Itinerary Days 19-28

After a "day off" in Las Vegas, including a helicopter ride through the Grand Canyon, we head back south to rejoin Route 66 at Kingman and then travel to Needles, Ca via Oatman, Az.  We may or may not pop down to Lake Havasu to check out London Bridge (we'll see how we feel) and then head west to Barstow and Santa Monica and the end of Route 66.

We say goodbye to the Harley at this point and collect our Ford Mustang in LA and head down to the Mexican border south of San Diego to start our journey along The Pacific Coast Highway.  Then we head back north along the coast via Santa Barbara, Morro Bay, and Monterey to San Francisco.

Day 19: Las Vegas, NV to Needles, Ca (via Bullhead City, Kingman and Oatman)
Day 20: Needles to Barstow, Ca (via Lake Havasu and Amboy)
Day 21: Barstow to Santa Monica Pier (the end of Route 66)
Day 22: Santa Monica to La Jolla (via Mexican Border)
Day 23: La Jolla to Santa Barbara
Day 24: Santa Barbara to Morro Bay
Day 25: Morro Bay to Monterey
Day 26: Monterey to San Francisco
Days 27 & 28: 2 days off/explore SF

Next installment to follow.....

Itinerary - Days 10-18

So - we have our first day off/rest day in Santa Fe.  From there we head back south to Albuquerque via Highway 14, the Turquoise Trail, and then on to Gallup and continue along Route 66 as far as Flagstaff.  At Flagstaff we take our first big detour up to Monument Valley and then back across to the Grand Canyon before rejoining Route 66 west of Flagstaff near Williams.  From there we take old Route 66 to Kingman and then our second big detour along Highway 93 to Vegas.

Day 10: Santa Fe, NM to Gallup, NM (via the Turquoise Trail)
Day 11: Gallup to Winslow, Az (via the Petrified Forest)
Day 12: Winslow to Kayenta, Az (via Meteor Crater and Flagstaff)
Day 13: Kayenta to Page/Lake Powell (after exploring Monument Valley)
Day 14: Page/Lake Powell to Grand Canyon Village
Day 15: Day Off / Explore Grand Canyon
Day 16: Grand Canyon Village to Kingman, Az (via old Route 66)
Day 17: Kingman to Las Vegas (via the Hoover Dam)
Day 18: Day off / "Do" Las Vegas

Next installment to follow....

2 Months To Go!!

We have less than 2 months to go before our Big Trip!!  Two months today we shall be on our way from Bloomington, Illinois, to St Louis, Missouri.

We have now paid the final installment for the Harley and we have some US dollars arranged (the exchange rate is really good at the moment!).  And I only have a maximum of about 21 days at work between now and our "Grand Depart" (to use Tour de France speak!)

This is probably a good time to go in to a bit more detail of our itinerary - we are pretty much squared away now with the route and night stops, although I have just rearranged one of the night stops in Oregon, so that we can stay near enough to Twin Rocks that we can actually "watch the sun disappear into the Ocean" (assuming the weather is good that day!).

So:

After 2 and a bit days exploring Chicago, we pick up the Harley and head off from the start of Route 66.

Day 1: Chicago to Bloomington, Il
Day 2: Bloomington to St Louis, Mo
Day 3: St Louis to Springfield, Mo
Day 4: Springfield to Tulsa, Ok  (Only 24 hours from...)
Day 5: Tulsa to Oklahoma City, Ok
Day 6: Oklahoma to Elk City, Ok
Day 7: Elk City to Amarillo, Tx  (Is this the way to....)
Day 8: Amarillo to Santa Fe, NM
Day 9: Day Off - explore Santa Fe

Next installment to follow....