Three Months and Counting

With three months to go until we fly out on The Bonneville Run, now is the time when we wanted to be making sure most of our bigger accomodation expenses were booked. With that in mind, last night we booked a room at the Bellagio hotel and casino in Las Vegas for 2 nights of the trip. The Lakeview Deluxe room we booked would normally have cost us US$200 a night plus taxes and resort fees, but we managed to find a promotional code with a tiered discount on offer depending on how far in advance you were booking, which in our case gave us 25% off the room rate, saving us US$50 per night.

Our remaining multi-night bookings are now Los Angeles at the start of the trip and Bakersfield the weekend after we leave West Wendover. I would also like to book our room at the Grand Canyon sooner, rather than later, as there are a limited number of rooms there, in fact, it looks like we missed out on my preferred room before we'd even decided we wanted to stay there.

100 Days

Today marks 100 days until we fly out from Perth International Airport, to begin 'The Bonneville Run', including our trip to the Southern California Timing Association's Bonneville Speed Week 2010.



We still have to book our accommodation in Las Vegas and for a fair bit of the rest of the trip, but we're getting more and more things planned out every day. We now have a fairly good idea of the places we want to visit in Los Angeles and are working out the best way to make that happen without going crazy in traffic. We have chosen, but not yet booked, our accommodation in Las Vegas, and that will be coming soon.



Our current plan is to spend 2 nights in Las Vegas checking out the night life and the lights of the Strip. When we leave Las Vegas, we're heading to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, which is a slightly less popular spot with the tourists than the South Rim and consequently has less options for accommodation, so we're going to have to book that pretty soon also. I'll post up more information about where we're staying in Las Vegas and elsewhere on the trip as we book it.

Yet Another Update

Well, it's been almost two weeks since the last post, and we haven't too many more plans for "The Bonneville Run" yet, but we're also almost at the point where we could sort the rest out once we land. At the moment, there are three of us going on "The Bonneville Run", and at least 8 other West Australian's that are heading to the United States at the same time. We'll be catching up with some of these guys and girls in Los Angeles, and all of them at Bonneville.



Kate and I have decided that we would like to spend at least one night in a "Wigwam Motel", and the one major thing we've done since the last update on "The Bonneville Run" is to book a room at one of these historic motels. The Wigwam Motels are part of a chain of motels that used to be spread out along the length of the historic Route 66. These days, only 3 Wigwam Motels remain, and only one of these is anywhere near where we'll be on this trip. Wigwam Motel number 7 is located in San Bernardino, on the eastern outskirts of Los Angeles, and it will be our accommodation on our last night in LA, as it will also allow us to travel outside of peak traffic times. If you're interested in staying a night at Wigwam Motel number 7, in San Bernardino, then check out their website and don't forget the discount code on their rates and reservations page.

And The Countdown Continues With Four Months To Go

We are now just under 4 months from flying out for the United States. We're also at the point where we have enough organised that if we didn't do any more before we left, we could just wing it and we'd be fine. However, thats not my intention and we're going to be doing a lot more planning over the next month or so, as what is my intention is to at least have all our accommodation booked at least 2 months before we fly out.



Lately, I've been spending a bit of time looking at photos of San Francisco, trying to find some more places I'd like to visit and try to get some interesting shots of. Some of the places I've found so far include the ruins of an old military installation on Bakers Beach and the remains of the bath house at Sutro Beach. We're also intending to visit the former Nike Missile Site in Marin Country, which is just over the Golden Gate Bridge.



I'm not sure if k8 wants to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge again, but if the opportunity is there, I'm certainly up for another chance to take some more photos like the one above. The view from this engineering masterpiece is just amazing.

We Know Where We Are Staying

OK, so the title is a little extreme, we know where we're staying in Bonneville, we're still working out the rest of the trip. Yesterday morning I got a tip from a mate that The Red Garter hotel and casino in West Wendover had a very limited number of rooms remaining for SpeedWeek 2010. They're also the casino in West Wendover that does not have an online booking system, perhaps the two are related, perhaps not.



After a short phone call this morning, complete with the standard accent issues that come up whenever I'm on the phone to the US, I managed to secure a single queen bed room for the nights we're in town, and immediately tipped off Darrell, who is travelling with us, and within about five minutes, he'd also booked a room at The Red Garter.

Less Than 5 Months To Go..

The days are starting to go by rather quickly, with under 5 months to go now until we fly out, we've still only actually booked the airfares, but we're close to booking a few more things, and we've got some more dates confirmed for some other events we're planning on attending.



The first event we're adding to the list is in Los Angeles on Wednesday the 4th of August. It's a cruise in at the Wally Parks NHRA museum at Pomona, and attracts hot rods, muscle cars, kustoms and street machines from all over the Los Angeles area.



In order to make it to Los Angeles in time for the Wally Parks Museum Cruise In, we've had to change our plans for the trip south from San Jose. Instead of spending a night in Bakersfield on the way to LA, we'll instead be going almost directly from San Jose to LA and visiting Bakersfield after we've left Bonneville. This actually works out quite well, as another event that we're very keen on attending is the ANRA's Summer Nationals at the Famoso Auto Club Raceway in Bakersfield, on August 21st and 22nd. This is a dedicated Nostalgia race meeting, and reports from those who have attended in the past suggest that it is an event not to be missed.



After Bakersfield we'll be heading back up to San Jose to relax and check out some of the sights of the San Francisco Bay area, including a planned trip to Sacramento Vintage Ford, a visit to the San Jose Flea Markets, one of, if not the, biggest flea markets in the world. Also on the short list for things to do around the Bay, is another visit to Alcatraz, as I believe that a single visit is not enough time to really come to terms with the history of The Rock.



Between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, we plan to visit Death Valley, Las Vegas, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the Bonneville Salt Flats, Lake Tahoe and Yosemite National Park. We're also very keen to get to the GoodGuys Hot Rod show in Pleasanton the weekend after the ANRA round in Bakersfield, and Kate would like to see a Dodgers game in LA. I'd also like to catch a 49er's game in San Francisco, or at least take a stadium tour, if such a thing exists, but the schedule for the 2010/11 NFL season isn't available yet, so we'll see what ends up happening there.

Tickets Are Booked!

Just a quick update, as k8 and I have now booked our flights to California. We have not yet booked any accommodation, but the major part of the trip is now confirmed. If anyone is planning on joining us, or doing their own thing around the same time, you could do a lot worse than the specials Air New Zealand have on at the moment. We paid au$1519 each, including all taxes and charges, even the credit card surcharge. For reference, the price before taxes and charges, as thats what everyone quotes, was au$1378. The best price available on qantas.com.au for the same trip, same days, is currently au$2400 return.



We are leaving Perth (Australia) in the evening of the 31st of July, we spend 12 hours in Auckland the next day, and after crossing the international date line, we land in San Francisco around 1pm on the 1st of August. We fly out of SF about 9pm on the 4th of September, and spend about 9 hours in Auckland this time, before landing at home in the evening of the 6th of September (which also happens to be my birthday)