Quick Tips: Coffee! (and tea)

Commuter Java Press

People the know me know that I like coffee, good coffee that is. So while there is coffee everywhere
in the north America, it isn't well know for good coffee and I've been a little worried about getting my fix.  Here's the low down on my plan and how it all worked out..

On landing in LA near the top of my shopping list was a travel coffee cup plunger and some good coffee to look after my addiction.  I had done a little research and headed to REI in Santa Monica however they didn't have my first choice for plunger cup so I picked up a GSI Personal Java Press anyway.  A few weeks later I replaced it with the Commuter Java Press because it would fit in cup holders (just) and seemed to make more sense for what I needed.

Quick Tips: Touring Monument Valley

The main highway

I thought Monument Valley was just an area you drive through on the highway with some impressive rock features, turns out the most interesting part is off the highway on a Navajo Reservation.  To see the monument you can take a tour with a Navajo guide or you can self drive so I thought I'd share a little info that might help you make that decision.

Quick Tips: Hire Cars

Picking a hire car company was a challenge, trying to figure out a reputable company that wasn't crazy expensive and met a few key things such as:

-Sufficient milage

-Ability to go into Canada

-Sufficient insurance coverage (since we don't have a US credit card or existing US insurance)

Included all of those things into the decision I picked Alamo for our LA car hire although there were some complaints on the reviews they seemed fairly reputable and were cheaper than most.

Our first dusting of snow, that shut down Arizona.

Pick up was interesting, there was a huge turn over of cars arriving and leaving and people just kept rolling in.  Unfortunately for use there was a distinct lack of small SUV's (for the number that had booked them) and the guy in the yard was trying to convince people into different cars, premium's etc.  We said we would prefer an SUV got given a medium SUV however after after a quick check under the car we found out it wasn't 4wd so we requested another.  They said they couldn't guarantee it but we fairly quickly ended up with an AWD Dodge Journey which served us well.  If you are thinking of going to areas with a potential for snow then I would definitely recommend getting a 4wd, particularly since most car hire companies I looked at would not allow you to fit chains.