I Demand Spring Break!

[ase]

Did you know that, if you fly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, you can get a nonstop IAD* to LAX flight for $207? And that I don't have class on April 8th?

*Dulles is a 20 minute drive from dad's.

So theoretically, I could fly out on the 8th, and take a red-eye home on the 14th, and rent a car so I can personally experience LA traffic, and incidentally see my sister in Irvine and other people in Santa Barbara without Adventures in L. A. Mass Transit.

But this is all highly tentative, as I am still pricing out the damage. Maybe I will get a car part of the time? Maybe I will blow it all off and see what the NC Outer Banks off-season is like? (Beach. I burn with longing to have sand stuck between my toes, but if I'm going off-season, October makes more sense than April.) Or rent a car in the DC metro area and do a road trip through Shenandoah National Park? I want a break, but I don't want to break the bank.

[Poll #1364653]

ETA: Forgot the really important question, and now I can't fix the poll: who would be interesting in seeing me?

Comments

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

SF is much nicer than LA.

[ase.livejournal.com]

But my sister is in LA, not SF.

[trolleypup.livejournal.com]

I know, such a shame!

[loup_noir]

See, if you came north, I might be able to finagle a trip to SF. C'mon, San Jose has the computer museum! It's geektastic.

In LA, if you must go to smogland (although it's improved a lot over the years), you could visit Venice Beach for the overall weirdness, the LaBrea Tar Pits (cool!), LACMA (LA Co. Museum of Art), DLand, SeaWorld, wander around Westwood (UCLA), the observatories (the name of the one off of I-5 just zipped out of my brain), meander over to the LASFS clubhouse and geek with fen, avoid downtown LA, enjoy the San Diego beaches....

[ase.livejournal.com]

I like SF, so I know I'll get back there eventually. Since I haven't seen my sister since December '07, I think I need to see her, and she is not in SF. I brandish the family obligation flag!

meander over to the LASFS clubhouse and geek with fen,

Okay. Considering the Recent Events, there's a good reason to run away from all cities where I might be expected to interact with fandom.

[limnrix.livejournal.com]

LASFS is... very white and male. In my experience. And smelly.

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

I cannot disagree with trolleypup, much as i would like to.

LA has the Getty Museum which I personally believe is made of awesome, and Venice Beach which is sort of like Las Vegas in that "wow I can't believe that really exists" kind of way. And the Huntington Gardens which are also very nice botanical gardens (and I think are free on Tuesdays or something, I forget).

SB, though I have to admit it is naturally devoid of really interesting stuff (it does have some hiking trails, a botanical garden, beaches, etc.) is picturesque, and a good place to jump off to see Highway 1, which is the windy and extremely beautiful highway that goes up the coast, passing lots of pretty cliffs and beaches, and which I very very highly recommend if you don't mind driving a fair distance on very curvy roads. This could be combined with a trip to San Jose/SF!

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

Oh, and as for beaches. West Coast beaches suck (you can't swim in them, too cold). NC beaches, as you say, are waaaaay more fun in Sept/Oct than Apr/May.

[ase.livejournal.com]

I'd like to drive down to the Outer Banks off-season (Sept or Oct) for a long weekend, and I've got Chicago/WisCon plans (these predate the January-March explosion of crazy or I might reconsider), and I have all these people in CA I'd like to see/meet. But I'm pricing this out, and 1.) SF and LA are 500 miles apart, so it's dumb to pretend I'm going to hit both in one trip, and 2.) renting a car in LA is inexplicably expensive. ($50 a day plus fees? I am reliably informed that's questionably high.) So I am angsting over budget & etc.

[limnrix.livejournal.com]

I tried out the bus systems when I was there and they're weird but workable, if you're up for such things. It won't get you on any nature retreats, though.

[charlie-ego.livejournal.com]

Have you tried Priceline? I wouldn't use it for hotels, but for rental cars it can save you a fair amount.

(also, are you under 25? that might be why so expensive, if so?)

(also, if you just want to come up to SB, and you have a way of getting to the train station in LA, the train runs here and is cheap! however, I suppose you might like to have transportation while you were in SB, hm)

[limnrix.livejournal.com]

The Museum of Jurassic Technology.

http://www.mjt.org/

It's a mindfuck.