8wks in the US - suggestions please

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Look what they just found at the La Brea Tar Pits!

Ha, take that, Luanne!

Nearly intact mammoth skeleton a rare find in L.A. - CNN.com

Okay, so that adds about 5 minutes to the trip.

I'd better not tell dh, he'll be dragging me back down there again.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Syd, I keep meaning to add, if part of your itinerary brings you to the San Francisco area, keep me in mind. I'd love to meet up with you and your brood.

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

I'm pretty excited. We have 8 wks in Dec09/Jan10 for a nice long break over our Summer school break.

It's been nearly 4 yrs since we were in the U.S.

We'll be flying into the West Coast from Sydney and are toying around with renting a motorhome for a week or 2 to explore a bit. Where would you suggest we go? We thought maybe Yosemite National park. Would love to get to Sedona but it might be too far to drive?

We'd also like to go to Disneyland and fit in a cruise.

Everything else is up in the air.

Any suggestions for a cruise? Any ideas of how to fill in our 8 wks? I saw some of the Disney bulk banks and also got quite excited but not sure if it's worth making the effort to the East coast?

We are open to suggestions. One reason we thought the U.S. would be good over Europe, even though we love Europe is we now have a 5 children. I know that it's a lot easier to rent people movers in the U.S. than Europe and it'll be easier to get around in the US with a family our size.

Looking forward to reading any and all suggestions!

That is a nice long trip, Sydney. If you rent a motorhome, I would take the coastal route of California and Oregon too, if you have time. You will see a lot while you are underway. My other recommendation would be Joshua Tree National Park because it is so different. When I asked our family and our European friends, this was the park they enjoyed the most because it was so different.

Personally, I like Yosemite the most of what I have seen so far but there may be snow already so not safe to drive with a motorhome unless you take the back way in like someone suggested here already. All our national parks are beautiful. You can see Yosemite here with other western national parks too. His albums are the most beautiful collection of photographs anywhere.

There is enough in our area (southern CA) alone to keep you busy for a week or more. If you come to Disneyland or one of the beach cities here, I hope to meet you.

[Fern Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fern]

Luanne,
You forget (or don't know) that Lang has a couple of boys who probably are real dinosaur fans, and they'd adore it.

Fern

Okay, so that adds about 5 minutes to the trip.

I'd better not tell dh, he'll be dragging me back down there again.

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

Luanne,
You forget (or don't know) that Lang has a couple of boys who probably are real dinosaur fans, and they'd adore it.

Fern

I've said it's worth seeing if you're in the area. I still don't think it's worth a separate trip, or an all day visit. Have you been there?

[Sydney Contributor - Bronze Find all posts View Profile Close Sydney]

Yes Fern, my boys adore dinosaurs. My 2nd son particularly. He could pronounce obscure dinosaur names since before he was 3yrs old. His idea of a good time was reading books about dinosaurs morning, noon and night! Our family as a whole love science museums.

Luanne, of course I'll contact you if we are in San Fran.

Emmy, we'll definitely go to Disneyland when we head to the U.S. so hopefully we'll be able to meet.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

My DH says the tar pits are really cool. I thought he went there when he was a kid...but it turns out he was in grad school when he visited.

[Fern Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fern]

Luanne,
Of course I've been there. I think the first time I was there I was probably about six, if that old. At the time the Page Museum didn't exist, most of the dinosaur related items were at the Museum of Science and Industry in Exposition Park, which also had an exhibit of Shirley Temple's doll collection. To this day I love all sorts of museums.

I grew up in LA. Our parents took us to every museum within about 50 miles, multiple times (museums were free in those days). We also went to the LA County Arboretum, the Zoo, Travel Town, the train in Griffith Park, Olvera Street, Chinatown, etc. I went to a school which had inner city kids, so we got to go to a lot of places the rich kids had to do on their own. We went to the Opera, Ballet, and I even got to hear Dr. Louis Leaky speak.

Fern

I've said it's worth seeing if you're in the area. I still don't think it's worth a separate trip, or an all day visit. Have you been there?