# California Poll



## Swadian Hardcore (May 20, 2014)

I guess you guys are going "What the heck, I thought you were going to Canada?" Well, I had lined up a travel buddy to share on those high Canadian costs and maybe get a rental car to drive around Lake Louise, but now he's got an emergency and that trip is postponed, plus my Rewards can't be used in Canada anyway.



No point for me to go to the PNW, since I used to live there and I'll be passing through on the way to Canada next year. No need to go back east, I'll just be riding routes I've taken multiple times already. Back to California it is, don't want to waste Rewards this summer.

My options:

Los Angeles

Arcata

San Diego

Monterey/Big Sur

Not interested in beaches, but good scenery in general.

You can vote for multiple destinations, I would appreciate any ideas right now.



It might be better for me to go to LAD when the Greyhound Museum Fleet gets there, but that's the weekend before Christmas and I don't want to deal with high costs and high hassle. Plus my Rewards would've expired by then. I could still go to SF or LA for the Museum Fleet if I wanted to, but it would just be a run over there and back, no exploring. Of course I'm already familiar with SF, no need to explore there anymore.

Admins and Mods: I don't know if this poll belongs in this forum or not, please move if you think it belongs elsewhere.

-Swad

Edit: Big Sur costs too much, deleted from poll.


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## Bob Dylan (May 20, 2014)

Everywhere Nice in California will be expensive in the summer and the Bay Ares/Big Sir will be that way in October!

Due to the Fires and extreme draught I would stay away from LA/Orange County/ San Diego until it rains!

Have you considered coming to the Gathering in SF in October?

Also consider Santa Rosa and the Redwood Country, pretty nice in the Summer!


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## Swadian Hardcore (May 20, 2014)

This will be about June or July, that sudden cancellation caught me off guard. We just had a big fire in Reno atop Sunflower Mountain, looked like a 9/11 plume of smoke.

Well, if Big Sur is really expensive then I guess that's out. I did find some decent hotel deals, but maybe food is expensive. I actually found great deals for Los Angeles. San Diego is probably too hot. Arcata.....don't know.

I guess that $5 Transit Day Pass is attractive for Los Angeles. I went there years ago but was constrained by a guided tour and didn't have time to explore, so I've been itching to go back. Lots of things to explore for me, all those new light rail lines, Rapid buses, the huge Greyhound Maintainence Center, maybe a Metrolink ride or two, lots of State Parks along the shoreline. That's why I put LAD as the first option.


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## Swadian Hardcore (May 20, 2014)

As for that Gathering, I might go, but it's not involved in this poll right now since that would be too late for my Award Ticket and I'm not particularly interested in SF. After all, I'll have to pass through the Bay Area to any of the above four destinations anyway, since I don't want to ride the Central Valley again.


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## Alice (May 20, 2014)

Arcata does get tourists, but not nearly as many as the other locations so won't have as big a summer price jump. It starts out less expensive, too. However, you need a car to see the best parts of the old growth redwoods, I strongly recommend a rental for a day or so. I saw several local bus lines running between local towns and it is worth getting out to them. Lolita has a great cheese factory, Scotia is/was the last of the working company towns and has a museum and walking tour, Eureka has an old-town walking tour, etc.

The north coast gets lots of seniors in RVs in the summer and is still a spot where families take the kids to get up close to California history, but not as many as used to hit the road. Much of the area is failing economically on account of reduced fishing and logging (and many closed mills), so they try hard to give a good time to tourists in hopes they'll return. About the only time the area is packed is for the kinetic sculpture race (next weekend).


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## bobnjulie (May 20, 2014)

We are going to San Diego again. It's not hot since it is right along the coast, similar to our weather. You will get heat going inland but if you stay by the coast, you'll be fine. We have always found reasonable rates for rooms. One of the nice things about San Diego is that it feels very compact.... everything seems to be 10 - 15 minutes by car or within walking/trolley distance.


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## neroden (May 20, 2014)

If you have any interest in zoos whatsoever, go to the San Diego Zoo; it's the best in the world.


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## Paulus (May 20, 2014)

neroden said:


> If you have any interest in zoos whatsoever, go to the San Diego Zoo; it's the best in the world.


And the Wild Animal Park, that place is awesome (though I think they call it the Safari Park now). There's also a bunch of maritime stuff, including the carrier USS Midway (with an RA-5C aboard!).


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## rickycourtney (May 20, 2014)

If all you've done is a walking tour years ago in Los Angeles would be my choice! (But I may be a little biased, LA is my hometown!)

If you're into doing "touristy" things there's plenty to do including a trip to the Hollywood walk of fame, Universal CityWalk and there's the famous Venice Beach Boardwalk. LA also has some pretty awesome art museums (the Getty, the Huntington, LACMA, MOCA and the Norton Simon) and Exposition Park has the CaliforniaScienCenter where you can get a ridiculously up close view of the space shuttle Endeavour.

LA has a pretty impressive transportation system that's always expanding... 2 subway lines, 4 light rail, 1 true BRT along with a bunch of local, rapid and express buses.

All that being said… San Diego is not a bad choice either. I have been there many times for a quick weekend getaway. I agree that the city feels quite a bit smaller than Los Angeles and therefore can be easier to navigate on a short trip. They also have a very extensive trolley system which is fun to ride.

If you have enough time you could go to Los Angeles and do a short day trip to San Diego.

I have only been to the Los Angeles Greyhound station once. It was a quick trip about five years ago to drop off a friend. At that time the station was in a pretty rundown neighborhood on the outskirts of downtown LA and poorly connected to the Metro bus system. Hopefully things have improved.

I've never actually been to San Diego's Greyhound station but I know that it is right next to the main hub station for the trolley system.


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## Swadian Hardcore (May 20, 2014)

Interesting. Monterry/Big Sur was the most popular last night, but it only took 15 minutes of browsing to find out that it's too expensive and complicated for a short-notice trip.

Now San Diego has gotten an explosion of votes, but I'm not really a zoo guy, I've been to more zoos and aquaruims than I can count. Lots of people in Reno are suggesting Los Angeles too, but it's not proven popular in this poll other than Ricky. Then again, Los Angeles is definitely the best for transit-fanning. Besides, when you're taken a walk but not explored, that gives you an added urge to go.

Arcata.....still don't know, but it seems like Redwoods and Old Town. Virginia City right around Reno is a great old town already though, and I just went to Yosemite, another national park again doesn't sound so interesting. So I guess not Arcata? I can still go to Arcata, unlike Big Sur, I just can't go to Big Sur.

The thing is, even if I go to San Diego, I'll still pass through LAD so a photo-shoot at the Greyhound Row is still easily possible_. _If I go to LA I'll just get off at North Hollywood and get a hotel around there.


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## Swadian Hardcore (May 21, 2014)

On wow, eight votes for San Diego. What attractions are your guys excited about?


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## chakk (May 21, 2014)

USS Midway, Balboa Park Zoo (and golf course), town of La Jolla, Old Town San Diego, Petco baseball park are all great to visit. Can ride light rail and Coaster trains all the way north to oceanside.

Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


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## Swadian Hardcore (May 21, 2014)

chakk said:


> USS Midway, Balboa Park Zoo (and golf course), town of La Jolla, Old Town San Diego, Petco baseball park are all great to visit. Can ride light rail and Coaster trains all the way north to oceanside.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Amtrak Forum


I looked on TripAdvisor and I think Torrey Pines, Sunset Cliffs, and the Maritime Museum would be better. As for the ones you listed, I've been to plenty of warships and zoos already. Petco Park, I don't watch baseball, so, I don't know, I thought Los Angeles would be better but the poll seems to say otherwise.

Any more opinions about Arcata?


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## Swadian Hardcore (May 21, 2014)

I was just looking on transit rosters and I see San Diego's oldest buses are Gillig Phantoms, Los Angeles's oldest buses at C40HF's, and the Arcata area's oldest buses are also Gillig Phantoms. No other high-floors in those three places. The thing is, I've taken plenty of Phantoms, but I've never ridden a C40HF, and Los Angeles is replacing them soon.....with XN40's.

:unsure:


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## Alice (May 21, 2014)

Swadian, How did you pick those particular three cities? Maybe there is someplace else that would suit your needs better. There are lots of interesting places in California that can be reached by Amtrak, Ambus, or Greyhound. Generally your best prices will be in northern California both for accommodations and entertainment. Maybe you can't find two weeks of different interesting things in one place up here, but a few days is easy most anywhere. What are your interests? Music? Fly fishing? Car shows? Architecture? Museums? Hiking? Scenery? Bigfoot (animal)? Bigfoot (beer)? Native culture? County fairs? Dark sky?

Frankly, with your interest in buses, you could get a list of everywhere Greyhound goes in California and start checking them off in alphabetic order. Or pick a model bus, see what local transit system has some, and head that way. Or find all cities where several transit systems meet and work through them. (All three of your cities qualify.) You had an interesting time in Oakland despite all the doom-and-gloom predictions you got, I'm sure you can entertain yourself just fine any place in California!


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## Alice (May 21, 2014)

Swadian Hardcore said:


> chakk said:
> 
> 
> > USS Midway, Balboa Park Zoo (and golf course), town of La Jolla, Old Town San Diego, Petco baseball park are all great to visit. Can ride light rail and Coaster trains all the way north to oceanside.
> ...


I'm probably the only person participating in this discussion who has been to Arcata recently (last month with Whooz). We spent five nights in Eureka (more central than Arcata for our purposes) and could easily have stayed longer without running out of things to do but it was time to get Whooz home.

You've posted enough about different bus models to see that is a major interest. So go ride the C40HF's now.


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## neroden (May 21, 2014)

Swadian Hardcore said:


> On wow, eight votes for San Diego. What attractions are your guys excited about?


The San Diego Zoo is quite literally the best zoo in the world. I am not exaggerating. On my last visit, I took my fiancee there for the first time; we went to the Zoo all day every day for 5 days and we could have kept going back.

Most zoos are worth about a day's visit. I can easily spend a month just visiting the San Diego Zoo.

If you don't really care about zoos much, then there is no particular need to go to San Diego. So, you're not a zoo guy, you may not be interested. But if you have a genuine interest in naturalism and the diversity of animal life, the San Diego Zoo is a *must*. It is hard to explain this to people who haven't been there.

Just as an example, they are always at the forefront of breeding and reintroduction-to-the-wild programs for endangered species. It was a big deal back in the 70s or 80s when the Washington National Zoo managed to get China to let them have some pandas; by contrast, China *begged* the San Diego Zoo to *please take* some pandas because China couldn't get them to breed. (San Diego was repeatedly successful.)


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## Swadian Hardcore (May 21, 2014)

I guess it's best to go by the old saying, "If you don't know who to be, be yourself." OK, I admit, I'm a bus enthusiast, and that has influence on my travels. I might as well ride a C40HF, instead of deceiving myself and passing up the oppurtunity. After all, I'm ridden plenty of Gillig Phantoms, New Flyer High Floors, and Orion VII's already. So probably Los Angeles this time and San Diego or Arcata next time.

Reason I posted Arcata instead of Eureka I guess is because Arcata is the endpoint for the Greyhound route from San Francisco so it's fresher on my mind.


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## the_traveler (Jun 10, 2014)

If you like model railroad layouts, there is a great layout by the San Diego Model Railroad Club in Balboa Park (the same place as the Zoo) that's a must see!


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