Off to California for 4 weeks next year as a retirement/silver wedding trip & are currently trying to put together a list of must do/see
I need to finish off in Vegas [yes, I know it's in Nevada] for the last 3 days but the rest is still open
Any suggestions?
No biking & as little walking as possible, so basically driving everywhere - not a problem in the states usually
Yosemite. On the way to Nevada (sort of) so a good one to finish on.
We did a three week roadtrip before we had kids, and the itinerary (if I remember correctly) was:
Las Vegas for a day or so (including Wet n Wild (waterpark - nothing filthy))
Grand Canyon (to make it really special, we stayed in the El Tovar Hotel on the rim (restaurant is right on the edge), and took a helicopter ride)
Lake Powell (think Grand Canyon full of water - excellent - Wahweap Lodge or rent a houseboat)
Bryce Canyon (Utah)
Zion Canyon (also Utah)
Death Valley
Lone Pine
Yosemite
Sequoia
San Francisco
Monterey (Cannery Row, aquarium)
Route 1
Santa Barbara
Morro Bay
Back to Las Vegas
Highly recommend Palm Springs as a place to go as well - cool rotating cable car from desert to high mountain
Paul
If you're there for 4 weeks, I'd try and take in some of Utah as well
Bryce and Zion are great
Otherwise in California you've got
San Francisco
Yosemite
Mono Lake
Death Valley
Route 1
Joshua Tree
Cheers guys - some good suggestions
Has Yosemite got plenty to see without walking too far from the car?
Has Yosemite got plenty to see without walking too far from the car?
Yes, the pic I've put up is about a 10 minute walk from the parking lot. Of course it depends what time of year you're going? As long as it's summer and you can get up to Tuolumne there's plenty to see without wandering too far from a road. Time of year will also influence your route, Tioga Pass into Yosemite from the east is only open June to Oct (roughly, varies slightly each year)
Cheers for that - it'll be a Sept trip
Tioga pass across to Vegas looks like a plan
You could venture down to San Diego from Vegas via Palm Springs and take the scenic Pacific coast route up through Malibu, Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Monterey etc ending up in San Francisco - Alcatraz, Grand Canyon and Vegas (even if you only go the once) all must sees IMO.
Hearst Castle is worth a little visit if your driving throught Big Sur down the coast.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hearst_Castle
Alcatraz is also worth visiting..
This could help give you a few ideas.
http://www.eaglerider.com/motorcycle-tours/self-drive-motorcycle-tours.aspx
Tahoe?
I went from Vegas, to the Grand Canyon, to Palm Springs to Disneyland (kids in tow), to Santa Cruz to San Fran
enjoyed them all - but lots more good stuff we missed
Don't forget there's nothing stopping you popping on a domestic flight. It was pennies for us a couple of years ago to fly into Las Vegas one way from San Fran. Just pick up a new rental car when you land.
How little walking? Grand Canyon can be seen from the car park but that's not really the point of it! Hoover Dam is on the way from Vegas, worth a little stop there too.
We did the following route on a 4 week trip.
San Francisco
Santa Cruz (Pergolesi coffee shop,surfers,fixies,interesting shops,60's acid burnouts)
Carmel (via Monterey aquarium and 17 mile scenic drive)
(visit Rocky point restaurant for Brekkie on the cliffs 10 miles south of carmel on PCH)
San Louis Obispo (try to visit on weekly farmers market day and pop into madonna inn for a drink)
Santa Barbara wine country (did the Sideways thing)
Santa Barbara
las Vegas
Palm Springs (del marco hotel was great)
Big Bear
San Diego
Big Bear (so nice we went there twice)
La Jolla
Newport beach
Santa Monica
How little walking? Grand Canyon can be seen from the car park but that's not really the point of it!
I'll be pushing a wheelchair so not too far
The whole of the US is built around the car pretty much, so the drive thru' tourist is well catered for 
Yosemite is great, nice big road through it.
Alcatraz - I wouldn't want to push a chair round it TBH, quite a slope up from the dock IIRC.
Hearst Castle - probably ok for a chair, can't remember it too well. Lots of ups and downs I think.
Stroll round Venice and the boardwalks to Muscle Beach
Vineyard trip - we did Sonoma Valley "somewhere". Share the chair afterwards
Monterey Bay aquarium and the 19 mile drive
Enjoy!
Most national parks also have at least one wheelchair friendly path/walk. Parking is normally free and plentiful and car spaces are huge so much more accommodating for wheelchair users than over here. You may want to investigate whether you can get a blue badge temporarily. Yosemite has a park and ride system for the valley, but there's plenty of other places in the park where you can park and walk to viewpoints. If you can't sort out a pass then Zion is probably not an option as no cars are allowed in the valley.
That gives me plenty to go on - cheers guys
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