wrote:
Hollywood, Anaheim

Nothing in Anaheim but DisneyLand.

and San Diego.

Balboa Park and its zoo are wonderful as is the hotel del Coronado.
My opinion of San Diego is extremely low for a variety of reasons. I
would avoid Tijuana and all other US/Mexico border towns.

Disneyland, Universal Studios, Knott's Berry Farm,

I would choose Knott's and Magic Mountain. Have a chicken dinner at
Knott's even if you don't visit the amusement park. If you do,
however, Montezooma is regarded as the best shuttle loop standing
even though it must be older than thirty by now.

1. how long should we be spending in each destination?

San Diego: A day for the park and zoo.

Los Angeles: A day for Hollywood and Rodeo Drive.
A day for Knott's Berry Farm in Buena Park.
A day for Magic Mountain in Valencia.
A day for Universal Studios.
A day for DisneyLand.
I would also spend a day or two at the Los Angeles County Museum of
Art, the Peterson Automotive Museum, the Page Museum, and the Getty
Museum. The Holocaust Museum needs a day, too.

So for Los Angeles and San Diego about a week.

2. what is the weather like in CA

I presume "CA" means CaliforniA. It's a thousand miles long and about
two hundred miles wide with altitudes ranging from well below sea
level to higher than fourteen thousand feet. On any given day,
temperatures will have a range of greater than 50°F; air from
pristine sparkle to thick with pollution, dust, snow, rain, and fog
with winds too light to notice and too strong to stand. On any given
"Winter" day, you can ski on water or snow

does it rain a lot?

El Niño is on his way. It's likely to be a wet year.

3. would you recommend hiring a car or catching public transport?

Public transportation in the SouthLand isn't very useful.

4. are there any other destinations that we should see while in CA?

I presume "CA" means CaliforniA. Yes! Many that I would recommend
before even THINKing about Los Angeles, San Diego, and/or Tijuana.

San Francisco,
[The "Don't-miss sights in San Francisco" page
http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/Sights.html has enough to keep
you busy for nine twelve-hour days. It includes links to your best
source of advice on where to eat here, the UseNet Group ba.food, and
the quite-good sfSurvey. It also has a weather chart with a link to
current conditions.

[The best on-line map of San Francisco is an inter-active PDF created
for the San Francisco Municipal Railway:
http://geocities.com/iconoc/Grafix/CityWide.pdf. I recommend 150% or
greater magnification. There's also a link that will tell you how to
get There from Here via public transportation. Other links on the
page, http://geocities.com/iconoc/Grafix/FlagMaps.html are a map of
our cable car routes and a superb map of Golden Gate Park.

[The frequently-updated SPECIAL EVENTS page has irregularly-scheduled
music and dances as well as links to seven calendars of
regularly-scheduled dances, a composite of five of them, and one of
dance cruises and events around the world:
http://geocities.com/dancefest/Specials.html ]
Yosemite, Big Sur, the Gold Country, the Wine Country, the Big Trees,
the Tall Trees, Death Valley, Lake Tahoe, and much more.

How long should we stay in Las Vegas for?

At least two nights. If one of 'em's a Monday, go to the Stratosphere
for the Blues Jam at ten.

the Strip and catch a show (any recommendations?).

They're all good, so I hear. Those I've seen have been.

What else is there to do in Vegas that you would recommend?

Here's "A bit of non-gambling Las Vegas" with about a dozen useful
links: http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/LasVegas.html

You have apparently already booked flying into Los Angeles. If you
can make a change, I highly recommend flying into San Francisco in
order to make better use of the roads because, following my
recommended route, you're on the wrong side of the road.

After a week in Los Angeles and a day or two in San Diego, head to
Palm Springs to go through the mountains up to Las Vegas. From
'Vegas, take three days to travel and visit the Grand Canyon. From
'Vegas, go to Pahrump and through Death Valley then up the Eastern
Sierra Highway to Lake Tahoe (two or three days; you won't be able to
get to Yosemite from the East), then down through Sacramento (visit
the capital) to San Francisco (nine days).

From here, follow the Driving Directions: San Francisco to:
Pacifica-Half Moon Bay-Santa Cruz-Monterey/Carmel
http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/DriveDir.html and then just
continue on down the Cabrillo Highway (1) through Big Sur to the
Pacific Coast Highway in Oxnard that goes directly to LAX (at least
two days but more are better).

-- __________________________________________________ ______________
"San Francisco is a pleasure. Los Angeles is a headache" Rita (NYC)
http://geocities.com/dancefest/ --- http://geocities.com/iconoc/
ICQ: http://wwp.mirabilis.com/19098103 ------- IClast at Gmail com


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