.. because I just booked another holiday; The great American tour of '08!
[Be warned, this post will probably contain a crapload of exclamation marks.]
This is the tentative plan; for August-September of next year.
Flying to San Francisco, spending 2 days there avoiding as many hills as possible. Then heading from San Francisco to LA, where I can stumble around looking awestruck like a typical tourist. Next it's onwards to Anaheim, DISNEYLAND AHOY!
The Grand Southern Contiki tour starts in Anaheim and goes for 24 days, finishing in New York City. Yes, you should click here and check out where it goes. (And if there's a free day in your town and you're crazy enough to give me your email address, I foresee stalkage in the near future!)
I'm then planning on spending about a week in New York (again with the tourist stuff) including a one day trip to Niagara Falls because dude, I can't go that close to them without cruising on the Maid of the Mist and getting soaked. And after that, it's back to London.
If things go to plan (aka I save my arse off and get around to paying this all off, pronto) I might even go to Hawaii for a few days before starting in San Fran, because squee! Hawaii! Woo!
I know, it's early. But I'm foreward planning because of the move to England, and because the summer tours tend to book out fairly quickly. I'm crazy excited though. Check out the tour and tell me your thoughts!
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32 comments:
sounds like a fantastic trip! let me know when you're in san francisco. i'll try to find the least hilly routes for you...although that could prove to be difficult. however, i shall try my best. also, i must introduce you to beard papa's cream puffs, if you've never had them. omg.
I got frightened by the price and have not put any additional thought into this.
whoops.
Holy crap... that's a lot of movin'!
A lot of cash too.. have fun shelling out the dough!
Wowza.
I will have to live vicariously through you, I think.
It looks awesome, except... no Boston?! Seriously, you're going to see Dallas and not Boston? Ah well. Hopefully you like it warm because the South in August is going to be hot hot heat. :)
I think instead of spending a whole week in New York you should take the bus ($15!) up to Boston- it's only 3 hours away and you have a place to stay for free! Just sayin'...
Awwww. No Detroit. Or Ann Arbor. Or Chicago! The cultural center of the midwest.
Looks amazing though. And exhausting. Good thing you're young!
You're completely bypassing the midwest! :(
Not that you're missin much though. lol
Sounds like an awesome trip! And I've been to Niagara Falls a million times - you're gonna love it :)
All that and nowhere at all near me. :( THE infamous Alynda in the States and she misses the verdant corn fields of Iowa? Truly a shame. ;)
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But it looks pretty good all-in-all. Dallas is a nasty place, but at least you're going to go see the JFK stuff, which actually is kinda interesting. Memphis isn't too bad; try to hit Mud Island, that was entertaining for awhile. From what I hear (2nd hand knowledge), I wouldn't bust your hump for Hawaii -- it's nice and all, but VERY touristy, unless you're into that. Blown out of proportion, as it were. (I prefer the same sort of scenery without all the schmuckery and people.)
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Good luck! Sounds like a nice trip.
I must be crazy too, but I think that's a mighty fair price for all that travel and flights included. It looks like so much fun! I am a last minute vacation planner, and I'd much rather be like you and plan things well in advance, because then you have more time to get excited!
No Baltimore on their schedule (I'm shocked!) but I'm close enough to DC anyway!
Yay!!! I'm so excited for you! I'm close to the Falls (the Canadian side, and in my opinion, the prettier one - no disrespect to the US) and know that you will enjoy yourself there.
Positively drooling over your wonderful trip. *sigh* I hope there will be much blogging and posting of pics. :)
You will have a fantastic trip! I have always wanted to see the Grand Canyon, so I am jealous.
shut up, you're coming to Raleigh!!! CALL ME when you get here! wow! that's amazing!
Yay yay! Dallas! I will DEF send you my email and we better meet up! I will show you all the fun places - and if that means lots of shopping, well, SO BE IT :)
Dallas has great shopping. But yes, to agree with someone up there, I hope you like the heat, because from Vegas up until you hit about DC, you're gonna be quite warm :)
Awesome trip! I cannot wait to meet you!
Ohhhhh I hope I still live in NYC when you come! It all depends on how grad school shakes out. (Although AS will probs still be in NYC, so there's a good chance I'll be around regardless.)
When it gets closer, I'll have oodles of New York suggestions for you.
Omg that's a lot of traveling!! It sounds fantastic, and I know you'll have so much fun! Too bad you're only going to one city in Texas. Dallas, pfft (I'm in Austin)! Hehe, I'm jk, but Texas is so big and beautiful the tour SHOULD take you at least two weeks to explore all of it. San Francisco is so fantastic among all the other awesome cities, take it all in and eat some good food!
Oh and ps.
You cannot do a day trip to Niagra Falls from NYC.
It's VERY far away.
I'll just have to come to NYC then!!
Ok so you're not coming anywhere near me. The good ole Midwest. But it sounds like an awesome trip. I hope you have a lot of fun!
I can't believe the only stop in Colorado is Cortez. It's way down in the far corner of the state, and it's not nearly as pretty as, say, Colorado Springs. Unfortunately Cortez is hour and hours away from me, and that sucks big time. I suggest contacting your trip coordinators and requesting a revision in the route.
Raliegh? What the hell's in Raliegh?! Kidding! I'm closest to D.C. Savannah is WONDERFUL! It will be hot, but it will still be beautiful. John and I (spouse) almost chucked it all and moved there we loved it so much. I'm glad you will get to go to Disney WORLD in Orlando. Way better than Disney LAND. No offense to them, but there's SO much more at the one in Florida! I will be curious how New Orleans is - still a lot of recovery going on from Hurricane Katrina. But they say the French Quarter made out alright which is good. By the way, St. Augustine light house is WAY haunted. It sounds like a haul, but it does sound great! I was just greatly depressed to see that I would be rejected for a Contiki tour on the basis of age discrimination!
Since you're not coming to the Midwest (seriously, no Chicago? Weird tour!), I think I might have to take a road trip to Memphis!
Is that way to stalkery?
Sounds like it will be a great trip. I'd love to come along! ;)
So I'm guessing that Richmond only gets a stop because it's off I-95 on the way to DC, which means that you only get 30 minutes or so to wander around a park or something. But wow, that's a lot of travel on a bus.
Note to Contiki Tours: Virginia has so much history it deserves more time than a quick drive through. (But to be honest, it stinks that there's no free time for Alyndabear to link up with her bloggy buddies in the Richmond area. Poo.)
i forsee some DC stalkage in my future!!!!!!!
I have a great friend/brother in San Francisco if you need someone to meet up with for a drink or something. He's real easy to hang out with, and is a great tour guide. I visited him last summer and we rented a Go-Car, which is a small go-cart/car type thing with a gps-guided tour. It was so much fun! And he likes boys, so I'm not trying to oust your bf or anything... And you HAVE TO contact me about your visit in NO. I would LOVE to meet in person!!!!
personally, i think it's awesome you're skipping the midwest, because nothing good ever came out of that sinkhole of ugly. (ha! i'm going to get ripped to shreds by your readers, because apparently a lot of them live in the midwest. but whatever, i'm okay with that.)
in SF, or at disneyland, or both ('cause i'm great fun at disneyland!), we WILL meet up. for sure. no ifs, ands, or buts about it. :)
You're coming through Northwest Florida, but not to my town. But Pensacola is only 2 hours away. I might have to drive over to see Alyndabear live and in person...
Though you're not passing through beautiful San Diego, I will actually happen to be in Orlando (Disneyworld!) during the first week of September. If we're there at the same time, we should definitely get a meal or something.
1. I think its funny how all the US bloggers are saying "great, but seriously, no [insert US town here]" lol
2. I did a contiki last year on my own throughout Europe and had a ball. So if you're worried about the contiki experience, there is absolutely no need to.
3. I actually considered doing this same grand southern tour a few months back but for circumstances not permitting, I couldn't end up going :-(
4. I think it's great. The US is such a big place with so many things to see, it's impossible to see them all, so don't let that freak you out.
5 . email me at amanda82j at hotmail if you have any contiki q's.
6. Congrats. Yay you!
That trip sounds fabulous!
It's too bad I couldn't be a little closer to Niagara Falls, or else I would totally demand that we meet up in person. However, since it will be summer, I could probably entice Matt to take me on a day trip in his car. Idea!
You aren't passing through my current city, but you'll be spending some time in my hometown, N'Awlins! That'll be a lot of fun! In fact, your whole trip looks amazing. Hell, I've lived in the States my whole life, and haven't seen that much of it!
Well, if you take the 101 freeway from San Fran down to L.A., you'll pass right by the town I live in, right in the middle of Wine Country, just south of Pismo Beach and north of Santa Barbara. Then, in Santa Barbara, you will be passing by Maya of Chocklate. Give us a shoutout when you come by, or even better, let us know if you'd be able to make a quick stop anywhere while passing through. Be glad to meet ya!
And I would highly recommend taking 101 down south, at least until you get past Thousand Oaks, where it will turn into the 405. The 101 is along the coast, as is Highway1, but that's very windy and goes down through Carmel and Monterey. Don't take the 99 or I-5 as they are very boring and in the middle of the state which is very dry there's not a lot to see.
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