Pacific Highway and Death Valley, Yosemite road trip - tips pls

[TakeAnOldBagShopping]

2 teens, DH and I have a 3-week road trip booked on the West Coast of the USA in July. Yes, I know it is going to be very hot, but summer holidays and exams mean we can only go then. There are at least 2 nights in each stop, more in the beach areas.

Our itinerary is;

Fly into Vegas and drive up with hire car to , Pahrump, Death Valley
Coarsegold, Yosemite
Pismo Beach
Los Angeles
Mission Beach
Grand Canyon
Las Vegas

Has anyone been to any of these places, and/or drove the Pacific Highway?

Any tips, recommendations of stop offs, sightseeing, places of interest, things to avoid and great places to buy food or eat out?

Thx

Yes, similar, but just with DH. It was fabulous.

We started by flying to Denver and taking the train across the Rockies to San Francisco, which was fabulous. You just gawp at the quality and quantity of scenery, the train goes through nowhere - no roadside motels, no McD, gives you much more of a feel for what it would have been like for pioneers.

Death Valley was the highlight - my computer screensaver is of DH overlooking Death Valley - we stayed in the motel in the middle and wished we'd stayed an extra night. Las Vegas is hideous but a must-do experience especially driving in - you drive through a desert and then this spaceship place looms over the horizon. For us one night was definitely enough and we need never go again.

I know LV is going to be hideous, but I’ll enjoy it and have a laugh for what it is. I’m hoping it’s the stereotype I think it is.

I want to stalk the slot machines with a bucket and jump on when someone quits their losing streak.

Did it for my 30th (some years ago now). Arranged as a surprise by DH. Took 2 weeks.

Flew into San Francisco, straight out to Monterey Bay for the night - gorgeous, want to go back.

Down Highway 10 to Big Sur, stayed over on the beach at San Simeon which was lush.

Down to LA, up to Hollywood sign and straight out. Across to Joshua Tree, stayed for a couple of nights.

Down to Vegas. Stayed 2 or 3 nights (turning 30). Hated it
apart from the helicopter ride into the Grand Canyon.

Through Death Valley to Bishop for overnight.

Yosemite for 2 nights.

San Francisco for a couple of nights then home.

The pacific highway, mono lake and Grand Canyon were indescribably stunning. We have a whole wall of framed poster sized prints up of them.

Hoover Dam is worth a visit whilst in Vegas. We hated Vegas and ended up going out to Boulder City to eat a couple of times instead.
Yosemite was our highlight. We were lucky enough to see a bear trundling down to the river right in front of us. There were huge fires with road closures when we went so our plans to cross through Yosemite over several days were changed and we had to stay in Mariposa for a few days and drive in to hike each day, then drive south outside Yosemite to get to Vegas. It had some positives tho, Mariposa county fair was on which turned out to be a rip roaring true country fair where all the real local cowboys came out for the night. Such a fun night just people watching.
Ahh reminiscing makes me want to do another road trip.

Keep an eye on Big Sur road closures. As of this weekend it still isn't completely open

All great places to visit and shouldn't be too hot (Vegas, DV excepted) - the west doesn't get the humidity the east does, which is unbearable in summer.

Special shout out to Pismo Beach and Mission Beach. Great cafes, shops and restaurants in the former, and the latter? Well, San Diego is one of the most underrated cities in the US in my opinion - fantastic beaches (Mission, Pacific and Ocean) and lots to see and visit - USS Midway is a personal favourite

What to do in the Summer - Death Valley National Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Have put up the above link from the National Park Service only because you are planning on going there in July. Keep yourself up to date with park conditions in Yosemite and the like as these can and do change very quickly.

Casinos in LV no longer have buckets by their slot machines; its all digitised now. I would not personally describe LV as hideous.

It had some positives tho, Mariposa county fair was on which turned out to be a rip roaring true country fair where all the real local cowboys came out for the night. Such a fun night just people watching.

We were “in luck” happening upon a county fair in Nebraska in Aug 2017. They looked at us like heathens when we asked if there was any craft beer so we watched toddlers shoot live ammunition at the shooting range instead. 😳

Many years ago dh and I did a west coast road trip, we started and finished in LA, did Death Valley, Las Vegas and Grand Canyon. I second Hoover Dam as a good visit. I loved Death Valley and would love to go back, it felt spiritual, such peace there. There had been a lot of rain before we arrived and some roads were washed away, I’d hire a 4x4 to see more of the park next time.

GC was so busy I was a bit underwhelmed really there. We went to Walnut Canyon which is near Grand Canyon and loved it there, high desert on one side and high forest on the other.

The scale of LV is something to behold, we were only there for a couple of nights, did breakfast at MGM and I’ve never seen so much food in my life, it was incredible.

Distances between places were enormous and we spent a lot of time driving. Was beautiful would love to go back.

We did San Francisco to Los Angeles last year. As someone else said, you still can't go all the way through and it's quite a detour!
Our highlights were Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. Pismo beach was OK, I preferred Carmel and Santa Monica.