Re the cost: Keep in mind that in Florida we managed to get off season rates for the hotels, and there is no off season in either Monterey or San Francisco. There are, if memory serves, a few relatively low cost family type motels in Monterey, but SF would be significantly higher, and parking is an issue as well. If we choose to go to the Steinhart, which used to be terrific, and I assume is even better now, then it should be as part of a day trip from Monterey. It might mean extending Tonmocon for an extra day, but it would probably be worth it. I agree that San Jose airport is the destination of choice, but if for some reason your regional airport gives you terrible routing, then SF isn't terribly bad, and Oakland is even doable. I'll do a little googling to see what I can come up with as far as cheap but tolerable motels are concerned. We should try to get as many prices posted as quickly as possible in order to let potential attendees have as much info as possible for trip and budget planning purposes. Nancy had suggested that if we went to Galveston that we should look into renting a beach house for a large group. I don't know if any thing such as that would be available in the Monterey area, but it might be well worth looking into.