Our Itinerary!

Colin mentioned that I was writing up our little West Coast of America trip Itinerary. Let's just say, I researched all day and got super excited about next week!! So I am going to write our 12 days in America with what we are doing and who we are doing it through. It might give you an idea who to go through when you plan your own trip - but wait up for next weeks posts to see how it all went!

Day One - Monday 14th October

• Land around 6:45am
• 2-3 hours to go through customs
• Call Lax Luggage Storage to collect our excess luggage (snowboarding gear)
• Pick up our Mustang Convertible from Hertz at the airport
• Have lunch and head off to Vegas (4 hour drive)
• Stop at Route 66
• Arrive in Vegas around 3-4pm
• Check into the Luxor Hotel
• Be tourists and chillax

Day Two - Tuesday 15th October

• Papillon Grand Canyon Helicopter tours - Pick up at 5:45am 
• Grand Canyon helicopter flight at 7am
• See the volcanic Black Mountains, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and Grapevine Mesa before crossing the Grand Wash Cliffs and into the Grand Canyon
• Descend 4,000 feet to the floor of the Canyon, landing alongside Colorado River for a 30 minute champagne picnic
• Arrive back at the Luxor around midday
• Head to Discount Firearms USA (shooting Range)
• Explore and be tourists
• Criss Angel Believe Performance 7pm 

My parents offered us a trip to the Grand Canyon as our Christmas Presents! I know.. best parents ever! We went with Papillon because we read a lot of great reviews online, I do love researching plenty of different places before deciding on one - hoping I made the right decision. 

Colin was the one who researched Discount Firearms USA. We have both always wanted to shoot a gun at a range and we went with this mob because they have "Shoot for a Cure", where you hire a pink  pistol and assault rifle and $10 will be donated to research for Breast Cancer. I am really excited to do this!

Finally, The Luxor Hotel we chose because, who doesn't want to stay in a pyramid?! Also, they have Criss Angel!! Even better! So we got a deal where we see the Criss Angel Believe Performance with the hotel booking. 

Day Three - Wednesday 16th October

• Check out of the Luxor at 6am
• Drive back to LA (4 hours)
• Return Mustang to airport and pick up Jeep Grand Cherokee
• Pick up bags from Lax Luggage Storage Warehouse
• Check into the Pod Share 
• Sight seeing
• Flames VS Ducks Hockey Game 7pm

We went through a few places and only just went with the Pod Share yesterday as our LA pad! Basically, you have a square with a double bed, tv, power points, etc. Theres a common room, kitchen and one bathroom but only a maximum of 12 people can stay there at a time. I am excited for this place! It looks so groovy and modern and just awesome!

Colin wanted to see the Calgary Flames play, it is actually cheaper for us to see them in LA than it is in their home area! We are both pretty excited to see our first hockey game, got our jerseys ready and all!

Day Four - Thursday 17th October 

• UNIVERSAL STUDIOS!!! 
• Sight Seeing!!

Yeah, day four is our chillax and go on heaps of rides day! We had to decide between Disneyland and Universal Studios. There's a few reasons why I want to go to Universal Studios, first, theres only two! There are plenty of locations for Disneyland. Second, both Colin and I LOVE movies, I actually wanted to be a director when I was younger! So Universal Studios wasn't a very hard decision.

Some of the sight seeing we want to do in LA are seeing the Hollywood sign, Venice Beach, Hollywood walk of fame, Hollywood Boulevard, Santa Monica Pier and just seeing the castle of Disneyland.

Day Five - Friday 18th October

• Check out of the groovy Pod Share
• Continue sight seeing around LA
• Drive to San Francisco (6 hours)
• Stop along the way to see the sunset over the horizon
• Check into HI San Francisco 
• Dinner and chill time

Day Six - Saturday 19th October

• Wake up at 6am
• Sunrise at 7:10am
• Go to Pier 39 to see the sea lions
• Walk to Mama's for breakfast
• Sight see

I will have to thank Josh Quittner for his amazing advice - San Francisco: 10 things to do. I definitely recommend reading his article, he has a whole day planned out for you and we wouldn't of known what to do in San Fran if it wasn't for him. Mama's is a little cafe that is highly recommended, both Colin and I LOVE breakfast but it was when I looked on their website when I 100% decided thats where we will go!

Some other things Quittner recommended was Coit Tower, the Stair of Telegraph Hill, Hot Cookie from Castro St, Golden Gate Park and Alcatraz. I hope the US government opens their parks up soon, I would hate to miss Alcatraz.


Day Seven - Sunday 20th October

• San Francisco to Portland
• DRIVE DAY 10 HOURS +
• Check into Northwest Portland Guesthouse (6pm)
• McMenamins - Old St Francis School

The Old St Francis School is an old theatre that has dinner, shows movies and performances. We thought if we got into Portland early enough, we would go relax there.

Day Eight - Monday 21st October

• Have a sleep in!!
• Head to Voodoo Doughnuts
• Drive to Forest Park for a walk
• If time, head to a brewery
• Drive to Seattle - 3 hours
• Check into Hotel Hotel 

We, unfortunately won't be in Portland long. So we picked two things we really love to do with some possible extras if we have time. We did some research on the area and thanks to Caryn Brooks and her article Portland: 10 Things to do we found Voodoo and Forest Park. Voodoo Doughnuts was an easy decision!! If anyone knows us, they know Colin and I are dessert eaters (not just after dinner). When Voodoo first opened, they made doughnuts glazed in NyQuil and dusted with Pepto-Bismol. Of course, they aren't allowed to do that anymore, but their avant-garde doughnuts are still something we are very keen on trying! I am also the tree hugger of our duo, so seeing Forest Park is something I really want to do!

Day Nine - Tuesday 22nd October

• Get up early
• Head to the Fremont Troll (across from where we are staying)
• Walk to the Gas Works Park
• Have breakfast
• Get car and rive to down town Seattle
• Go to Fran's Chocolates 
• See Seattle Space Needle (go to the top for $20pp)
• Head to Pike Place Market to shop and see the Post Alley Gum Wall
• Dinner and a show at Can Can Cabaret

This isn't exact but gives a rough idea of all the amazing things we want to do in Seattle!! We found these funky things through Laura Ambrey of the Huffington Post - 6 Quirky Things to do in Seattle. I recommend reading her article, it shows a lot of bizarre things Seattle has to offer! I am super excited to see the Fremont Troll, I remember first seeing it in "10 Things I Hate About You" and thinking to myself how I would love to see it in real life!

Day 10 - Wednesday 23rd October

• Get up early
• Drop car at Sea Tac Airport
• Quick shuttle bus pick up from airport at 9:30am
• Arrive in Vancouver, Canada at 2:20pm
• Bus drops us off at Holiday Inn
• Check into Samesun Backpacker
• Dinner and chill time

Sad but our last day of our 10 day America trip will be spent travelling to our new adventure starting in Canada!

Will definitely let you know how everything goes and try to keep you as updated as possible! We can't believe we leave in FIVE days for America!! So incredibly excited!!!!

If you have any advice on our itinerary please do comment and let us know, this is our first time planning a road trip overseas and we want to get it right!

Jess :)

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