The great American West in 23 days (page 2 of 2)

Anything’s possible 🤔 — a quick detour to Vancouver, and I can shorten the Portland and Seattle stay to finish there. The road doesn’t scare me, lol. I’m already planning a round-trip to Morocco by car just before the US 😄 — 2 weeks in Morocco, then we’re back and we take the flight to the US

Anything is possible 🤔 a quick detour to Vancouver, I can shorten the Portland and Seattle stay to finish in Vancouver, I'm not afraid of the road lol I'm already planning a round trip to Morocco by car just before the US 😄 2 weeks in Morocco, we come back and take the plane to the US

Oh right, you didn’t mention all that. If you’re leaving the country, it does get more complicated.

So, it’s up to you.

Here’s the detailed itinerary:

Day 1: Depart from Orly for San Francisco (flight at 6:30 PM) with French Bee, arrive in the evening so spend the night at the airport

Day 2: Flight to Los Angeles at 6:00 AM, arrive around 9:00 AM, pick up the car in Santa Monica, morning at Venice Beach, then lunch, and in the early afternoon head to the hotel in Buena Park. Either relax by the pool or go grocery shopping. In the evening, take a walk in Hollywood

Day 3: Visit the Getty Villa, Malibu, Point Dume, downtown Santa Monica, lunch at New Panda, then the art museum, Original Farmers Market, Central Market, and in the evening, Santa Monica Pier and a good burger at In-N-Out Burger

Day 4: Depart for San José, and on the way, visit Griffith Observatory and the Hollywood Sign, then a 5-hour drive to the hotel in San José. In the evening, walk around Municipal Rose Garden and Santana Row

Day 5: Explore San Francisco using public transport—park at the entrance of the city near a station and cover all of downtown San Francisco, ending with the sunset at the Golden Gate

Day 6: (It’s a Monday, I’ll spend it in Palo Alto) Free time for the rest of the family—either stay at the hotel and enjoy the pool or explore San Francisco. They’ll have the car, and I’ll take an Uber and meet up with them when I’m done

Day 7: Early departure around 7:00 AM for Lassen Volcanic Park (4-hour drive). Spend the day there (maybe head down to Lake Almanor if it’s too hot), then drive to the hotel in Yreka (3-hour drive)

Day 8: Leave for Portland (5-hour drive), arrive at the hotel, spend the afternoon by the pool, then head out in the evening to explore Portland (Pioneer Place, Portlandia)

Day 9: Relaxing day in Portland—walk in Washington Park, International Rose Test Garden

Day 10: Depart for Seattle (3-hour drive). I’ll drop everyone off at the hotel in Renton after lunch and head to see my supplier. In the evening, explore Seattle

Day 11: Walk around Seattle—Space Needle, Seattle Great Wheel, aquarium, Gum Wall, etc.

Day 12: Woodland Park Zoo, take the ferry to Bainbridge Island, or spend a quiet evening in Seattle. Need to go to bed early

Day 13: Leave early around 6:30 AM for Butte, stopping at the famous Dutton Ranch (9-hour drive), then 2 more hours to Butte (this is the only long leg at 660 miles)

Day 12: Day at Yellowstone (see the geysers, Artist Point, Mammoth Hot Springs), then return to the hotel

Day 13: Leave the hotel and head to Grand Teton Park (3.5-hour drive). Spend the day there, then sleep in Idaho Falls

Day 14: Leave Idaho Falls for Salt Lake City (3-hour drive). Visit the Capitol, the two Temples, Tabernacle, relax at the hotel, then explore downtown in the evening

Day 15: Visit Bonneville, the Great Salt Lake, and Spiral Jetty

From here, I think I’ll revise the rest of the itinerary

Day 16: Leave the hotel for a 4-hour drive to St. George—Red Hills Desert, Pioneer Park, Snow Canyon—arrive in Las Vegas at night

Day 17: A full day in Las Vegas

Day 18: Leave Las Vegas for Williams (3.5-hour drive)

Day 19: Day at the Grand Canyon

Day 20: Depart for Los Angeles

Day 21: Relaxing day in Newport

Day 22: Depart for France

So I’m considering maybe doing:

Day 16: Leave the hotel for St. George and sleep in La Verkin

Day 17: Head to Page to sleep (see what we can do there)

Day 18: Depart for Williams

Day 19: Grand Canyon

Day 20: Depart for Las Vegas

Day 21: Full day in Las Vegas

Day 22: Depart for Los Angeles (flight at 7:45 PM)

Hi,

Sorry to burst your bubble, but your itinerary is unsustainable. You’ve bitten off more than you can chew. You’re spreading yourself way too thin, unfortunately.

Just Yellowstone alone requires at least 3 or 4 full days, plus a full day at Grand Teton.

Yellowstone alone takes at least 3/4 full days + 1 day in Grand Teton.

The geyser eruptions last an average of 9 to 12 minutes... It’s not too far from the parking lot. Just gotta time it right, and then we can hit the road to another park, right?

It could work, yeah—especially since eruption forecasts are pretty reliable. 🤪

By day 7, I already find it really tough with the jet lag still hitting hard. High risk of accidents during the last 3 hours on the road in the evening. Plus, the next day you're lining up another 5 hours of driving...

But then day 13! ... Well, just forget it. 9 hours of driving is completely unreasonable... You're not in France. 9 hours of driving in the US on Google will actually be at least 11 hours with just bathroom breaks and quick snacks.

Not sure if it's just me, but I see:

Day 12 Day 13 day 12 day 13

After just one day at Yellowstone, well, don’t bother... it’s not worth it.

Day 20 Grand Canyon - Los Angeles 7.5 hours of driving on Google (plan for at least 10 hours in reality with bathroom breaks and grabbing a quick bite without stopping to sightsee).

You might want to rethink all of this.