In less then 21 days I’ll be on my way towards my next adventure. Very likely the biggest adventure for me yet…
As of the first of July I’ll be traveling through
the south-west of the USA with my family. We’re going to drive an RV through various national parks and will be visiting some awesome sites along the way.
What a trip it will be! And as promised, I’m devoting this blog post to a general outline of the trip dad has been planning for the past months.
Upon arrival we’ll head for the apartment my dad booked in Hollywood, from whereon we’ll explore the area.
July 2nd – The second day, we’ve booked a private tour of Los Angeles. We’ll visit the Hollywood Sign, the Walk of Fame on Hollywood Blvd., the Dolby- and Chinese Theater and we will stop for lunch at The Original Farmers Market. After lunch we’ll head to The Grove, Drive by the city of Beverly Hills, including Rodeo Dr. and then continue to Santa Monica Beach to finish off with Venice Beach and the Canals.
We’ll be pretty tired after a full day of sightseeing so dinner is likely to be quick and dirty before hitting the sack.
July 3rd – Day 3 of our adventure will take us to downtown L.A. where we’ll be mostly walking around to do some sight seeing. Things on the list are Union Station and the obviously the Grand Central Market. Maybe the Art district or the fashion district… we’ll wing it as we go along. Dad’s got plenty of little sights he want’s to show me so I’ll take it in as it comes around. Although I’m pretty sure he might take us to get some “gelati” in the Larchmont District too.
My mom found a great little restaurant for dinner in the evening and our table has been reserved.
July 4th – Independence Day! What a day to be in L.A.? As this is still a bit of a mystery to us how to spend this day not knowing where to go or what to do. It will be a day full of festivities, that much is sure. Currently we’re planning to go spend that day in Santa Monica but I’m really hoping that we can see some parades and especially some great fireworks too! Any suggestions from my US-based readers are more than welcome 🙂
July 5th – By the fifth day, we’ll probably have adapted to the time zone and we should be ready to head out to the National Parks! We’re due to pick up the RV around lunchtime and after our first grocery shopping stop we’ll be heading out to Joshua Tree National Park. As it seems to be a fairly short drive we’ll hopefully make it out there in time to still find us a camping site for the night. As all camping-sites in this National Park seem to be first-come first-served there are no guarantees. Let’s just say this will be the warm-up for the many “unplannable” situations we will encounter during our trip.
July 6th – The long drive ahead will take us all the way to the Grand Canyon National Park. We’ll be visiting the south-rim and getting our camp sites there wasn’t easy. We’ll be spending two nights there at two different camp sites. We’re not to sure if I’ll do the helicopter tour yet as those are quite expensive but maybe my mom can charm the pilot into a free ride 🙂
July 8th – Our first week is behind us and we’ll be on our way to Monument Valley where I’m looking forward to the Jeep ride that has booked for us on the 9th of July. We’ll take that ride with the four of us but afterwards, dad and Tibo will go horseback riding like real cowboys. If I’m lucky and if the tour guide approves, I might take a short ride myself!
July 9th – After a busy morning we’ll head out to Antelope Canyon where dad has booked us a guided walking tour which, if all goes well, I’ll be taking on his back. Mom and dad got a special harness for me to sit in while they carry me on their backs. As I’ve gone up the Vesuvius mountain in Italy this way a couple of years ago dad is not too worried. The new harness has been tested and approved last weekend so with a kick of my heals we’ll be off into this beautiful canyon.
July 10th – We’ll spend the night near the waterfront of Lake Powell in Wahweap before taking an early drive to Bryce Canyon. Early because we’ll have to find another first-come first-served camping space to spend the night. I’m really looking forward to seeing these funny sandcastle like rock formations as the sun rises above the canyon the next morning.
July 11th – Almost halfway through our holiday by now. We’ll be heading back down to visit Las Vegas… not exactly a “kids-town” I know – but my brother is eager to see it even though he can’t play the casino’s yet… So he’ll probably end up in the Hard-Rock Cafe shop again buying a t-shirt. They say what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas… but dad already told me that we will be having diner in a “place on top of the world” so I’m really curious where he’ll take me… but I bet the view will be great!
Next week I’ll continue this post with the second part of the trip we have planned as we are counting the days before we get to go. During my trip there I’ll be doing a lot of short posts on my Facebook page so people can enjoy our adventure as they unravel.
Stay tuned and enjoy the week!
Jerom