Travelling to San Francisco (and Las Vegas?)

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:48:44 -0800, "Mimi" wrote:


"Hatunen" wrote in message
.. .

If you're interest in earthquakes, the Hayward Fault runs up the
east bay. As the old not-so-much-a-joke went, you can draw the
Hayward fault on a map by a line connecting all the hospitals,
schools and emergency operations centers. And the Berkely
stadium, which is being slowly pulled apart by the fault.

And the San Andreas fault runs alongside the Junipero Serra freeway, which
is up on stilts.

Where is the Junipero Serra Freeway "up on stilts"? The only
place I can think of is downtown east of US-101, and that's a far
ways from being "alongside" the fault, whihc has gone to sea by
that point.

One of two places in SF I don't want to be in an
earthquake. The other is on a BART train in the tunnel underneath the Bay.

BART fared pretty well during the Loma Prietaa earthquake.

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

Hatunen wrote:
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:48:44 -0800, "Mimi" wrote:

Where is the Junipero Serra Freeway "up on stilts"? The only
place I can think of is downtown east of US-101, and that's a far
ways from being "alongside" the fault, whihc has gone to sea by
that point.
She's probably referring to the place where it crosses Crystal Springs
Road, south of Hillsborough, where the Flintstone House is.
The San Andreas runs right along that, under the reservoir.

The "Don't-miss SIGHTS in San Francisco" page
http://geocities.com/touringsfo/Articles/Sights.html has enough to
keep you busy for nine 12.7-hour days. It includes links to your best
sources of advice on WHERE TO EAT and, according to the Department of
Health, WHERE TO NOT EAT here, the UseNet Group ba.food, and the quite-
good sfSurvey/Tastyr and the comprehensive Yelp. It also has a WEATHER
CHART with a link to current conditions.

The FLAG/MAPS page http://geocities.com/touringsfo/Articles/FlagMaps.html
has links to the best on-line MAP of San Francisco, the outstanding
WALKER/BICYCLIST map that shows the steepness of our streets. The new
version of the formerly superb map created for the San Francisco
Municipal Railway has removed many streets' names making it less
useful. It's cluttered with our many electric bus, cable car, street
car, and Diesel bus routes. The map will enlarge and be centered on
where you click. There's also a link that will tell you how to get
There from Where. There is also a map of our CABLE CAR ROUTES, our 49-
mile SCENIC DRIVE, 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
The MUSIC section at the bottom of the page focuses on the best of
jazz.
Some might enjoy reading my September 13, 2007 at 05:14 anecdote under
the Subject: Friendly, non-touristy nightlife/clubs/bars...any gems
out...

Driving Directions with links to relevant maps and URLs of places
passed through: San Francisco to Pacifica-Half Moon Bay-Santa Cruz-
Monterey/Carmel, Big Sur, San Luís Obispo, Yosemite, Death Valley, and
Las Vegas http://geocities.com/touringsfo/Articles/DriveDir.html

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

My favorite hap'nin's the The Huck Daniel Revue and Blues Jam in
the Stratosphere's Images Lounge, Mondays at 22:00. It's a blast
that's been happening since 1988, at the Stratosphere since 2001.

Huck Daniel's Celebrity Jam in the Armadillo Club at Texas Station,
Saturdays at 21:00. Good floor, few dancers.

A terrific 17-piece band plays at the Italian-American Social Club, on
Sahara just past Eastern, Thursdays at 20:30. Nice floor; take a
partner!
The Classic Jazz Band (née the Royal Dixie Jazz Band), an excellent
sextette, plays Monday-Friday at the Gold Coast from 13:00-18:40. On
Wednesdays and Fridays, additional dance space is provided.

You may read a color-coded-to-interests report on our 2007 trip to Las
Vegas via Yosemite and Death Valley at http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/RoadJJ07.html
If your interest is limited to point-to-point distances, times, and
speeds: http://geocities.com/iconoc/Articles...J07.html#Stats

In article
,
Jimmy wrote:

We are planning to go S.F. and wonder if ...

- is Dec/Jan good time to go? what to-do/festival around this time?

Its a good time to go if that's when you can go. For festivals, try
googling for "Las Vegas special events" or "San Francisco special
events" or some similar terms and I am sure you'll find plenty of
information on that subject.

is there enough to do & see if staying for 10 days?

No, but ten days is reasonable for a typical vacation.

- is it worth it to rent a bike then bike all the way from S.F. to
Sausalito? can this be a 1-day biking trip?

This is totally up to you. San Francisco is very hilly, so if you have
the stamina and the time, you might enjoy biking around there. January
isn't the nicest time of year for biking though, but it might be fine.

- how about renting a car? where is go to drive to? Oakland,
Mountain View or San Jose?

A car in San Francisco is not necessary and a big liability where
parking is concerned, esp. if you plan to stay in the city. The same is
true in Las Vegas. If you just plan to tour around in either city, local
public transportation is fine.

- is there a bus pass for the S.F. and/or Sausalito area? is there
day and/or weekly pass? how much is it? what about TransLink?

Sure. Just google for public transportation in both cities and you'll
find all the info you need.

- which route of cable car is a must take as tourist?

Any of them.

- we plan to go L.V., is it better to book flight ahead of time? or
it's ok to book after we get to S.F. then decide which day to go?
which is the prefered (cheap?) airline? southwest?

Where are you coming from? Impossible to recommend an airline without
knowing which route you intend to take. As for booking a head, if you
are referring to this January, then this would be a good time to book
your flight if you are sure you want to go than.

- is there area in the greater S.F. area which is not worth to go as
tourist?

Purely a matter of personal preference. There's a lot to see in the city
for a brief vacation, and a lot outside that area such as Nahpa Valley,
the beaches, and so on.

In article ,
Shawn H. wrote:
In article
,
Jimmy wrote:
We are planning to go S.F. and wonder if ...

- is Dec/Jan good time to go? what to-do/festival around this time?

Its a good time to go if that's when you can go. For festivals, try
googling for "Las Vegas special events" or "San Francisco special
events" or some similar terms and I am sure you'll find plenty of
information on that subject.

Jan.: SF: MacWorld driving zoo.
LV: The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) every hotel room is reserved.
as well as an adult entertainment thing at the same time.

is there enough to do & see if staying for 10 days?
No, but ten days is reasonable for a typical vacation.

Agreed.

- is it worth it to rent a bike then bike all the way from S.F. to
Sausalito? can this be a 1-day biking trip?

This is totally up to you. San Francisco is very hilly, so if you have
the stamina and the time, you might enjoy biking around there. January
isn't the nicest time of year for biking though, but it might be fine.

You also want to be very aware of non-observant drivers as this where
where Critical Mass got started. Bike messengers and other cyclists have
been hit and killed.

- how about renting a car? where is go to drive to? Oakland,
Mountain View or San Jose?

A car in San Francisco is not necessary and a big liability where
parking is concerned, esp. if you plan to stay in the city. The same is
true in Las Vegas. If you just plan to tour around in either city, local
public transportation is fine.

There's almost hourly trains down the penisula.
The problem is connecting areas away from the train (bike is OK).

- we plan to go L.V., is it better to book flight ahead of time? or
it's ok to book after we get to S.F. then decide which day to go?
which is the prefered (cheap?) airline? southwest?

Where are you coming from? Impossible to recommend an airline without
knowing which route you intend to take. As for booking a head, if you
are referring to this January, then this would be a good time to book
your flight if you are sure you want to go than.

SW is OK. But if it anything around the time of the CES: forget it.
LV is a better place to stay from to reach Death Valley. I was flying
around there this past weekend and we are planning a couple of field
trips there in the next 2 months.

- is there area in the greater S.F. area which is not worth to go as
tourist?

Purely a matter of personal preference. There's a lot to see in the city
for a brief vacation, and a lot outside that area such as Napa Valley,
the beaches, and so on.

It's a very big area. While there are criminal places, they are avoidable.
It's also winter.

--

Jimmy wrote:

- is it worth it to rent a bike then bike all the way from S.F. to
Sausalito? can this be a 1-day biking trip?
We went to SF earlier this month and took the ferry to Sausalito & back.
Most of the people on the return trip had rented bikes and pedaled
over the bridge one way and returned on the ferry.
See http://shorock.com/sf/2007/show.html?id=46


- is there a bus pass for the S.F. and/or Sausalito area? is there
day and/or weekly pass? how much is it? what about TransLink?
You can get a one-day or three-day Muni passport. We got a 3-day for
$18 and I certainly got my money's worth out of the passport. You may
want to rent a car if you're going far out of town, but in SF itself a
car is an albatross around your neck. They have excellent public
transportation.


- which route of cable car is a must take as tourist?
Do what I did and ride all three lines.
However, if you want an idea of what to expect on each, visit
http://shorock.com/sf/2007/hyde.html
http://shorock.com/sf/2007/mason.html and
http://shorock.com/sf/2007/calif.html
and view the YouTube videos of each ride.

On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:58:49 -0800, Jeff Lanam
wrote:

Hatunen wrote:
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:48:44 -0800, "Mimi" wrote:

Where is the Junipero Serra Freeway "up on stilts"? The only
place I can think of is downtown east of US-101, and that's a far
ways from being "alongside" the fault, whihc has gone to sea by
that point.
She's probably referring to the place where it crosses Crystal Springs
Road, south of Hillsborough, where the Flintstone House is.
The San Andreas runs right along that, under the reservoir.

That's a *bridge*. I don't think I'd call it "stilts".

FYI, Crystal Springs used to be two reservoirs with the dam where
Hwy 92 crosses. At some point it was decided to make it one
reservoir by changing the dam to a causeway; I believe the big
stone dam under that bridge had to be raised a little.

--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

On 30 Nov 2007 10:33:44 -0800, (Eugene Miya)
wrote:

In article ,
Shawn H. wrote:

LV: The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) every hotel room is reserved.
as well as an adult entertainment thing at the same time.

Good point. The CES is Jan 7-10 and finding a hotel room could be
dicey. And expensive. Book early.



--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *

"Hatunen" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:58:49 -0800, Jeff Lanam
wrote:

Hatunen wrote:
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:48:44 -0800, "Mimi" wrote:

Where is the Junipero Serra Freeway "up on stilts"? The only
place I can think of is downtown east of US-101, and that's a far
ways from being "alongside" the fault, whihc has gone to sea by
that point.
She's probably referring to the place where it crosses Crystal Springs
Road, south of Hillsborough, where the Flintstone House is.
The San Andreas runs right along that, under the reservoir.

That's a *bridge*. I don't think I'd call it "stilts".

FYI, Crystal Springs used to be two reservoirs with the dam where
Hwy 92 crosses. At some point it was decided to make it one
reservoir by changing the dam to a causeway; I believe the big
stone dam under that bridge had to be raised a little.


There's a fairly long section of the freeway where east side hugs the hill
and the southbound lanes are on stilts -- at least 25 feet in the air. I
can't quite remember exactly where that is. Of course, you have to be off
the freeway to see this.

Marianne

On Sat, 1 Dec 2007 09:03:41 -0800, "Mimi" wrote:


"Hatunen" wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 23:58:49 -0800, Jeff Lanam
wrote:

Hatunen wrote:
On Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:48:44 -0800, "Mimi" wrote:

Where is the Junipero Serra Freeway "up on stilts"? The only
place I can think of is downtown east of US-101, and that's a far
ways from being "alongside" the fault, whihc has gone to sea by
that point.
She's probably referring to the place where it crosses Crystal Springs
Road, south of Hillsborough, where the Flintstone House is.
The San Andreas runs right along that, under the reservoir.

That's a *bridge*. I don't think I'd call it "stilts".

FYI, Crystal Springs used to be two reservoirs with the dam where
Hwy 92 crosses. At some point it was decided to make it one
reservoir by changing the dam to a causeway; I believe the big
stone dam under that bridge had to be raised a little.


There's a fairly long section of the freeway where east side hugs the hill
and the southbound lanes are on stilts -- at least 25 feet in the air. I
can't quite remember exactly where that is. Of course, you have to be off
the freeway to see this.

As I mentioned in another post I believe it's like that just east
of the interchange with US-101 in San Francisco. But I drove
I-280 from Daly City to Palo Alto almost every day for fourteen
years and I don't recall anywhere like that along that route. And
as for getting off 280, I did occasionally take the parallel road
and I don't recall anywhere like that.

Marianne


--
************* DAVE HATUNEN ) *************
* Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow *
* My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps *