Today we're looking back at the next eight days of the journey, ending in Los Angeles. This covers two of my favorite sections of the trip - the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Coast Highway. We took a ton of pictures over these days, so hopefully you enjoy the ones I included below.
Day 9 - Denver, CO to Craig, CO - 314 miles
We left Denver at 9:00am. Our phone kept ringing because our room was the same number as the area code (303). We ordered a wake-up call, but were woken up by the phone ringing at 7:00am.
We took the Peak-to-Peak Scenic Byway a lot of the way between Denver and Craig, which curves through the Rockies. We stopped at a number of overlooks, including a walk that took us to 12,000 feet above sea level if I remember correctly. We also stopped at Milner Pass and stood on both sides of the Continental Divide.
Day 10 - Craig, CO to Salt Lake City, UT - 345 miles
We got a late checkout so that we could sleep in and watch the Formula One Canadian Grand Prix on TV before heading for Salt Lake City. We did laundry during the race (and after). We checked out of the hotel at about 1:45pm, got lunch in Craig, CO, went back to the hotel to get clothes out of the dryer, then left for Salt Lake City at 2:30pm.
The big news in Colorado while we were in Craig was three forest fires in the state. One had consumed over 7,000 acres by the time we left. It resulted in the closing of 50 miles of I-70, but we were already past that portion of it.
At 3:15pm, we took a short side trip into Dinosaur National Park, but it was just a campground with no fossils.
UTAH
At 5:30pm, we got to the museum with the fossils in Vernal, UT. We looked at fossils and walked around the exhibits until 6:00pm.
We arrived at the Little America hotel (4 stars!) in Salt Lake City at 9:30pm.
Day 11 - Salt Lake City, UT to Elko, NV - 242 miles
We woke up and went into downtown Salt Lake City at about 11am after checking out of the hotel. We ordered tickets for Dodger Stadium for later in the trip in the morning before left for Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake City. Our hotel was in the city, so it was only a few blocks of walking.
After getting lunch in the city, we hit the road at 1:30pm.
NEVADA
We arrived at the Days Inn in Elko, NV at 4:00pm PT. After getting unpacked, we went to the Lamoille Canyon Scenic Byway. It starts about 20 minutes south of Elko. The actual scenic drive was 12 miles each way. On the way there we saw a solar eclipse!
Day 12 - Elko, NV to Reno, NV - 304 miles
We left Elko at 10:30am and arrived at the Travelodge in Reno at 3:00pm. After checking in, we walked around Reno. We walked past the casinos and saw the famous RENO arch sign, then we went to Planet Hollywood for dinner.
We then went to the movie theater because there isn't much else for people under 21 to do in Reno. We saw the 8:15pm showing of Sum of All Fears.
We walked back through the city on the way from the theater to the hotel, so we got to see the city all lit up.
Day 13 - Reno, NV to Eureka, CA - 394 miles
Left Reno for Eureka, CA at 9:45am after getting gas and a car wash.
CALIFORNIA
We stopped at a visitor center at the Lassen Volcanic National Park that had a little deli in it and we ate lunch there. We took the scenic drive through Lassen Volcanic National Park from 12:00pm-2:00pm.
We arrived in Eureka at 6:30pm and ordered pizza delivery so we could watch the Lakers complete the 3-peat.
Day 14 - Eureka, CA to San Francisco, CA - 402 miles
We left Eureka for San Francisco at 9:00am. There were four scenic byways during the day. First was Lost Coast, which took us 65 miles on Mattole Road and gave us our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean.
After that was the Avenue of the Giants, which we didn't even do half of. However, we did drive through the Shrine Drive-Thru Tree.
After that was the northern part of California 1, which Continued on to a portion of the southern part of California 1. We arrived at the hotel in San Francisco at 9:00pm after 12 hours on the road.
Day 15 - San Francisco
We woke up and walked downtown to Pier 39 in San Francisco. It was a long walk, probably 20 blocks. After walking around the pier and eating lunch there, we continued walking on the Embarcadero, the road that runs parallel to the coast. We went to Pacific Bell Park to see if we could get tickets to the evening's game, but the game was sold out and the scalper there was asking for $100 for two.
We walked another 15 or so blocks to the Civic Center, which is a square where City Hall is. There were a lot of homeless people in the park at the Civic Center. After that, we continued a few more blocks to the hotel.
For dinner, we walked the 20 blocks back to the pier and ate at the Eagle Cafe. Paul had a prawn sandwich that he enjoyed. We took a cab back to the hotel after dinner.
Day 16 - San Francisco, CA to Los Angeles, CA - 528 miles
We left San Francisco for Los Angeles at 9:30am. We took California 1 almost the whole way from SF to LA. We had to take a short detour to bypass part of Rt 1 where a car had flipped over.
We also took a little side trip to 17 Mile Drive, which has a number of scenic views and tourist spots including Pebble Beach Golf Course. We saw Sea Lions and Beachy Ground Squirrels (very large squirrels that don't have bushy tails and have a gray spot on the back of their necks) on the 17 miles drive.
We also took a little side trip to 17 Mile Drive, which has a number of scenic views and tourist spots including Pebble Beach Golf Course. We saw Sea Lions and Beachy Ground Squirrels (very large squirrels that don't have bushy tails and have a gray spot on the back of their necks) on the 17 miles drive.
[ Part 1 - Maryland to Denver ] <--- | ---> [ Part 3 - Los Angeles to Dallas ]
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