NY and Westcoast in July for solo traveller

Do you recommend certain cheap places to stay inside the park ?

When it comes to "inside" the park, you take what's available.

I was wondering whether i could park my car somewhere inside the park or outside and sleep in it?
or if that's nonlegal or unpractical for some reason, whether i could take my tent with me and sleep in that inside the park?

All camping inside the park must be within designated campgrounds, with the exception of some backcountry areas (which requires a backcountry permit). Campground reservations fill within minutes of opening, four months in advance. There are a couple first-come, first-served areas, but you'll have to get to them early in the morning (9 am may be too late).
Outside the park, there are other federal lands (BLM, National Forest, etc.) where you may find places where you can camp where you please. However, these will likely be very primitive (may not even have toilets), and likely to be farther than other lodging you may find near the park.

bzookaj didn't specifically address sleeping in your car inside the park. This is prohibited, and rangers will find you. In addition to rangers patrolling, there will also be bears patrolling. The bears will be interested in anything in a car that looks or smells like food. Yosemite bears aren't that much interested in humans (except that humans tend to be associated with edibles) , but if they smell food or toiletries in the car, they may try to break into it. People using campgrounds are required to empty cars of anything that attracts bears & store it in bear-proof lockers.

No problem tent camping. You can bring your own or buy a cheap tent and sleeping bag, about 25 us each at a Walmart. Sleeping in a car sucks and it's not very comfortable plus officials frown upon it.
If you go to Yosemite on a weekday you should be able to get a camp spot on top, White Wolf or Porcupine Flats. White Wolf is my favorite, if you get there around 11 to 12 you should get a spot, nice hiking from camp.
Don't even try in the valley where the chances are slim to none, never know.
It's about a 45min. drive from White Wolf to the Valley.

If you decide to camp on the first part of your trip I'd seriously consider the campervan, it'll be much easier and comfortable, they include all the gear to cook.

I think the point being made is the very low risk of hurricane activity on any specific date in July ... you're probably more likely to get mangled in a taxi driving in from the airport.

... and go to NOLA. there is nothing cooler than walking up Bourbon st with a cup o Joe at dawn.

"> I don't have any strong feelings about New Orleans one way or the other, but walking up Bourbon Street with all the other badly dressed, rather lubricated rubbernecks is just the sort of touristy image of the place that keeps me away (in addition to bad honky-tonk jazz of course)."

this poster is describing miles davis as honkytonk...Really?
there is no such thing as honkytonk jazz. bourbon street at dawn is devoid of people except for early deliveries and a few breakfast places opening up. Bourbon street will provide various kinds of acts during the day so we can know the quote is incorrect.

The post is dead and buried Katz ... do you really have nothing better to do than stalk others?

Hello wonderful people. You have been so helpful ! I will try to ring Yosemite everyday for the last two weeks to get a camping spot ! I have seen some pictures of Lake Tahoe and it looks amazing. So I'm thinking of including it in my itinerary(below), as i would then drive from there to Yosemite in the night . I have also put the driving route in googlemaps and made out that i will be driving more than 2000 miles only to get to these places. This is the first time i'm trying to drive so much and i afraid i wont manage. Any advice on what to leave out ?

SF - Lake Tahoe - Yosemite - Lee vining - Toms place - Death valley - Las vegas - Zion - Grand canyon - Las vegas = 1422 miles and Las vegas - LA - Big sur - SF = 752 miles, 1422 miles + 752 miles = 2174 miles.

This is plan so far

Day 1: Fri 8 Jul - NYC
Day 2: Sat 9 Jul - NYC
Day 3: Sun 10 Jul - NYC
Day 4: Mon 11 Jul - NYC
Day 5: Tuesday 12 Jul - NYC
Day 6: Wednesday 13 Jul - (Fly from NYC to SF in the morning)
Day 6: Wednesday 13 Jul - (Pick up rental car in SF early afternoon)
Day 6: Wednesday 13 Jul - SF to Lake Tahoe (Stay and see the lake until the evening, stay overnight)
Day 7: Thursday 14 Jul - Lake Tahoe to Yosemite (Drive in the night to arrive there early morning)
Day 7: Thursday 14 Jul - Yosemite
Day 8: Friday 15 Jul - Yosemite (Leave in the evening to Lee vining, stay overnight in Lee vining)
Day 9: Saturday 16 Jul - Lee Vining - Tom's Place - Death valley (drive to these places and see them)
Day 9: Saturday 16 Jul - Death valley - Las Vegas (stay overnight in vegas)
Day 10: Sunday 17 Jul - Las vegas - Zion (stay overnight in Zion)
Day 11: Monday 18 Jul - Zion (Stay overnight in Zion, drive from there early morning to Grand canyon)
Tuesday 19 Jul - Grand Canyon
Wednesday 20 Jul - Grand Canyon
Thursday 21 Jul - Grand Canyon - Las Vegas (Arrive early morning)
Thursday 21 Jul - Las Vegas (sight seeing)
Friday 22 Jul - Las vegas - LA (Leave early morning)
Friday 22 Jul - LA
Saturday 23 Jul - LA
Sunday 24 Jul - LA
Monday 25 Jul - Coast Drive
Tueday 26 Jul - Coast Drive (Big Sur)
Wednesday 27 Jul - SF (Drop off rental car in SF early morning and explore the city by public transportation)
Thursday 28 Jul - SF
(FLY from SF to NYC)
Friday 29 Jul - NYC
Saturday 30 Jul - NYC, leave

Im also worried whether i can manage to get to see Lake Tahoe in the sunlight, which i am hoping i can because of the long days in July (I will drive from SF around 2 pm). Let me know if there is another things i should be aware of. Thanks alot !!

Lake Tahoe is indeed a beautiful Lake, but I think it is one thing you can miss. It is best seen when you have a day to do some driving and, even better, hiking. Those "amazing" photos probably include snow covered mountains. You aren't going to see much snow in July. The photos all make the lake look isolated, but actually there are many towns along hte lake shore, and casinos in Nevada.

To minimize your driving time, your route is going to look like this. That means you will arrive at the town of South Lake Tahoe and your view ofd the lake is going to be something like this. You can drive around the lake a bit for some better views, but you aren't going to have time to really see it.

Iforgot to add--leaving SF at 2 PM is going to put you in Sacramento in time for rush hour, and most of them will be heading east. Google says the drive is about 3 ½ hours. I'd say 4 ½ to 5 when you add rush hour.Sunset at Tahoe will be around 8:30 PM. Sunrise is at about 5:54.

I wouldn't drive at night from Tahoe to Yosemite. A lot of the drive is going to be on mountain roads, which may not be safe if you are tired,and the road & the car are unfamiliar. Besides, the drive itself is pretty scenic.

In addition to cutting Tahoe, I would reduce the Grand Canyon nights from three to two, and move that night to Zion, SF, or Big Sur.

The post is dead and buried Katz ... do you really have nothing better to do than stalk others?

just interested in some correct information, other people do read things dont they and clearly the post isnt dead nor is it buried. you are batting 1000