Blimey. What an adventure!! Anyone considering this trip needs to book now and go for it. There were so many great moments, I'm not sure where to start!
Our tour leader Tyler was amazing. Such cool dude, even though he was poorly with a cold halfway through and had to miss the ultimate party bus in Vegas! But he made sure he did everything he could to make sure we all got the most out of the trip (illness or no illness). For example, none of our group wanted to go to the San Diego zoo, so he dropped some of us to the beach for surfing (defo recommend surfing here, it was SO much fun!!) and some of us downtown for some exploring.
The van was great, we were a group of 9, which meant we just about had enough extra space to be as comfy as possible for the long drives. Wifi seemed to be unlimited, but slow at times! Loads of charging points, and plenty of essential stops to buy all that yummy American candy haha! We all took turns in sitting up front, playing the tunes, which was great fun.
I wasn't sure how the food situation would work, but it was fine. Everyone gave $10 per day to the tour leader at the beginning and this is used when you all stop off at the supermarket in your teams to buy breakfast, lunch and dinner (teams rotate dinner duties each day). There was leftover in our kitty so all got $5 each at the end, whoop! 2 nights we used the kitty to buy pizza, and the hotel/hostel nights we went out for dinner which was lovely! (not included in the kitty money)
The campsites were fab, one was next to the beautiful Colorado River (where we slept under the stars as it was so hot!), one had a private hot spring hot tub (amazing!) and one by a bay, perfect for swimming. All were absolutely lovely, even if the toilets were a bit gross, but who cares haha! The evening campfires were so magical, all sitting around like a family, with one person on our group playing guitar, so cool! And we got to make S'mores, YUM.
My favourite bits were probably the sunset cruise in San Fran (even though I wasn't initially going to do it because I thought it would be cold and foggy!) but the sunset was absolutely beautiful, and there was food and drink on board, whey! Vegas was the strangest place I've ever been to, but super fun none the less, and singing away in the karaoke bars until 5.30am was such an experience haha! Grand Canyon was incredible. Probably my favourite place of the trip. Myself and 3 others chose to do the Plateau Point trek, the longest of the day treks in the canyon (13 miles). The weather was beautiful, until...we got badly caught in a rain/wind/thunder storm at the bottom of the canyon where a lightening bolt struck the rock we sheltered under!! Crazy, but an adventure...! We walked over 40,000 steps that day.... very proud of #teamlightning! Pizza and sunset over the Canyon that night was well worth it.
Although expensive, it really is worth the money. I had the best time ever, and our group was so lovely, really such wonderful people! No arguments, no fall outs, nothing :)
One little tip, when they recommend pack for all weathers....they mean it! You will go through all sorts of climates and altitudes during the two weeks. Take rain coats, warm clothes, scarves, hats, as well as shorts, sunnies and flip flops!
I've rambled rather a lot in this review...oops! But there is so much to tell! However, I think you should go ahead and book and see for yourselves ;)