I have visited the west coast of the USA many times. Mostly because my boyfriend, Anthony, is Californian! But, I had visited their prior to meeting him! I went on a road trip, covering four states, California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada.
The specific stops on the itinerary are listed below, but we stopped at many other places along the way...
Los Angeles, San Diego, grand canyon, Bryce canyon, lake Powell, Zion national park, Yosemite national park, monument valley, Las Vegas, black canyon and the Hoover dam, San Francisco, Monterey, Carmel, Pismo beach, Malibu, santa Monica, Hollywood, phoenix.
This is a photo of me at the grand canyon! You can't imagine how big it is until you see it with your own eyes! It's colossal!
The reason I love usa so much, especially California, is because it has everything to offer! It's a huge state! But it has everything! Beaches, cities, national parks, theme parks, attractions, sports, the largest choice of food in the world! I’m just in love with it! There is always something awesome going on! Plus the weather’s always great! I have lived most of my life in a small seaside town in England (other than stints in New Zealand) So it’s like one extreme to the other for me!
As I have been a few times, and experienced so many different things, it would be hard for me to write a separate post about each trip. So I am going to write a post combining all of my favourite places and experiences, into one post!
NATIONAL PARKS
In 2015 I went on a 16 day road trip around the west coast USA. Stopping in California, Arizona, Utah and Nevada. Many of the stops along the way were at national parks. California is the KING of national parks!
If I had to pick one, if I had too, my top pick would be, Yosemite! I feel so guilty on the other parks, even just saying that! They are all equally as beautiful! Yosemite is extra special. To put into perspective how amazing it really is, I witnessed grown men crying at this lookout point....
Mammoth mountain, is my very close second favourite! We stayed in a log cabin in the mountains which made the experience more surreal. I remember being sat in a hot tub at night, under the stars, surrounded by forest thinking, 'does life get any better than this?' I don’t think it does!
Here are two more national parks that I have visited.
Zion
Bryce canyon
LOS ANGELES.
You can’t fly into LAX and not spend some time in downtown Los Angeles. Its seriously cool! You have to do all the touristy things like, the Hollywood walk of fame, Santa Monica pier and also Disneyland and many other fantastic theme parks are in Los Angeles. LA is HUGE! It has something to offer everyone. It's for all ages and tastes! The beaches are superb! This is santa Monica beach.
LAS VEGAS
Vegas is a place that everyone needs to experience, atleast once in their lives! It's a crazy place! I particularly liked the old town Vegas, compared to the Vegas strip. But I saw a good mix of both! All of the themed hotels are open to non guests so I recommend visiting those, especially the Bellagio and the Venetian. Those are two of the most famous and they do not disappoint! From Vegas, we day tripped to the Hoover dam to raft down the black canyon, this was the highlight of my Vegas trip!
MONUMENT VALLEY.
I’ve been brought up watching westerns, so it was only natural that I would want to visit monument valley. Which is the backdrop for any good wild west movie! In real life, it looked like a movie set. Its a truly moving place. The Navajo Indian spirit fills the air. It’s beautiful to see how passionate they are about protecting their land and honouring their ancestors. Their are many road side stalls selling handmade Navajo items. John Wayne’s cabin which he used to stay in when he was filming in the valley, is still near the entrance.
COACHELLA.
Last year, Anthony surprised me and I mean SURPRISED me with tickets to go to Coachella festival. I added wanted to go pretty much most of my adult life! The headline acts were lady Gaga, Kendrick Lamar and Lorde. We camped for four days and enjoyed watching the music, as well as eating the food, drinking lots of alcohol and just enjoying the atmosphere of Coachella! It was around 43°c most days! Yes, 43!!! So we would sit around the camp until late afternoon and then go into the festival to listen to bands, underneath the stars, in the desert! It was an unforgettable experience! If you are a festival lover, I would urge you to get tickets and go! It’s such a friendly place, we made such great memories at Coachella. I still get butterflies in my stomach when I think about it even now.
PALM SPRINGS AND THE DINOSAURS OF CABAZON.
Palm Springs, for me was such a cool place to stop. It was once used as a vacation spot for A list celebrities, who wanted to escape Los Angeles. Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe and Elizabeth Taylor, to name a few! Now, it is full of bohemian shops and boutiques. We had to drive through palm springs to get to Coachella festival. We stopped to see some art installations in the desert called 'desertX' it was very cool. We also stopped for a photo opportunity with the dinosaurs of Cabazon. You may recognise these from old movies! I was so excited to stop here and see them finally!
SAN DIEGO.
San Diego, to me, was like the hipster version of LA. I actually preferred it to LA! It has great craft beer for starters! It also has the best zoo in the world! I’m not a fan of zoos as I have strong opinions on caging animals! But San Diego zoo is aimed towards conservation, the enclosures are designed with the animals in mind, not for customer viewing. Some of the enclosures are so large, that you can barely see the animals, but to me, I prefer that for the animals! They have a really cool buddy system in place for the big cats, they pair them with dogs for friendship. It’s really awesome to watch them playing together. I haven’t seen this anywhere else in the world! I got to go to 'Hollywood Horror nights' at universal studios, last Halloween! What a night! It's themed around the biggest Hollywood movies and shows. When I went it was based around American horror story, the exorcist, Texas chainsaw massacre and so much more. The costumes and characters were out of this world and the attention to detail was unreal! I was genuinely terrified for my life, that's how real it seemed!
SAN FRANCISCO.
San Francisco was a special city for me. I am such a hippy at heart and San Francisco was where the hippy movement first started. And it is still a massive influence over the city today. It is such a funky place, full of vintage books, records and clothing stores. There is art on every corner. We walked along the golden gate bridge, it’s crazy high up and the wind feels like it will blow you over the side at any moment, but it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, especially for the views! So it’s worth feeling scared for! San Francisco harbour has views of Alcatraz and the bridge from below. You can also see the famous seals of San Fran! They smell really bad and they are so noisy! They are great fun to watch!
The USA seems to be in the media for all the wrong reasons right now, I hope things settle down soon as it is such an amazing country. I guess that’s why the rest of the world is in such awe of it! Americans are super friendly, helpful and kind, they make any visit to America such a happy experience! If you would like any advice on visiting California, please feel free to ask and I will do my best to help! If I can't answer it then I am sure Anthony can!
Peace out.
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