Observations from my American road trip

jonnyburgo

iseverynamegone said:

jonnyburgo said:

That sounds great, not being parronising but you do realise the distance between SF and Las Vegas? I would suggest a stop over if possible, still long drives with a stop off. LA to Las Vegas driving is about 5 hrs which is ok but SF to LA is quite a big one. Pismo beach is a good halfway stopover between SF and LA

If I was driving SF to LV I’d go through Lee Vining and stay there a night. That would leave 2 x @5hr drives but takes in Tuolome Meadows at Yosemite , sunrise at Mono Lake and that a half day in Death Valley NP.  And all the driving on that route once you get near Yosemite onwards is amazing.   

If i were to do it again, id miss out Vegas and go more rural and national parky. As it was my first US trip i wanted to see a few obvious iconic things, plus having kids means its a bit boring for them just going to the parks, unless yhere is wild swimming which they love. Next one will be New York/New England and surroinding spots, not for a couple of years yet though.

UnclePsychosis

Adi said:

San Francisco is an epitome of liberal utopia , full of shit, drug addicts and homeless people , living next to Silicon Valley millionaires as one happy family

^^^doesn't know what the word utopia means. 

rsvmark

Currently on hols in US.

Started in San Fran- nice place. Did the Alcatraz thing which was excellent. Met an ex inmate, bought his book. Did the hire a bike and cycle over the bridge Along with 1000s of others. Good city Tour and nice walk through Golden gate park. Avoid Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s Blackpool with fish. 4 days there and was expensive.

Flew to Vegas. Stayed in a posh and v expensive hotel. Poor service and terrible vibe. Flew out to the Grand Canyon and got a helicopter to the bottom. Awesome trip. Day by the pool- hotter than hell but at least I spotted Steve Vai’s triple neck in Hard Rock. Cirque du soleil show was great.

Flew to LA. Great city tour yesterday and a quick trip to the Guitar centre and spotted the frankenstrat replica in the window. Went to Universal studios all day today which was superb. Off to Venice beach tomorrow for our last full day here. 

Now officially broke. Been a holiday of a lifetime though!

RandallFlagg

We did the LA/LV trip last year stayed in Hollywood and on the LV strip, spent a fortune on an 18 day holiday.

We all agreed that we preferred the east coast New York/Boston trip, better food, better vibe, no homeless crazies roaming the streets and no stench of marijuana everywhere you go!

Wolfetone

Fortheloveofguitar said:

The whole tipping thing in the states drives me mad. We’ve several friends over there and apparently you’re supposed to tip the basic amount even if you have bad service. Fuck that!

I’m actually a good tipper but if I receive shoddy service and they still expect 15% you’re getting nothing. They hold their hand out for tips there for doing naff all 

Agreed. I wouldn't tip for counter service but would tip 20% for anything sit down. I have found that the attitudes of the staff in the fast food places particularly can often be poor bordering on rude. The restaurants tend to be very different.

Great place though.

dano

Jalapeno said:

ronnyb said:

 

Mmm, 101 SF to San Jose. Been up and down there a few times. Mrs Ronny usually drove so i bought her this to remind her.

Best bit of 101 is after San Jose/Santa Cruz going south through Big Sur

Highway 1 is the coast road through Big Sur, 101 is more inland. Definately an awesome drive down there.

DesVegas

Venice Beach - where crime and art meet.

thecolourbox

I saw the tipping thing in much the same way as the prices of products in shops being exclusive of tax. They probably seem rude about it because it's a different cultural norm - though I'd agree myself that the businesses should be paying their staff enough in the first place in order to completely avoid this as a problem

rsvmark

DesVegas said:

Venice Beach - where crime and art meet.

Thanks for the warning- we are going there today!

jonnyburgo

Venice is a trip. I loved it, I’d suggest renting bikes and cycling Venice to Santa Monica and back

Samgb

Adi said:

San Francisco is an epitome of liberal utopia , full of shit, drug addicts and homeless people , living next to Silicon Valley millionaires as one happy family

Whatever your politics, if you think it's Liberals who take away social security, mental health services and the kind of societal safety net that stops people ending up on drugs in the street while the rich live in unbelievable privilege then i'm pretty sure you're on crack too.  

rsvmark

jonnyburgo said:

Venice is a trip. I loved it, I’d suggest renting bikes and cycling Venice to Santa Monica and back

Santa Monica was much better than Venice imho- lots of great music and magic.... as opposed to Venice which was a big market selling stuff. Ymmv