Itinerary help for San Fran and Las Vegas/Grand Canyon

[boroangel]

Hi everyone, My gf and I are making last minute plans to meet in West Coast in July as we just managed to get some vacation days off from our bosses. She is coming in from Singapore and me from Latin america. We have 10 full days not including flight times. Here is our tentative itinerary.

2nd July – Arrive in San Fran at night
3rd July – Full day in San Fran
4th July – Full day in San Fran
5th July – Flight to Las Vegas early morning
6th July – Morning to Grand Canyon. Overnight in Grand Canyon
7th July – Back from Grand Canyon to LV. Overnight in LV
8th July – Full day shopping in LV
9th July – Morning flight to San Fran. Drive north to Muir woods
10th July – Drive down Highway 1 to Monterey. Overnight in Monterey
11th July – Gilroy outlet shopping full day, back to San fran for night
12th July – San Fran. Early morning flight on 13th

We are not used to driving on the right side (in fact never), that's why we do not want to drive large distances. I hope the driving distances mentioned above are manageable?
Also, it looks like most of the national lodge accom in Grand Canyon are sold out. Can we still make sunrise in Grand Canyon by living in Williams, wake up early and head into the park before sunrise?
I would really appreciate your comments on our itinerary and suggestions, thanks!

 

[nathaniel]

i think the Grand Canyon accom might be sold out as its the 4th of July weekend. not been to Grand Canyon (yet), but might go there sometime within the year.

driving from SF to Monterey is 2h 10 mins according to Google Maps, but add more time for traffic jams if you intend to leave/return during peak hour traffic. the view just before reaching Monterey is great, but be careful when driving via the winding roads. use the turnouts to let faster cars pass by (California law says if more than 5 cars are behind you, you must use the turnout). don't speed, and make a complete stop at stop signs (the traffic fines are expensive!). just recently came back from Gilroy--lots of great deals--Coach, Timberland, and more! ate at the nearby Denny's for lunch, rather than the expensive-and-probably-not-nice food court.