TR - 5369 miles later! - Coast to Coast with a little Disney Magic

[alicia1506]

Wow andona this tr is so fabulous. There are so many amazing places on this trip and some amazing experiences you have had. I never would have included places like carlsbad or tombstone in my trip but seeing them through your tr has shown me the joy that 'off the beaten track' can bring. Seriously rethinking our disneypalooza trip now

Oh and yay to dh getting off with a warning i would have been terrified

[Aussie Wendy]

More fantastic sounding days and sights. It all looks great. Loved the pic from the Roswell Museum-just how we imagined it...and what's a road trip without an encounter with the law. Lucky they weren't some corrupt cops from the A Team or Smoky & the Bandit days! (..sorry my impression of US road cops is 70's stereotype). Nice you just got a warning-so easy to creep over the speed limit on good roads. You make me want to rush out and do the same trip immediately.

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

Love that picture of you with the cactii. I cannot believe the size of them, wow. Tombstone sounds so interesting, definitely added to my never ending list. And of course Roswell sounds delish. A bit scary about your run in with the law . I bet you got a fright when you saw the police car tearing up behind you. I fun tale to tell now though.

Loving your TR so much.

[Marlea98]

Thank you for sharing. We're going to New Orleans as well so I'm studying everything you're posting.

[Andona]

On the way to Flagstaff we visited Montezuma Castle National Monument, where you can see remains of a surprisingly large series of apartments that were occupied 800 years ago by the Sinagua people. The structure is 4 stories high and built into limestone cliffs high above a green river valley. It's hard to imagine what possessed them to build in such an inaccessible place!



Then we stopped in Sedona which is a very popular vacation town set in absolutely stunning red rock scenery.
Sedona has been taken over by the new-age crowd as there are supposed to be 4 vortices (whatever they are?!) nearby. the town is awash with Soul readers, zen therapists, crystal stores and every mystic business that you can think of! The are also several expensive hotels and lots and lots of chi chi boutiques, cafes and restaurants packed with (today) weekend visitors.

Luckily you can find places around town where you can enjoy the stunning scenery without all the other stuff !




Heading west from Flagstaff DH was keen to drive some of Route 66 so we left the interstate at Seligman, which is a tiny little town making the most of its Route 66 credentials. The little main street is packed wall to wall with quirky gift shops and cafes and gas stations chock full of 50's memorabilia and Route 66 souvenirs. There's a pink Edsel parked outside one of them with life size models of Elvis and a girl sitting on the back!



Me and my buddy, James Dean


The road led us back down to Kingman where we stopped in at Mr Dz Route 66 Diner. DH and I had wondered if DS would recognise it as we had eaten there in 2008, and sure enough as we into the parking lot he perked up and said "haven't we been here before?" we've discovered DS has a great memory for food places :-)

The diner is a gorgeous recreation of a 50s diner, with laminate tables and chrome chairs upholstered in mint and pink vinyl. The food is great and the boys had home made root beer. I was really tempted to have a malted milk shake to keep in the theme but my clothes have been getting tighter ever since Florida so I gave it a miss!



From Kingman it's about an hour through increasingly arid desert to the Colorado river at Hoover Dam. DH was really looking forward to driving across the new bridge that towers over the dam and it didn't disappoint.

Twenty minutes later we pulled into the parking lot of the Las Vegas Premium Outlets for a little shopping.

I had booked Our final night of the trip at the Venetian. I was excited to be staying here as I'd thought it looked beautiful the one time we'd seen it on a previous trip. The room was just beautiful but it took us a week to find it! I'd forgotten just how huge the Vegas hotels are and how hard it can be to find your way around.





We negotiated the crowds inside and outside the hotel to go across the road to the Mirage casino, where we had booked tickets to see "The Beatles -Love by Cirque du Soleil" I'm so glad we went, the show was simply fantastic! If you enjoy Beatles music I'd heartily recommend it next time you're in Vegas. It was a wonderful way to finish our last night .

You cant take photos in the theatre but this is the entrance to it.


On our last day we headed west of Vegas to drive through the beautiful Red Rock Scenic Canyon - with 100's of other people who were also enjoying the Columbus Day Weekend!



Finally we set off for Los Angeles, but I'm pleased to say we did a little Outlet shopping in Barstow along the way.

Around 5pm we finally arrived at Santa Monica Pier and the Pacific Ocean - 5,369 Miles ( or 8,640 Km ) since we'd left the Pacific Ocean in Fort Lauderdale!!



I still had one more mission on this trip...a DIS mission! When we were waiting at the gate I got some funny looks from people as I prowled around looking at everyone's carryon bag. I was hunting for a super bright coloured, glossy, fishy one that I'd seen posted on the boards here several weeks ago. Finally I found it AND AustralianKaren

We had a quick chat there and a longer one in Auckland while we were waiting for our connecting flight and then she and her DH were only a row behind us on the final flight!! It just goes to show you never know WHEN you might run into a fellow DISer

Well, that's it for our 2012 Road trip witha little Disney Magic on the side. I don't know if I'll ever get back to Disney again but I KNOW I'll be back to the USA again. Just can't seem to stay away and there is STILL a lot more to see.

Andona

[zanzibar138]

An awesome finish to a great trip! And I actually recognised some of the stuff from this last section I know what you mean about the Vegas hotels... couldn't believe how far it was between the carpark, check in desk, and the room Looks like it was nice once you got there though

Thanks for sharing your trip with us It's been great to see a bit more of the US through the eyes of an Aussie DISer, even though my DH is none too pleased with you for giving me more ideas

[alicia1506]

andona this has been a great, great TR. thank you for sharing your journey with us

[Caroline NZ]

Thanks for sharing Andona. If "Love" is still showing in Las Vegas in Sep next year we may go and see it, it's good to hear favourable reviews of the show.

[Minnie Sue Oz]

Andona, may I say a heartfelt thanks from me to you and your lovely family for allowing us to come along on your journey with you. My DH has never been interested much in my DISboard ramblings but has actually been asking "has that lady put any more photo's on yet"

Have added a few extra spots to the trip now that we may have missed otherwise!

Cheers

[Ms. Shuttergirl]

The minute I saw the hotel room in Vegas, before I read where you were staying I knew. The beautiful Venetian. We stayed there in 2009 and thought the rooms were wonderful. I totally agree though about how far it was to get to the rooms and they really don't make them easy to find.

Enjoyed reading about your last few days but mostly I enjoyed following your whole journey. An amazing TR that has clearly inspired so many of us to take our own roadtrips.

Thanks so much for sharing the journey and taking precious time out of your trip to do so.

[PrincessInOz]

Great TR Andona. That's a great deal of miles but what fantastic memories and experiences to go with it.

Loved every minute of it from my vicarious computer-side seats.

And yes....the travel bug gets to us all.

[Melbourne5]

What a trip! So glad you enjoyed ' love' . I thought it was fantastic and the best cirque of the 4 I have seen.

[areweindisneyyet]

Welcome home. What an amazing trip, thanks for letting us ride along.

[Marlea98]

The bridge over Hoover Dam is amazing, isn't it! We drove over it a few times while looking for the dam because our hired GPS hadn't been updated this century I'm sure, and it didn't show it as being there and we couldn't see the dam because of the high walls of the bridge!

I'd love to know what kind of camera you used for your pics? The color is strong. Did you touch them up or are they as they are?

[Andona]

hey, Thanks everyone!!

I really should thank you guys because you were all a great motivator for me to do the TR as we went along - if I had to turn around and start it now I'd probably have forgotten half of the little details

Originally Posted by Ms. Shuttergirl

Love that picture of you with the cactii. I cannot believe the size of them, wow. Tombstone sounds so interesting, definitely added to my never ending list. And of course Roswell sounds delish. A bit scary about your run in with the law . I bet you got a fright when you saw the police car tearing up behind you. I fun tale to tell now though.

Loving your TR so much.

When I looked in the mirror and saw the patrol car with all the flashing lights behind us I was NOT happy! It was such a relief when the cop said "Just a friendly warning this time" - I spent most of the rest of the trip asking DH what speed he was doing

Originally Posted by zanzibar138

An awesome finish to a great trip! And I actually recognised some of the stuff from this last section I know what you mean about the Vegas hotels... couldn't believe how far it was between the carpark, check in desk, and the room Looks like it was nice once you got there though

Thanks for sharing your trip with us It's been great to see a bit more of the US through the eyes of an Aussie DISer, even though my DH is none too pleased with you for giving me more ideas

Apologies to your DH Gotta love the DIS for giving us all great ideas

Originally Posted by Caroline NZ

Thanks for sharing Andona. If "Love" is still showing in Las Vegas in Sep next year we may go and see it, it's good to hear favourable reviews of the show.

It's been running for 5 years so I hope it's still going when you get there, it was just wonderful!

Originally Posted by Minnie Sue Oz

Andona, may I say a heartfelt thanks from me to you and your lovely family for allowing us to come along on your journey with you. My DH has never been interested much in my DISboard ramblings but has actually been asking "has that lady put any more photo's on yet"

Have added a few extra spots to the trip now that we may have missed otherwise!

Cheers

Aww, thanks Minnie Sue! My DH also has a bit more respect for the DIS now, especially after he heard AustralianKaren's story about her super cheap airfares from expedia.ie . I think these spouses don't always understand the power of the DIS

Originally Posted by Melbourne5

What a trip! So glad you enjoyed ' love' . I thought it was fantastic and the best cirque of the 4 I have seen.

It was great wasnt it! Although I still think you got the ultimate musical experience with the Neil Diamond concert

Originally Posted by Marlea98

The bridge over Hoover Dam is amazing, isn't it! We drove over it a few times while looking for the dam because our hired GPS hadn't been updated this century I'm sure, and it didn't show it as being there and we couldn't see the dam because of the high walls of the bridge!

I'd love to know what kind of camera you used for your pics? The color is strong. Did you touch them up or are they as they are?

The bridge is just amazing isn't it! My DH had been watching the construction via webcam so it was a must do thing for him.

Would you believe these photos were all taken with my iPhone 4S! I was so happy with it, I ended up using it for video as well as it was much lighter and easier to carry around than my video camera.

My DH asked me today if I'd started planning our next trip. He was only joking but I have to see I have a few ideas running around in my head...

Andona