US help.

[cormet]

got a line + unlimited 3G with t-mobile for my bb. cost me $65 with BIS also. no choice had to get because we needed to use google maps when we were walking from place to place.

 

[genie47]

got a line + unlimited 3G with t-mobile for my bb. cost me $65 with BIS also. no choice had to get because we needed to use google maps when we were walking from place to place.

Must check whether the provider in that area you are going to has good reception or not. Mine T-mobile CMI in that area.

 

[cormet]

Must check whether the provider in that area you are going to has good reception or not. Mine T-mobile CMI in that area.

oh ya i only was able to get 2g connection.. very weird.

went to AT&T first but they didn't have pre-paid 3g plans

 

[derazor]

got a line + unlimited 3G with t-mobile for my bb. cost me $65 with BIS also. no choice had to get because we needed to use google maps when we were walking from place to place.

I thought my friend told me like quite difficult to get a tourist line there. What are the pre-requisites? Passport? iPhone can use?

 

[derazor]

I drove from lv to south rim. Stopped at Hoover dam on the way,stayed at a lodge at GC to catch sunset and sunrise. If you're intending to stay a night, please book very early!

At that time where did you stay? Seems like it's quite difficult to get hotel at the rim? More chances at Tusayan. My friend told me stayed at Grand Canyon Hotel @ Tusayan. It's ~USD$200. He gung ho and booked the day before he arrived. Siao.

At the rim I think only El Tovar which is Hotel standard, the rest more like motels or B&B type.

 

[derazor]

Take the night tour. Book from www.alcatrazcruises.com

Combine this into one but food at Fishermans Wharf is the pits. Better food elsewhere. Go there ssrr is best. Don't buy souvenirs from there. Better from Walgreens. Usually cheaper.

Very near to each other. If you are strong, fit and the kids are not with you, you can walk Chinatown and Union Sq in one day. Heck I walk from Pier 33 (Embarcadero) to Union Sq.


Unless you are arty farty, give this place a miss but if you are, great treat.


Just a small street. Take the Cable Car Powell/Hyde Line up to the top and then walk down to the bottom and then take Cable Car Powell/Mason Line back to Union Sq or continue to the end and shop at the Cost Plus World Market.



This one the options to see it are plenty. You can walk on the Golden Gate Bridge. But the best vantage point is on the other side. If you drive the road is usually opened. The time I went the road was closed! This is Hendrik Point.Else there is an overlook called Vista Point. View is not very good.

Else there is the Marine Dr where you can get access to Fort Point. Yes, you can walk to where Fort Point is but after 5pm they will close the gate to Fort Point.


Didn't go to the Legion of Honor but Napa can be boring. Check out the restaurants at Yountville. I went to Bottega but the one next door is even more satki and kilat! Forgot the name but Yountville is nothing but restaurants!

In short, since Napa Valley is up north and you will have to take the Golden Gate Bridge to go over. Combine this excursion but you may have to leave Legion of Honor out. Rent a car just for a day and return it the same night or next day. As for the photo opportunities, sun rise or sun set is up to you. Sun rise for GG will be foggy. Sunset will be nice with the lights.



No time for Yosemite. Better skip.


Hoover dam is not nice to visit actually. Security is very tight but if you want a great view of the dam, see it at night. Yes, see it at night. If your camera can take it, the view of the dam looks very scifi at night.

South Rim is very far from Vegas. If you are going in summer I recommend North Rim but that will mean you have to book accommodations out of Vegas. Either Kanab or Mt Carmel. The drive from Kanab which is the nearest to the North Rim will take 2.5hrs. North rim will close in Oct onwards.

Horseshoe Bend can be reached easier than the North Rim provided you stay in Kanab. If you stay in Page, even better. As my other thread has revealed, the morning with its rising sun is best to take the pictures of this river feature.

Antelope Canyon is freaking expensive. It is on Indian land. It is holy to them and you pay very high price to just go there and max out your camera's abilities. Good place to stay is Page, AZ to be there. Tours are very limited as well.



Why not take multi-city flight?

What airline you intend to take? ANA allows me to book multicity and I think United as well.

Land SF. You can fly to LV using a domestic flight. Rather cheap. I flew with Southwest but a great experience can be gotten with Virgin America.

Then from LV, fly to LA. Then finally using the original carrier you have flown in to SF to fly back to SG from LA.

Leave the hard touring of UT and AZ. I think easier to drive and not so boring with the scenery.

Taking your advise to do Cathay Multicity. Total time is abt 18hrs, stopover at HKG ( same like SIA ) but better timing - Leave at 8am reach there at 1135am.

 

[derazor]

How does priceline work? Like booking.com?

I tried to do a mock booking of a particular hotel. There's this Pay When You Stay feature. Does it mean I can reserve the room w/o any charges to my CC?

 

[cormet]

At that time where did you stay? Seems like it's quite difficult to get hotel at the rim? More chances at Tusayan. My friend told me stayed at Grand Canyon Hotel @ Tusayan. It's ~USD$200. He gung ho and booked the day before he arrived. Siao.

At the rim I think only El Tovar which is Hotel standard, the rest more like motels or B&B type.

I stayed at Maswik Lodge. Hahaha it's literally a lodge lor,can park right in front of your room,plenty of other lodges and trees around. Quite cool for us Singaporeans who are so used to hotels!

 

[genie47]

How does priceline work? Like booking.com?

I tried to do a mock booking of a particular hotel. There's this Pay When You Stay feature. Does it mean I can reserve the room w/o any charges to my CC?

Priceline is that you must bid.

So basically, you think you can get a hotel room for USD100. You bid USD100. Wait for response. Then they will send you email to congrats you. Then tell you the hotel room you won.

I suggest you look around harder for a good value room. Lots of reviews in TA. Where is this place you are going and need a room?

 

[genie47]

I stayed at Maswik Lodge. Hahaha it's literally a lodge lor,can park right in front of your room,plenty of other lodges and trees around. Quite cool for us Singaporeans who are so used to hotels!

Even if we are used to hotels, I'm sure many SGers are not accustomed to US hotels. I stayed in the boondocks, namely Coralville, IA. There are two hotels there. Hampton Inn and Holiday Inn Express. Company booked the Hampton Inn.

A lot of my colleagues very shocked. The room came with a generous sized bathroom, 2 queen beds and a couch. This rather mid-priced. Then I demo-ed to them hidden features. I pulled open the couch and VIOLA! sofa bed.

That's why when you ask American hoteliers for an extra bed, they look at you with that quizzed look. Each room can accommodate 4 people if you in a crunch.

The boondock called Kanab, UT is basically the same when I stayed in Holiday Inn Express.

Breakfast is free with the usual fare. Mainly scrambled eggs and biscuits (same type from Popeye's) with gravy. Got fruit and cereal. All prepared elsewhere in some central kitchen if I'm not wrong. The handlers just heat it up. IMHO, the Holiday Inn breakfast is just a tad better.

Holiday Inn got an automatic pancake machine. Hampton Inn got an automatic waffle machine.

 

[genie47]

Taking your advise to do Cathay Multicity. Total time is abt 18hrs, stopover at HKG ( same like SIA ) but better timing - Leave at 8am reach there at 1135am.

Multicity also includes domestic in US? Or you itchy backside wanna sit Bergin Umerica?

 

[genie47]

At that time where did you stay? Seems like it's quite difficult to get hotel at the rim? More chances at Tusayan. My friend told me stayed at Grand Canyon Hotel @ Tusayan. It's ~USD$200. He gung ho and booked the day before he arrived. Siao.

At the rim I think only El Tovar which is Hotel standard, the rest more like motels or B&B type.

Tusayan, AZ got a lot of hotels and motels. Read the reviews for each. Some like El Tovar are very nice. B&B also quite nice but expect the hotels to give more room. Strange isn't it?

 

[derazor]

Multicity also includes domestic in US? Or you itchy backside wanna sit Bergin Umerica?

SG => SFO
* in between either SW or Virgin ( SFO to Vegas )
LAX => SG

We'd be doing

> SFO ( 3 nights )
> Vegas ( 4 nights )
> GC ( 1 night )
> Aneheim ( 2 nights )
> Santa Monica ( 1 night )
> LA ( 2 nights )

How is the spacing? Still got 1 more night to slot hehe..

 

[derazor]

Tusayan, AZ got a lot of hotels and motels. Read the reviews for each. Some like El Tovar are very nice. B&B also quite nice but expect the hotels to give more room. Strange isn't it?

U stayed in North Rim right?

I checked my Oct dates. Only Yavapai Lodge and Maswik Lodge is avail. Worst come to worst can just stay in Tusayan like my gungho friend, walk in and book.

I heard can call Xanterra as those ppl that cancel they didn't really update at webbie.

 

[derazor]

I stayed at Maswik Lodge. Hahaha it's literally a lodge lor,can park right in front of your room,plenty of other lodges and trees around. Quite cool for us Singaporeans who are so used to hotels!

Most important is it clean and how is the bed?

 

[cormet]

Most important is it clean and how is the bed?

It's clean but really simple. Shower is swimming pool kind (just the floor and the showerhead), not the usual type you see at hotels/motels with the tub/sink/place to put soap.

 

[genie47]

U stayed in North Rim right?

I checked my Oct dates. Only Yavapai Lodge and Maswik Lodge is avail. Worst come to worst can just stay in Tusayan like my gungho friend, walk in and book.

I heard can call Xanterra as those ppl that cancel they didn't really update at webbie.

I didn't stay in North Rim. Stayed in Kanab. GC Lodge at North Rim way over my budget and also was late in booking. FULL HOUSE.

 

[genie47]

SG => SFO
* in between either SW or Virgin ( SFO to Vegas )
LAX => SG

We'd be doing

> SFO ( 3 nights )
> Vegas ( 4 nights )
> GC ( 1 night )
> Aneheim ( 2 nights )
> Santa Monica ( 1 night )
> LA ( 2 nights )

How is the spacing? Still got 1 more night to slot hehe..

One day for GC a bit tight. You mean 1 night? Like that can but you will really be driving for a very long time if it is the South Rim you are going. Got buddy driver or not?

Before the plan I had, I nearly wanted to go South Rim then go to Flagstaff, AZ for the Lowell Observatory. In the end was way too long. Since North Rim less people go, I took North Rim but base must be in Kanab, UT.

Since got 1 night to slot in, see what sights you can see along the way. I assume you are driving from South Rim to Anaheim, CA? Then check out the old Route 66! That was my original plan. Visit the ghost town of Oatman, AZ. I think there are sections of the road that are marked with the Route 66 symbol. Drive on it and make sure take picture of it. Seligman, AZ is the place were you can go to Delgadillo's Sno Cap Drive-In. That stop ice cream place/diner is the inspiration for Pixar's Cars. The other place to go here is the Roadkill Cafe.

There are lots of other stuff along the old Route 66 since you are going down to the South Rim. Williams, AZ is also another stop along the old Route 66. It is also the site of the Grand Canyon Railway.

http://www.experiencewilliams.com/

If you are going to drive from South Rim to CA, might as well visit these towns nearer to the South Rim, then stay the night on any place along the I40 on the way the CA.

 

[genie47]

To help you plan if you decide to travel on Route 66. The longest stretch is from Kingman to Seligman. Both are not touched by the I40. Also got to be careful. The road I heard is rough. I don't suggest taking this on the way from LV to Tusayan. Will add more time to your already long drive. I suggest on the way out of Tusayan, you visit Williams or Seligman. Both need to turn out of the I40.

Kingman has some old stretches of Route 66. Then there is Oatman which is now getting popular because of Route 66.

The last part with some Route 66 is Barstow, CA.

Plan well for this drive, you will be rewarded with the old USA we are so fond of.

EDIT: I was looking into this before my finalized trip.

California segment: http://www.historic66.com/california/

Arizona segment: http://www.historic66.com/arizona/

 

[derazor]

It's clean but really simple. Shower is swimming pool kind (just the floor and the showerhead), not the usual type you see at hotels/motels with the tub/sink/place to put soap.

Is parking very jialat inside the rim?

I was thinking to drive around those scenic pts but I read once you get a parking better not to touch the car.