relaxedIf I were in a hurry to get to Anaheim, I would fly. I'd rather take a high-speed train, but I don't have that option yet. I'll turn 41 years old on the last day of L.A.con IV, and I'm starting to wonder if I'll have that option in my lifetime.
Lisa plans to arrive at my office around Noon Friday. The plan is to leave San Mateo sometime after lunch on Friday and drive as far as Paso Robles, where I'm using points for a night at the Holiday Inn Express. The next morning, we will not be in any big hurry to get under way, and will make our relatively leisurely way -- possibly stopping in Buellton so I can have lunch at Pea Soup Andersen's -- to Southern California, ending the day in Moreno Valley, where it's another night of points at the Holiday Inn Express. Sunday, we're off to the Orange Empire Railway Museum, which I've wanted to visit for years but for which I've never had the free time. To that extent, having the Worldcon be a day early this year helps a great deal, because it justifies me taking the entire week off and briding back to the previous weekend. We'll head to Anaheim after that, arriving at the Hilton Sunday evening for an eight-night stay. I could have cut costs by staying in one of the other, cheaper hotels nearby for a couple of days, but then I'd be faced with having to change hotels on, say, the first day of the convention, something I detest doing. I'm way too busy with Worldcon to have to fuss with stuff like moving hotels.
We have a couple of two-day park-hopper Disney tickets, which we plan to use on Monday and Tuesday. Look for me in my WSFS logo shirt. I feel slightly guilty for not pitching in on the convention move-in set-up. I apologize to those of you who are my friends on the L.A.con IV committee for not turning up and working harder.
The convention ends Sunday night. On Monday, when we feel like it, we'll leave Anaheim and drive as far as Buellton, where I have a hotel reservation. (No more Holiday Inn Priority Club points left.) Tuesday, we drive back to San Mateo, where Lisa will probably go ahead and head north that evening. She'll be back home in Oregon on Wednesday, and I return to work that day as well.
The point is that for a change, I'm on vacation for a few days. I'm sort of looking forward to not having to be in a rush, to not have to engage in low-altitude flying to make the mileage goal for the day, to being able to relax at my hotel and maybe use the pool and hot tub for a change instead of arriving at Midnight and having to be on the road by 6 AM, and otherwise trying to enjoy myself.
I realize that I'm in a somewhat privileged position to be able to do this. I have enough seniority at my job (>ten years) that I have the time off to be able to take seven days of vacation. I have enough money (including indirectly through hotel frequent-stay points) to be able to afford the trip. Many people do not have this, and there's nothing wrong with that. I certainly remember having to rush in and out due to other resource constraints. But don't look at me like I'm a space alien because I don't drive like a maniac to get to Southern California in less than five hours.
Besides, I'm getting 10-20% better gas mileage by driving at 55 MPH.