We enjoyed an amazing two weeks in USA from LA to Grand Canyon by car in October 2015. From Los Angeles we drove to Arizona and Nevada, and back. We focused on national parks, and visited Joshua Tree, Red Rocks State Park, Grand Canyon and Death Valley.
Later we have travelled again in the amazing American west. Click here to read all our posts about traveling in USA.
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We traveled by car and stayed in hotels for two reasons. Firstly, we were more familiar with that form of travel than going in RV or tent. Secondly, we wanted to have as much time as possible at our disposal.
Finding restaurants with gluten free meals was harder than expected
It is certainly easy to plan and pack when you stay in hotels and eat out. For us there was the downside, that it is difficult to find gluten free options in restaurants in USA. Tobias has celiac disease and needs a gluten free diet.
Fast food chain restarants are the most common restaurants when traveling by road is USA and looking for a quick meal. When we traveled, the gluten free options were very limited. We had actually prepared well by doing our online research before we left home, and used the app findmeglutenfree while on the road. But it did not always help us, because the gluten free option is often a green salat or similar. Tobias is not a great fan of green salads, and of he was, it would not be a full meal for him.
We often found ourselves driving to two, three or four places before finding a gluten free menu item that Tobias liked. Often it was in higher-end restaurants where a meal takes much longer and costs more. In Las Vegas we had decided to walk to a restaurant that turned out to have been closed permanently. We had to tired and hungry children, and no restaurants in sights! We rushed back to the hotel, got the car, and drove to a Maggiano’s that saved the evening.
On later trips to USA we have travelled self-catering, and found that this works well for us.
Itinerary
This is our itinerary for two weeks in USA from LA to Grand Canyon by car:
- Day 1-3 Los Angeles. We stayed at Days Inn, Hollywood.
- Day 4, Palm Springs, Joshua tree National Park. We stayed at The Saguaro Palm Springs.
- Day 5-7, Sedona. We stayed at Best Western Plus Inn.
- Day 8-10, Grand Canyon. We stayed at Yavapi Lodge.
- Day 11-12, Las Vegas. We stayed at Circus Circus Hotel.
- Day 13-14, Death Valley. We stayed at Furnace Creek Ranch.
- Day 15, Return to LA
