West Coast Road Trip

Since we're taking off to our West Coast road trip tomorrow, I thought I'd write a post about our travel plans. I'm going to write about the trip to our school newspaper as well, so I'm just using the draft I wrote for this post. I'm too lazy to re-write the whole thing in Finnish (especially at this time of the night...). Sorry mom and dad, take this as an opportunity to educate yourselves. Or at least as a google translator exercise! I don't have any cool pictures from West Coast (YET), so I'll just replace them with random ones from this week. But, here it is: the JEVA-Crew West Coast Itinerary!

JEVA (EAJV)

Day 1

We take off to Las Vegas from Detroit Metro Wayne airport on Friday evening, April 19^th . We will fly back from San Francisco on the 28^th. 

               We will arrive in Vegas at 9pm local time, and we will start our trip with a blast. A big electronic music artist, AVICII, happens to be performing at XS Nightclub at the Encore. After landing to McCarran International Airport the plan is to rush to our hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, change, and hurry to the show.

Celebrating Anais's future in Ireland

Day 2

Our second day in Las Vegas is reserved for exploring. Considering the party on the previous night, anything too scheduled didn’t seem like a good idea. Just walking around and seeing all the craziness of Vegas will surely be enough of a day activity.

                      On Saturday night we’ll be hitting the casinos. They offer a small amount of money for first-time-gamblers, so to get the Las Vegas experience without going bankrupt we are going to take advantage of this deal.

Day 3

We leave Las Vegas for our next destination on Sunday morning. We rented a car from Hertz, and it needs to be picked up from the airport at 11 a.m. After getting our belongings loaded in the car, we start a four and a half hour drive to Grand Canyon.

                      On our way we’ll drive through Grand Canyon Caverns and Peach Springs. We arrive around 6 p.m. and check in to our hostel, Grand Canyon International Hostel. Sunday night we’re going to bed early. It’s good to have at least one chill night during the trip!

Finnish dinner. So unbelievable that everybody had to take pictures of it haha

Day 4

Monday 22^nd of April is the first day of National Park Week, which means free entrance to Grand Canyon. We’ll check out before dawn and set off for an early morning hike to see the sunrise in Grand Canyon.

                      The seven and a half hour drive from Grand Canyon to our next destination, Laguna Beach, will be the longest of our trip. We’re leaving Grand Canyon before noon to be at Laguna beach to see the sunset.

                      From Laguna Beach we’re driving to Santa Monica to meet our Couchsurfing host, with who we will be staying the next two nights.

Day 5

The fifth day on the road is reserved for exploring the Los Angeles area. We’re doing one big tourist tour in downtown LA, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Venice beach or wherever we decide to go. Our mentality for this trip is more “going with the flow,” than planning a schedule on a minute accuracy.

Chilling out w Charrrlie

Day 6

This is the beach day and wild card of our trip. In the spirit of a true adventure, we have absolutely no plans besides lying on Malibu Beach and driving to Santa Barbara. Not even when it comes to a place to stay. Whether we end up having a blast or the night will be a disaster, it sure will be memorable.

Day 7

On Thursday we’re making our way to Monterey. We’re driving on the coast through Big Sur and just enjoying the view.

                      After checking in to our hostel, HI-Monterey Hostel, we’ll just chill out and save our energy for the weekend in San Francisco.

Day 8

We start our last leg of the road trip early on Friday morning. To save money, we’re dropping off our car to the airport on our way to San Francisco. This way we don’t have to worry about parking, and driving in a big city is a pain anyways.

                      We’re staying in Amsterdam Hostel close to Union Square. After settling in we’re heading for a little tour in the city. The night is reserved for checking out the nightlife of San Francisco.

Packing. Ughhh.

Day 9

Last whole day of the road trip is dedicated to the attractions of San Francisco. At least Golden Gate Bridge, Coit Tower, The Fisherman’s Wharf and Marin Headlands are on the list of day activities.

                      For the last night we wrote only two words to our itinerary: crazy party.

Day 10

Our flight back to Detroit leaves at 1 p.m. on Sunday, so there’s not much else to do than pack, check out and leave to the airport that day. We’re flying back with Delta as well, and land in Detroit around 9 p.m. Tired, but hopefully happy.

Night night Veera!

I doubt I'll have a chance to update anything while we're on the road, but after I'll definitely let you know if everything went as planned. ;-)