UPDATE - Changes to the Grand Canyon

This was the other part of the trip that was playing on my mind... The hotel that was booked was a great location and I was happy with this until there was talk on the LP forum that it would be much better for us as a family to try and get lodgings in the actual park (same situation like it was with Yosemite)

The booked hotel was the closest that there was at Booking.com and I did not know that they actually had lodgings in the park... this I checked out via some links from the forum and found that there was a village on the rim of the south side of the canyon... This was run by the actual park itself and it looks great :)

The village is right on the rim with the hotels both at the rim and set a little back...
You also get shops / restaurants / info. center / shuttle buses / a train into the village...

Perfect :)

Then I read that you have to book 6-9 months in advance to secure a room...

We have 5 months...

Made the search and crossed my fingers...

Hotel after hotel came onto the screen as "Booked"

Then I remembered from the LP forum that someone named that they always keep some ADA (The Americans with Disabilities Act) rooms free... and I found a button on the search page to look for these rooms...

I thought that I would give it a go...

1 hotel came back with a room available for the 2 nights :)

I booked it wondering if it was actually ok to book.. I know our daughter has special needs and has a ID card etc... but would that be enough to qualify for the room ?
She is always tried and cant walk too far or do too much due to her needs - so for me to be so close to the rim was needed... I continued to book...

Then a question pops up that you have to accept to complete your booking... the question was asking if you need this type of room for someone in your group... I was in doubt again if I could book...
Then it says "or if no other room is available for your stay" :) this confirmed it for me and it is now booked :)

Could not be happier with this upgrade...

Bonus: Pizza Pub :)
The difference between a hotel on its own where you have to drive to see anything compared to a village where we can step out of the door and walk around with the kids is a huge difference to us.

Also the fact that many have told me that we NEED to see the sunrise at the rim looking over the canyon... from the old hotel it was a 15-20 minute drive and that early in the morning with the kids could be a problem... now we have just 400 meters - this is now possible...

UPDATE - Changes to the Yosemite part of the trip...

I have been reading more reviews from actual people that have visited Yosemite and I have also taken the advice from my Loney Planet forum link...

1) The original hotel that I booked was outside of the Yosemite park and this driving time would be wasted in and out each day... (4-6 hours a day)

So this would limit the time we were to spend in the actual Yosemite Valley.

2) The drive from Yosemite to Vegas was starting to play on my mind... it is a long drive and I want to spend the time enjoying the drive with stops when needed and taking the time in Death Valley to see it...

So now I have the following changes...

• Original hotel at "Yosemite Westgate Lodge" is cancelled for the 2 nights
• New booking made for 1 night in Yosemite Valley - Half Dome Village (Apartment)
• New booking for a tram sightseeing tour of the lower floor valley (2 Hours)
• New booking made for 1 night at Death Valley - Panamint Springs (Cottage)

With this new change I hope that we have a more relaxed part of the trip.

The cost has increased but I think that this will be paid for with quality time :)

Thinking that the drive from San Francisco to Yosemite Valley would be a nice trip that is only 5-6 hours and this will be broken up with stops on the way - we can take this relaxed in a day

Thinking that staying in that valley we will get so see so much more in a more limited time and to help this I have booked a 2 hour tram sightseeing tour with a guide so that we can see the highlights of the area and understand more of the area.

Thinking that the drive out of Yosemite will also be very beautiful, slow moving and we will be stopping a few times... then with the drive down to Death Valley I did not want to miss anything and it has been suggested to visit "Badwater" and this will add an hour or so onto the trip...

So I have now booked a night in a 2 bedroom cottage on the west rim of Death Valley... should be fun :) 

Back to catch the flight home from LA

This last drive back to LA from the Grand Canyon was the only part of the trip that I thought would be just a "long Drive" nothing to see or do and no where to stop...

I could not just end this trip in this way and I needed to find a fun way to end this... after a short time on the net I have found the way home :)

We will be driving on the Historic Route 66 once again... we will try as much as we can to follow it back to LA and this time it will be longer with some stops on the way.

For now I will just book the hotel and then like all the places booked I will look at the details later.

I thought that I would need to stop half way back to LA but from the forums I can see that this is not needed so I would rather book 2 nights close to LA than 1 half way and the other close to LA - this way we have a short rest before the flight home to Denmark.

When reading about the Route "66" I come across a chain of motels that were built on the route and they were called "Wigwam villages" and Built in the 1930's - 1940's
Back in the day there were 7 locations of these villages but today there are only 2 locations left and I have booked 2 nights at the village in California at the city boundary between Rialto and San Bernardino. I could not get a single wigwam for the 4 of us as they are already sold out (with 5 months in advance) so I have booked 2 Deluxe Queen wigwams.

Hotel Nr. 8 (2 Nights)

Wigwam Motel info.

Last leg of the trip to book - The Grand Canyon...

One of the highlights of the trip so lets make it a nice stay...

How close can we get ?

People have been saying that we need to see the sun rise over the canyon... For this with 2 young kids I think that we need to be close otherwise this will not happen..

I have found that the hotel "Best Westen Premier Grand Canyon Squire" is the one it will be...

Hotel Nr. 7 (2 Nights)

Grand Canyon Via Wikipedia

Now that this is the end of the trip we need to find out how to get back to Los Angeles..??

We have 2 more nights left of the trip and we need to find out how to use them.

I can see that the drive is 500 miles / 800 km

Las Vegas - Booked (2 nights for now - could be changed to 1)

Vegas booked

The Rita Suits - As close to the strip as I could get without spending all of our gambling money... Las Vegas has never really done anything for me, I have of course seen it on TV and in the movies but never had the urge to visit...

A city of Hotels / Casinos surrounded by a poor neighborhood of addicted gamblers and nothing much more... maybe I have been watching the wrong programs and there is more to it... maybe I will be surprised in a positive way...

Of course I would like to see the strip at night... the city come to life... But this could be a challenge with the kids... Isabella is normally asleep by 19:00 and Emil follows around 20:00-20:30 and if Maj-Britt is with them then she falls asleep... So I can go out then and party !!

We might have to take it in turns to go out at the evenings while the other stays at the apartment with the sleeping kids... Rock N Roll....

Hotel Nr. 6 (2 Nights)

Las Vegas Via Wikipedia

I love the first photo of the hotel in the ad.... it makes you think that the hotel is the big one in the photo...

But it is really the hotel on the right of the photo above...
The photo below is the hotel...

Looks like it will be Possible...

Yosemite to Las Vegas in 1 day looks like it is good to go...

If we start off from the morning (10:00am) and take the Tioga pass out to Lee Vining then the Highway 395 down to Death Valley - Through the Valley into Vegas - this should take 7-8 hours so say 10 with stops...

With this we will see the beautiful Mountains and valleys in the day light and then the evening lights as we enter Vegas... I would love to enter Vegas for the first time in the evening dusk and the place lit up as it should be...

Day Vs Night

So... that is what we are to do... Now to book the hotel (1 Night or 2 Nights ??)

Colourful start to the day...

After work today I will be sitting down to plan the last part of the trip...

From Yosemite down to Las Vegas on to the Grand Canyon (then all is left is the trip back over to Los Angeles)

This is the part of the trip where I need to work out the driving times and if any over night stops are required between places... also have a open question with regards to if we should drive North from Vegas to Zion and around the right side of the Grand Canyon (this will only give us a single over night in Vegas) not sure if we need 2 ?

What to do... What to do... ??