Weekend trip advice

[teigyr]

I'd say that you would miss out on some things by not renting a car. I know plenty of people up here get around but before I moved here I tried doing public transportation only and this is what I found:

It took a long time to get places. There is not much by way of light rail; it's mostly bus.

Once I was to an island, I was restricted to walking distance. Maybe some have public transport but I never saw anything so my radius was restricted to a couple of miles.

The airport, as with most places, is about 15 miles from downtown. Maybe it's a bit less, maybe more like 10. But still, it's long enough to make it cumbersome.

WA and Seattle have FAR better transportation than Los Angeles which is where I'm from but far less of a sophisticated system than Boston, NY, San Francisco, Portland, and even San Diego.

It could be workable, with some research. I wouldn't want to do it but then again I'm lazy. I LOVE those airports where I can just walk outside and get on a rail system.

If you were serious about WA, I'd maybe post some questions in the NW section. There are people with more experience up here than I have

[three]

I'm broke and all the places I mentioned were enjoyed on my financially challenged budget.

Seattle: I used public transport only and lots of walking. Yes, it took longer...but I was on vacation and had never been there. I didn't mind the extra time for wandering around and when everything is new, you don't even notice that you walked 10 miles in the day (or more...or less). I bussed it everywhere - which actually allowed me to see more of Seattle than I otherwise would have. If I'd had a car I would only have gone from point A to point B and see the sights along the way. The bus allowed me to see corners of the city I wouldn't have gone through if I hadn't been forced to...and it resulted in some impromptu exiting of the bus so I could make the most of those unexpected finds. I walked all over downtown, to the peer, onto the ferry...around the islands and back. No complaints about being sans-wheels there.

SLO/St. Barbara area: fine once you get there (which would probably be by car...and man, oh man...what a lovely drive it is along the coast. Once you're there, there are buses and places to walk around. Not as developed a system as Seattle (which isn't as developed at Minneapolis)...might be dependent on your intended destinations. I'd check with TE members who live there - or ask some hotel folks in the area.

Also, if you aren't yet familiar with it, the website: www.virtualtourist.com might have some helpful information/reviews for you. Also, www.couchsurfing.com which you wouldn't be using, but could easily use to contact an area resident with questions if no one here can help (particularly regarding transportation. I totally understand the desire to avoid driving/renting a car).

Wherever you go, I hope you have an absolutely relaxing and magical time.

p.s: journal writing along the beach was indeed wonderful...as was journal writing on a boat in WA while a pod of whales swam by.

[roadie gal]

Northern California is expecting a HUGE winter storm this week. They're predicting 10 feet of snow in the Sierras. San Fran is expecting lots of rain. I'd recommend San Diego or places in Arizona instead of the San Franscisco area this week.