I am heading down to San Diego at the end of the month to help out at a conference; I thought it might be a good opportunity to put the top down on the roadster and drive ala James Dean along the coast (albeit somewhat slower and more cautiously)… a California roadtrip.
Problems arise: first off, it is about 9 hours to San Diego from here. Longer if one counts breaks, stops at funky roadside attractions, etc. Second, it is about 460 miles, and at an average of 22 miles per gallon with gas at $3.50 per gallon here, it would cost me about $150 to drive.
Now here’s where we learn why airplanes are so crowded. There are flights from San Jose to San Diego 10 times per day. The flight takes an hour and a half. A ticket costs $50 each way. $10 for a cab ride each way from the airport, and I’m still coming out ahead.
True, I won’t have the wind-in-my-hair James Dean experience. But who needs 9 hours of that?
Um… we just drove down to LA, took 101 (the middle speed route) and it took just at 6 hours including stopping for lunch and pee breaks, a little heavy traffic once we got to LA, and a little heavy petting on one of the beaches along the way.
The drive to San Diego a few years ago took just over 7, going the high-speed but more boring route of I-5, including hitting some bad Friday evening rush-hour traffic (bad planning on our part) once we got to San Diego. I can see Rt 1 (PCH) taking 9 hours, but 3 of that will be between Ventura and San Diego alone… Take PCH from Santa Cruz to SLO then stick to 101 the rest of the way, you’ll be happier.
Isn’t that what you bought the car for in the first place?
Why hurry? Make the drive a two day trip with a stop at a little B&B;along the way, take pictures, let Diego play in the sand and the surf. Make it a mini vacation.
Why hurry? Because I can’t afford to take an extra two days off from work.
Sadly, it’s not a vacation — I’m going to San Diego to work at a conference, the same one I worked at for 12 years, and that means up at 6 and on my feet for 14 hours… no time to play and no way to take Diego with me.
So, a 1-1/2 hour plane flight home at the end will be a relief and I can put my feet up for a few hours before I have to be back at work on Monday morning, 7am sharp!