Our wedding is September 7th. I have a conference in Dallas September 14th. See the problem?
We were planning on leaving September 10th for our honeymoon, but that’s not going to be possible. But we don’t want to postpone it until after the conference, either. So we’re doing the next best thing: including the conference into the honeymoon. Since it only lasts a couple of days, I think it’ll work out!
That means we really need to choose what trip to take though. When they told me about the conference, we basically narrowed it down to two choices: Hawaii or the West Coast road trip. Hawaii would have been amazing – Tami even e-mailed me tons of info which made it seem like it was the perfect place for a honeymoon – but it was just too far away from Dallas (we need to take 3 planes to get to Dallas, plus another 3-4 more to get to Maui) and the plane tickets were quite expensive, so we decided to go the other route. We already took a road trip around part of Europe almost three years ago and it was so much fun!
The university will be paying (at least for part of) my plane ticket to Dallas, and they’ve told me that I need to book the ticket ASAP, so I’ve been in honeymoon-planning mode lately. (They told me that they’d pay for the ticket if I book it to/from Dallas, so I’d have to take an internal flight from LA to Dallas on the way back. I’ve checked prices and taking into account the hassle of one or even two additional flights I don’t know if it’s worth it, so if we choose to fly back directly from LA I’ll only present the bill for the way there). The plan right now is this one:
- Fly to Dallas September 13th. The conference starts Friday the 14th in the morning and finishes Saturday afternoon, so I’ve looked for flights Saturday evening. That means my boyfriend won’t be waiting for long while I’m at the conference – just a day and a half. I’m currently looking for a hotel with a pool so he can stay in if he wishes. We’ll also look into renting a car for the day on Friday in case he wants to do something on his own – any suggestions?
- Fly to Seattle Saturday September 15th in the evening. Visit Seattle for 2-3 days, get a rental car there and start driving south until we reach LA. I’ve thought about where to stop on the way, and so far I have: Portland, San Francisco, Sonoma County, Santa Barbara, and LA.
- I’d also love to stop in Yosemite for a day or two (because I’ve already been to all the other places and I’d really like to visit somewhere new) but it’s really not on the way, so I don’t know if it’s really feasible. I’d love your thoughts on this one. And I’d love to hear any suggestions you might have regarding where to stay in Yosemite (inside the park? outside?).
- Also, would you recommend dropping of the rental car when we arrive to SF and then picking up another one when we leave? I don’t think we’ll drive while we’re in the city and I’d love to avoid the parking fees, so this is probably the best option, but I’m not sure.
Bummer about the conference being when it is. On the plus side, it looks like you’ve come up with a great plan for your honeymoon! I loved Seattle (it’s the nicest during the late Summer) but aside from LA, I haven’t been to any of those other cities (although I do want to see Portland and San Francisco).
I think you can get away without having a car in San Francisco. They have the bike share program and the trolley (I think it’s the Bart system). You can check it all out on their transit website: http://www.sfmta.com/cms/home/sfmta.php
I know, I wish it were some other time. I don’t *have* to go, but I really should. And yeah, we’re very excited for the honeymoon plan! Thanks for the SF link!
Way to make it work! I think you’ll enjoy the West Coast quite a bit.
I love Seattle. I travel for work once in a while and it’s one of my fav stops. It’s got great coffee shops. Check out the Pike Place Market where they throw the fish. You maybe able to check out a Mariner’s game too if you’re interested in seeing some US sports.
I’ve never been to Oregon, but I hear it’s awesome. They filmed “Goonies” in Astoria, OR if you’re a fan of the film.
I heard San Francisco is incredible!
LA is cool and there is a quite a lot to do there… Hollywood sign, Santa Monica pier, definetly a fun town.
San Diego is really nice if you’re up for a couple extra hours of driving past LA. La Jolla is very nice and there’s the San Diego Zoo as well as the beaches. It’s prettier than LA and not as congested… more laid back.
Good luck with your planning!
Thanks for all your tips John! We’d love to include San Diego but I don’t know if we’ll have the time.
Ooooh West Coast road trip! That’s what I’m hoping to go on next year. If I was going, I’d want to see Big Sur. Oh, and I’ve heard part of the charm of Yosemite is camping there.
Good luck with planning!
Thanks for the tip Brandi! If I’m honest, I don’t really like camping… one day might be okay though
That’s too bad about the conference affecting your plans. You’ve come up with a good solution it looks like though. I’d love to visit all of those places! I’ve only really been to the west coast of Canada (Vancouver and Victoria) and they were gorgeous!!
Thanks Christine! I was a bit bummed but I think it’ll work out fine. We just need to decide everything and get the plane tickets
Bummer about the business trip! But way to make it work for you! I think the road trip sounds like a ton of fun! You’ll get to see and do so much!
Yeah, that’s one of the reasons we like this idea so much – we’ll definitely get to see a ton of places.
I highly, highly, highly recommend you spend at least a day or two in Big Sur. Hotels in that area tend to be very pricey, but I have a few places that I could share with you if you are open to more rustic (but still cute!!) places to stay. Big Sur is where the cliffs overlooking the Pacific meet the Redwood forest. It is a *magical* place.
I would love to buy you and your new hubby a celebratory drink when you get down her to LA too
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I’ll definitely have to consider Big Sur then! It sounds awesome.
And that is so sweet of you, I’d love! I’ll have to talk to him about it though– he’s a bit shy. Well I am too, but he doesn’t speak English!
I second the Big Sur suggestion. I’ll also throw another one into the mix: Paso Robles/San Luis Obispo. Paso Robles has (in my opinion) better wines than Napa/Sonoma. But that’s mostly because I love red Zinfandels and fruity wines and that region is known for that. Along highway 1 (just west of that area and south of Big Sur) are some really neat places to stop too. The Hearst Castle is amazing: http://www.hearstcastle.org/. As is the hidden waterfall at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
Here’s a little album of my trip from Palo Alto down to Paso Robles, east to the coast, and back up north. You can check out the photos and see if any places look interesting to you.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.747603619193.2332493.220042&type=3&l=f073e2f0df
Thanks for the suggestions Jackie! All your pictures are awesome. I had already heard of Hearst Castle, I’ll have to look into it.
Hmm… too bad you don’t know someone in Dallas… oh wait!
Where’s your conference? Do you know the hotel yet? And what does the bf enjoy? Museums? Golf? History?
I’ve always wanted to take that trip along the west coast! Planning your honeymoon is so exciting (although really, mine was a surprise so I don’t actually know anything about honeymoon planning!).
I know! I wanted to ask you stuff but since you’re leaving tomorrow I thought I should wait til you get back haha. And we’ll only be there for a couple of days really so I don’t know what we’ll be able to do. The boyfriend is not really into museums (unless there’s a really interesting or interactive one) – he mainly likes walking around and eating at awesome places, like me!
Big fan of your blog! I’m also planning my wedding right now (our date is Sept. 2nd) and love to read about your ideas!
I live in San Jose, about an hour from San Fran and have done many portions of your West Coast road trip (just not all at the same time!). You really can’t go wrong taking Highway 101 from Northern California to LA. It’s the “long way”, but it takes you along the coast for most of the way, as well as through all of the places others have recommended (Paso Robles, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Malibu etc.) It is even easy to get to get to Big Sur and Hearst Castle from 101. It’s a beautiful drive and you’ll have plenty of places to stop!
As for Yosemite, you really can’t beat camping there. They have many options and campsites, though they book up early. If you want stay somewhere a bit nicer, the Ahwahnee Hotel is the place to go! A bit pricey, but absolutely gorgeous.
Good luck planning–you’ll have a great time where ever you go!
Thanks for the recommendation Chelsea! We were definitely planning on taking the 101 so it’s good to hear it’s a nice ride. And I’ve already checked out the Ahwahnee Hotel… it sounds amazing! Maybe we’ll splurge. Good luck planning your wedding, too!
Hi Ainhoa, sure you already got a car rental, as there are only 4 weeks left for your wedding, but when we went to USA (East coast) we rent a car for a week with National via http://www.ealquilerdecoches.es, it was cheap, easy and we were able to drop it in a different place from the pick up point, they have a customer service free hotline.
Love the honeymoon you are planning, hope you enjoy it.
B regards!
Muchas gracias! Efectivamente ya lo tenemos alquilado a través de Priceline pero me vendrá bien esa web para un futuro, seguro..