i arrive in tahoe on the 20th, then head to vegas on the 29th
Ha ha this might work out well then eh? not sure if my chick is going to want to ride everyday so would be better than riding alone, where you staying in Tahoe Deano?
Okay i just google mapped it for you.
Type in Heavenly Valley Cinemas, its in that block there where fire and ice is.
Heavenly bus network is pretty good so i wouldn’t stress too much about location. You might find you walk further from your super close hotel than you woudl busing it.
Again send me you accom ideas and i can tell you my thoughts. (i used to live there and looking at this stuff is making me teary! in a good way!)
Ozgirl this is a map of some of the accom we are looking at, pretty basic hotel/motel stuff but should be good, we have a hire car and as I mentioned previously will probably only do a couple of days at Heavenly so not a massive deal.
If you think or know some of them are horrible please let me know! Whats the go with Tahoe for NYE? I thought Vegas would be the far better option, will wait and see on that one I spose!