TONMOCON III

[cthulhu77]

The Monterey venue was fantastic, lots to see and do for everyone. Besides, that is where I took my favourite picture of Erich !

 

[Thales]

Cough - California Academy of Sciences...

 

[monty]

Cough - California Academy of Sciences...

I could handle that with side trips to Monterey, but I think Monterey with side trips to SF might be better, if all the extra activities (MBARI, Gilly's lab, and the Aquarium) would be available again. If CAS has facilities we can use for as cheap as Monterey with the right connections, though, maybe I could be swayed.

 

[Thales]

I'm just being a punk! If MBA is easier, then that is where we should go! Side trips up to CAS are something I would be happy to help arrange.

 

[corw314]

Do we have a time frame? Will you be looking to schedule in June of 09? For the heck of it I was pricing airfare for Jess and I to Monteray Bay and lowest I found right now was 700 per person....not good...maybe it's cheaper to fly into a larger city?

 

[tonmo]

Last time my family and I flew into San Fran. If I remember correctly, it was something like 90 minutes to Monterey Bay?

I am not sure of timing. Making the calls is bubbling to the top of my overall to-do list. I think I'll start a poll....

 

[cthulhu77]

We could also hold it in San Fran ? Hate to throw more paper onto the fire, just a thought.
The science museum there is fantastic.

 

[monty]

I'd recommend flying in to San Jose rather than SFO if your goal is just to rent a car and drive to Monterey. Be prepared to drive carefully on highway 17, there a lot of blind curves and insane drivers. I usually give more like 2 - 2.5 hours of driving time to be safe, 'cause there's sometimes traffic. Actually google maps suggests 101 to 156 rather than 17 to 1 (which I usually take) and says it's 1 hour 17 mins from San Jose airport.

 

[Nancy]

Monty,
Is there a scenic route from San Jose?
Nancy

 

[monty]

Monty,
Is there a scenic route from San Jose?
Nancy

Both of the routes I mentioned should be pretty scenic, although for 17 the driver should keep his/her eyes on the road... but once you get to the one, it's a lot safer. Pretty much any way you get to Monterey will have farmland, rolling hills, redwood forest, and some coastal views. There might be some backroads routes, but they'd take a very, very long time.

Looking at Sunset Magazine's "Back Roads of California" book, it looks like there might be some ways to bypass 17 to go from San Jose or Gilroy (further south on 101) but I expect they're 25-30 MPH average, so you'd really probably have to plan for about half a day of driving, rather than 1.5-2 hours.

Another scenic option might be to get over to the coast north of 17 and take 1 all the way down, which is also scenic, and maybe a bit less slow. From Menlo Park, where I grew up, there are a number of old roads over the Santa Cruz mountains through the redwoods to the coast, then highway 1 goes down the coast most of the way (although it cuts inland through the farmland around Watsonville.) I'm not sure where the best "cut across with a scenic route" is from San Jose proper; highway 17 is the most direct diagonally southwest, but there's probably something that goes west or northwest from there... It looks like routes 9 and 236 (same road for a lot of it) are a backroads way to Santa Cruz, where you'd pick up 1. I know it's pretty windy and redwood-forest from Los Gatos to Boulder Creek, but I haven't taken it the rest of the way.

If you really feel like scenic, there's a lot out there, depending on how far out of the way you're going... everything between 280 and the coast is scenic, and most of the area between 101 and the coast is very good back roads rustic scenic areas down through Big Sur. I guess it all depends on how much extra time you're willing to spend on back roads.

p.s. it probably also depends on what kind of "scenic" you prefer.

 

[erich orser]

My sister and her husband live right off 17. That's a gorgeous, really deadly drive. High motorist fatality rate.

 

[DrBatty]

Cal Academy/Steinhardt Aquarium

I would say SF, but I don't think the new Cal Academy would be open then. If there is interest, I could find out.

Hey Thales, the Cal Academy opened in late September - the new Steinhardt Aquarium is pretty darn cool.....

 

[Thales]

Glad you like it! We have 2 GPO's, 3 Nautilus and 3 red occys currently. Hopefully, more cephs soon!

 

[Jana]

I was wondering what the cost of attending TONMOCONIII be? We have never attended and are looking into what the approximate cost is that we will be for our family to spend vacation there?

 

[cthulhu77]

"One Millllliiiooon dollars"

(kidding) it is actually very inexpensive, we try to get group rates at hotels and restaurants, etc.