Family holiday to the states

[Mide24]

Thanks that's great I'll get in touch before we go, don't know about the show as I think there is enough to do in the few days/nights we're in vegas and especially not knowing how late we'll be getting back from the day trips. Just curious how do you know Dutch?


I’m German, born and raised and spent a few months in Budel for BMT, had a few Dutch friends back in the days and still have a friend in south Africa who's of Dutch decent. I can read and understand it better than the spoken words though.

 

[Cloggy]

I’m German, born and raised and spent a few months in Budel for BMT, had a few Dutch friends back in the days and still have a friend in south Africa who's of Dutch decent. I can read and understand it better than the spoken words though.

I have a few German friends aswell only I don't speak German (apart from a few words) but I understand quite a bit with it being similar to Dutch. I'm originally British but my wife and kids are Dutch born and bred


Just a couple of questions, we were planning to stop at Page just to overnight and then head off early in the morning to the Grand canyon village. I later came across a few cool things you can do from Page, the horseshoe bend, antelope canyon and a boat ride on lake powell. Has anyone done this and how does it compares to visiting the grand canyon village itself, bearing in mind that we would have allready visited the grand canyon at the westrim (skywalk).

Many thanks

 

[Red Wazp]

Antelope canyon would be my choice, even though I haven't been there yet the pictures look amazing and the kids would love it. Can't spend all your time in the car.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Are you starting to pack your bags?

 

[Cloggy]

It's been a while since I've been back but We had a wonderful time in the states, it's been a bit crazy of late, we picked up the key to our new house the day we arrived back home, now things are slowly getting in shape so there's a bit more breathing space. Many thanks to everyone for the great tips, I really wish we had more time, but we only had 2 weeks (school Holidays). We went end of April begining of May 2018. Hired a car and did a bit of a roadtrip from San Francisco to Los Angeles via Utah and Grand Canyon.
Here are a couple of pics, I'll be adding more later (when I have a bit more time).
Here's the route:



Stayed in San Francisco for 3 nights, had a great time and loved the city (wish we could have stayed a few more days):



Alcatraz:



Trolley cars



Yosemite was amazing, we had great weather too, also it was pretty quiet (during the week, out of the US holiday period). We bought an America the great pass for all our national Park trips, and it really saved us money.







We stayed at an amazing B&B in Squaw valley just outside the sequoia NP with lots to do and see. Humming bird feeder, Horses (it's a working cattle farm) dogs and not to forget the pool table



Loved Sequoia NP, amazingly huge trees, but also lovely scenary:

 

[Cloggy]

We then went on to Bakersfield for the night as the roads through the mountains weren't open yet (less than a week too early )

Red rock Canyon on the way to death valley.



Death valley entrance



From Father Crowthers lookout point. We saw about 5 F18's fly through the Star Wars Canyon, but I only managed to catch 1 on foto. Amazing as they fly below you in the canyon. There were quite a lot of people just taking pics (with camper and camping chairs). There is a navy and airforce range nearby.




Entering the valley, it was 111 degrees Fahrenheit (according to the sign, phew!!!



Vegas

The front of the venetian (Casino)



In the Venitian, loved the singing gondoliers.



Vegas, the strip



Vegas from the air.

 

[Erci]

Great pics there! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Cloggy]

Valley of Fire, Indian wall drawings





Hoover Dam near vegas





Zion National Park, there was a shuttle bus so you could take a walk between stops, via waterfalls and lookout points etc.





Dam on the Colorado river, at Page.


Horseshoe bend (near Page).


Grand Canyon, we visited the south rim, this is the National park side of the canyon (worked well with the pass). There are several shuttle bus lines to take you along the rim. We enquired about going on a mule ride but was told that you had to book over 6 months in advance :0 the weather was a bit cooler than earlier in our holiday with one or 2 light showers. We stayed at the Grand hotel just outside the park (on the south side), a perfect stopping point..

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Short of Vegas, LA, Red Rock Canyon, I haven't seen all that.

Beautiful pic's!!!!

 

[agf]

thanks for the pics Martin, hows the new digs?

 

[Cloggy]

thanks for the pics Martin, hows the new digs?

Thanks Adee , new digs are great (I now have a garage for my bike ), still busy getting everything sorted but we have water at the bottom of our garden, just have to buy a canoe now

Here are a few more pics (if you're not bored already):

Joshua tree





Skull rock



Hollywood



Hollywood Boulevard


Griffiths observatory


View from Mulholland drive.

 

[Motogiro]

I am so sorry Lisa and I couldn't hook up with you and the family. Lisa and I like camping at Skull Rock. We love hiking in JT Monument Park.

I am truly amazed that you fit all that driving in. It is not an easy task.

Thank you for sharing these great pictures!

 

[Cloggy]

I am so sorry Lisa and I couldn't hook up with you and the family. Lisa and I like camping at Skull Rock. We love hiking in JT Monument Park.

I am truly amazed that you fit all that driving in. It is not an easy task.

Thank you for sharing these great pictures!

Big shame I didn't get to meet you guys, but unfortunately I was on a tight schedule I enjoyed Joshua tree, due to our tight schedule didn't get to do any serious hikes just an hour at this location and an hour at that one, with some shorter round trips). Oh well maybe next time

My appologies to the other guys as well as I realised we were on a tight schedule so I didn't think it would be possible to meet up (also especially for the first few days we were pretty jetlagged so we would wake up early in the morning and would be shattered by about 20 hours,).

I was surprised I really enjoyed death valley as well with lots of.different scenery, from more rocky canyons to sand dunes. Unfortunately Dantes View was closed due to road works.

Had a great time, but due to time constraints and the kids (quite rightly) wanting a bit more free time we slightly altered our plans, we skipped monument valley and Sedona , I guess these are on our list for next time .


We had great weather for the whole trip apart from the evening travelling from the Grand Canyon to the California border (near Joshua Tree) when we had some spectacular thunder storms to entertain us.


In LA My youngest daughter enjoyed shopping but I went with my eldest to drive Mulholland drive, I guess I'd seen so many films with it in, I had to see it for myself. Plus our hotel was about 5 minutes away. Really enjoyed the Observatory got to look through the telescope in the evening and visited during the day as well (for the best photo of the Hollywood sign )

 

[Red Wazp]

Great pictures, looks like you did it right. Nothing like watching the F 18's in Death Valley. Glad you enjoyed DV, I have been going down there for years but never when it was as hot as when you were visiting.


Good trip Dad.

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Thanks for sharing, its these kind of trips that your kids will remember for the rest of their lives. Thanks for visiting! Sorry, got to go now, I'm on a very tight schedule!

 

[Cloggy]

Thanks for sharing, its these kind of trips that your kids will remember for the rest of their lives. Thanks for visiting! Sorry, got to go now, I'm on a very tight schedule!

We had a great time in Vegas, as you said we had sore feet whilst walking about in the evening. My youngest took a helicopter ride with Mrs Cloggy, also got picked up with a limousine which made her feel very special we tried to persuade my eldest but she had a fear of heights (strangely enough not on the larger planes), and as I have flown by helicopter many times whilst in the air force (many years ago) we went off to do something different,



we played a virtual reality game at the MGM Grand, which I enjoyed as well, with goggles, headset, backpack and weapon, definately fun.
We really enjoyed the valley of fire state park, it was a bit of a smaller scale than some of the other parks but great fun scrambling around the rocks, it was also close by which left the kids with some spare time in the afternoon.

We stayed at the" Holiday Inn Club Vacations at Desert Club Resort" about a block from the strip, but ideal for the family, we got a lot more than was advertised on Booking .com but I think this was because it was a timeshare which the park hired out. It was also handy as it had it's own kitchen area so we could save a few dollars by cooking for ourselves. Vegas was a perfect break in our otherwise busy schedule .

 

[VEGASRIDER]

Ahhh, my former employer. I worked there for five years. Great choice, I always recommend Sundance even though I probably don't know but maybe a few pilots now, but they will pick you up and take you back to your hotel in a real limousine. Pictured is a Eurocopter EC130, but now has been renamed to an Airbus Helicopter H130. You're one of several forum members who have flown with them.

 

[Cloggy]

Ahhh, my former employer. I worked there for five years. Great choice, I always recommend Sundance even though I probably don't know but maybe a few pilots now, but they will pick you up and take you back to your hotel in a real limousine. Pictured is a Eurocopter EC130, but now has been renamed to an Airbus Helicopter H130. You're one of several forum members who have flown with them.

Thanks for the extra info., my daughter felt like a real movie star when she got picked up, and she (and my wife) had an amazing experience.

 

[aussiejules]

The wife and i also did the sundance thing, was a blast. (thanks again Kenny)