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Best location between San Diego and Sedona?

Cathyb

Cathyb

Tug Review Crew: Rookie
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Carlsbad, CA
Tuggers please give us your advice :ponder: -- We have timeshare reservations in Sedona for mid-Oct. 2010 and live in San Diego. Want to break up the driving trip in a nice area about half way. Any ideas? Can be timeshare or just hotels -- but an interesting area stop.

Thank you for any ideas :cool:
 
Why not spend a night in Vegas?

Dave
 
I'd think the best place would be the Phoenix area. Then the next day you'd have an easy drive to Sedona.
 
Lake Havasu City (as long as it's not during a motorcycle run - unless, of course-you are into that)!:eek:
 
Dave: In March we had a big family birthday gathering and it ended up like a TV family disaster show :( All of the siblings were arguing with each other -- so Vegas for now has bad memories for us; but thanks anyway for that suggestion.
 
Bill: I'll check the hours it takes to Phoenix; my hubby has been having some troubles with driving for long periods of time and I freak out driving in strange areas. Thank you for the idea.
 
lol nightnurse :D Can you visualize a 77 yr old man with his sexy (had to throw that in) -- 72 yr old lover on the back of his Harley.
 
Isn't Vegas out of the way on a route from San Diego to Sedona? It would seem to me that it would be much further north.
Liz
 
Phoenix would be my choice. About five hours from San Diego and only two or so to Sedona the next day.

Vegas would be really out of the way and two pretty long days of driving.
 
Liz Wolf-Spada said:
Isn't Vegas out of the way on a route from San Diego to Sedona? It would seem to me that it would be much further north.
Liz
Click to expand...


It's not the shortest route, for sure. But there's more "happening" there. And it's only 4 hours or so from Carlsbad. But if you read Cathy's reply to my suggestion, Vegas is out, any road. :shrug:

My vote now would be for something around Lake Havasu. Although I can't get that Harley image out of my mind... :)

Dave
 
Hmm, now I'm thinking Palm Springs. Phoenix is only about 90 minutes away from Sedona. I was thinking LHC because it's not as far away as Las Vegas (except for driving time) and the drive along the Colorado can be entertaining (at least part of the way). I wasn't suggesting you ride your Harleys - I was merely thinking that they have a motorcycle run to LHC and (IMHO) you probably don't want to be there at that time. :eek: Coming along I-10 it's Palm SPrings, Blythe or Quartzite. Palm SPrings would be my choice dividing the trip up.
 
nightnurse: I realize you were pointing out a possible 'wild' scene in Havasu if the motorcycle groups were there -- I was just feeling silly when I posted my 'sexy' scenario :)
 
I'm pretty sure it's more than 4 hours to Vegas from Carlsbad, as we live very close to the 15 near Victorville and it's about 4 hours from us. I don't know what you would add from Carlsbad, but I'd guess at least another hour. The traffic to Vegas is horrific so don't drive north on the 15 on Fridays!
Liz
 
Cathy,

There just isn't a lot between San Diego and Sedona, so I think driving all the way to Phoenix area is probably your best bet. How about staying a night at the Marriott CAnyon Villas? I hear that's a real nice property. Then you'd have any easy drive the next day to Sedona.

The only other suggestion if there is a somewhat direct route from San Diego, would be Tuscon. Not really on the way I guess, but I hear that area is really beautiful and if you've never seen it I'm sure you would enjoy it. My husband work on Tucson a couple times a year and says it's about a 2 hour drive from Phoenix, so that mean it would take about 3.5 hours to drive to Sedona from Tuscon.

Just an idea!

Janna
 
There's really not much that would be 'half way' between Sedona and SD. It's about an 8 hour drive and can easily be done in a single day. Palm Springs/Desert would be 3 hours from SD and 5 hours from Sedona. PHX would be 6 hours from SD and 2 hours to Sedona. Las Vegas would be out of the way and would be about 5-6 hours from both start and finish.
 
RedRox: Thank you for putting it all into perspective! Even though 8 hrs sound menial to most of you --my dear hubby has just been diagnosed with TIA (mini-stroke) after long drives so this is a learning time for me. In fact we are seeing a neurologist for him that may develop into Alzheimer's first signs -- soooo scary. I don't drive outside of my neighborhood so looking for the 3-4 hour drive for him.
 
Cathy, I hope he is OK and getting treated soon should help a lot. My dad had some dementia from TIA's and it was definitely not like the Alzheimer's my mom had. He was on Memantine and his facilities were good, but the Parkinson's made it eventually almost impossible for him to get the words for his thoughts and say them.
It seems like you are really looking just for a motel 3-4 hours away, not a location to visit. That should make it easier. Maybe pull out a map and draw a circle around the midway point and see what you can find. I think 4 hours will get you more than midway, but I'm not sure.
Liz
 
liz: yes, I guess that is how it will end up, thanks. Palm Desert for a night would be a possibility if it were not too hot (mid-Oct). We have Marriott points we could use for a hotel.
 
What!!! Are you inferring that the prospect of overnighting in Blythe doesn't get you excited?? Or you could take the southern route, and have a wonderful break in Yuma!!

-----

More seriously, another option might be to take I-40 out of Barstow to Needles and spend the night in Laughlin. Next day, pick up the 40 again in Kingman, then continue on to Flagstaff and Sedona.
 
I was just going to suggest Laughlin, NV but Steve beat me to it. That is what we did the last time we drove drove from San Diego to Sedona. It is about 40 miles farther than going through Phoenix. You can get really cheap hotel rates in Laughlin and have some fun. Lake Havasu and Las Vegas are both out of the way and not very feasible.

If you want the shortest route with a stop close to mid-way then travel via Phoenix with a stop at Blythe.
 
It wasn't until I just read John's post (although Steve mentioned it first) that I realized I was thinking Laughlin but kept saying Lake Havasu. Sorry. :eek:
 
nightnurse613 said:
It wasn't until I just read John's post (although Steve mentioned it first) that I realized I was thinking Laughlin but kept saying Lake Havasu. Sorry. :eek:
Click to expand...

Cathy, I think Palm Desert sounds like a good compromise. It's almost a 3 hour drive for you, isn't it? Sedona should be about 5.5 hours past that. Don't use Marriott rewards points though. Get an owner rate on a one bedroom or studio unit. It shouldn't be a bad price. Try to save your points for more expensive accomodations, unless the $100 you would save is significant right now.

Best of luck and have fun! Sedona in October should be wonderful.

Janna
 
Janna: You're so right, using Reward points would be wasteful since PS or PD have good rates that time of year. Thanks for the reminder!
 
Palm Desert is a 2 hour drive from Carlsbad. It is hardly a mid-point to Sedona. You will be left with a 6 hour drive the next day.
 
What about Palm Springs and Scottsdale/Phoenix?

If you have the time, you could take 2 days to drive and get to stop at nice locations on the way. You'd even have a little time to unwind and see a sight or have a nice lunch and swim at the pool.

Given your constraints with long-distance driving, this may be your best bet.

We did the drive on I-10 from LA to Phoenix in a single day a few weeks ago and found the stretch between Palm Springs and Phoenix to be annoying, slightly stressful driving. Hilly terrain with trucks going slow-40mph up the hill. Then many RVs & SUVs pulling trailers trying to pass them going up the hill at 55 mph. Mixed in with many passenger cars trying to go 70 mph (the speed limit there) up those same hills. Then everybody suddenly going much faster coming down the hills. Only two lanes and traffic traveling at widely varying speeds. There was lots of tailgating and weaving going on. I will admit-- gasp!-- that my husband swore more than 1 time during the drive.

So if you can manage it time-wise, I'd advise not taxing yourselves. Have a few nice days along the way!

H
 
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