onemoneygirl- I really did want to see Yosemite....
But I have NO idea how to get FROM Yosemite to any airport (I bought OAk, but can be flexible) early in the morning cheaply and on public transit!
If you know a secret, I'd *love* to put her back....

Try Fresno, the code is FAT, it is the closest to Tosemite, about an hour and a half drive..in fact if you parents are there and driving back to Los Angeles, they will drive through Fresno on the 41 to get back to LA. The airport would add about 45 min to their trip... its off the freeway... the Sheields Ave Exit...but not far in the big scheme of things! That would be my only suggestion and would depend on them being able to get you there. There MAY be public transportaiton from FAT to Yosemite... worth checking out. Sirry I cant be of more help.

Sorry, just reread that they are going North after Yosemite. A shuttle from Fresno might be an option, I just dont know of any. I will call my parents later and ask if they know of any... they live in Fresno. Back to you later.

onemoneygirl, maybe I was confusing.

In short: I would love to go to Yosemite, but I'll be on my own, and I can't find any way to get to ANY airport via public transit early on Christmas Eve morning so that I can be in Simi Valley that weekend (see above conversation re: airports), so I think I have to cut it from my itinerary.

IF there IS a way to leave early Christmas morning from Yosemite I would be SO excited!

My parents, after Christmas weekend, will have a week of vacation in California and are thinking of renting a car and going up to Yosemite. There is a 1/3 (maybe less) chance that my parents will be proactive enough to do this.... But they would be driving up to Yosemite, and then either back down to LA (if my extended family decides to reconvene for New Year's) or flying back home from SFO (if not). Either way, they will have access to a car, and that makes that week much more open.

But I don't want to go up and down and up and down the state...... I dunno. I wish other people would make firm commitments; this whole thing would be easier then....

Since you are talking about Christmas Day -- I honestly think you are stuck. Just keep Yosemite in your dreams for for your next visit out here.

Janisj.... I think that's what I'll do.
It'll give me an excuse to go back there, you know?

Now it's time to plan that week in LA, and email out a basic itinerary to folks.

But while I'm here.... I love quirky museums, and I can do a standard museum or two. I love scenic views and taking walks and fantastic little bookstores and good theater, but I have never *really* travled alone before, and it's been a long time since I traveled, so I'm not sure what I most like to do... Any suggestions for things to do in San Francisco or Los Aneglos?

Well, scenic views and walks and fantastic little bookstores -- San Francisco is your kind of place. You should go to the bookstore and find a copy of this book,

http://www.amazon.com/Stairway-Walks.../dp/0899974295

or at least study this website:

http://www.sisterbetty.org/stairways/

These are unique to San Francisco, and a great way to walk, see parts of the city otherwise inaccessible, go from neighborhood to neighborhood, etc. I personally love the walk up the Vallejo Stairs from Montgomery Street to Sansome Street, then walk over and up to Coit Tower (more stairs), look around the ground floor murals (famous, and free -- access to the upstairs costs money), then walk down the Greenwich or Filbert stairs, and walk over to North Beach. Walk around North Beach -- go to City Lights Bookstore (owned by the poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti). Continue from there to Chinatown (Grant Avenue = tourist Chinatown, Stockton Street = "real" Chinatown).

Another great walk, which can be combined with the above walk, is all along the Embarcadero from AT&T Park to Fisherman's Wharf. Beautiful on a beautiful day.

You can walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

You can take the ferry to Sausalito and back.

Harder to get to without a car, but an absolutely stunning walk is Land's End Trail (We did this on New Year's Day last year):

http://www.parksconservancy.org/visi...lands-end.html

HTH.

Hello all----
I'M BACK. And I have a tentative itinerary to run by you.

The basic plan, as a refresher, is as follows:
12/19- 12/24 ~SF with my friend and his car/public transit
12/24- Flight to Simi Valley, Amtrak to the retreat center
12/26-12/30 Crashing in my cousin's apartment (Century City)
12/31-1/3 At/Near Aunt/Uncle's home (Valencia)
1/4-1/9 San Diego

I have finally put together a tentative itinerary for the car-less week in LA (Century City), but I'm having trouble keeping bus lines and locations in my head, and I was hoping for an evaluation of what I've got.....

As a general rule, I've planned to return to Century City for dinner every night,so that once my cousin gets back, we can hang out together. So the nights are open on purpose, at least for right now...

MONDAY:
Huntington Library and Grounds
Little Tokyo? Chinatown? Little Ethiopia?

TUESDAY:
Tour of Disney Concert Hall
Hollywood Walk of Fame
LA Farmer's Market
Chinese American Museum
Fashion District
(Rumyon Canyon Park?)

WEDNESDAY:
Getty Villa
Santa Monica, including 3rd Street Promonade
Venice Beach
(potentially: 7:30 PM Clippers vs. Utah Jazz with my family)

THURSDAY:
Fowler Museum (UCLA)
Griffeth Observatory?
Getty Center??
Westwood Village

If I can fit it in, I think it would be a really neat experience to watch them tape a show, but the schedule for Dec. isn't up yet....

Otherwise, and granting that the days will be fairly full and that the nights are unplanned thus far; granted that I will do a lot of walking (which i very much enjoy, especially in cute areas) and that an occasional cab ride may be necessitated
---does the plan sound ok?
I'll be transiting from Century City every morning, so I tried to group things by place, but I'm not sure I suceeded.
Are they too full?
Is this impossible by transit?
What order is best to accomplish it?
Is there something fantastic that I'm missing?

Any and all suggestions you have for my mostly-car-less vacation would be very much appreciated!

Little Ethiopia doesn't really fit in Monday. Just do other downtown LA things (Little Tokyo/Olvera Street). I'd skip Chinatown.

I'd probably flip Tuesday and Wednesday if you're possibly going to Staples Center. It makes more sense to do Hollywood and Downtown the day of the game. For the Fashion District check that you can get into the places you want.

Getty Villa Santa Monica and Venice make sense in one day, but I would not do it the same day you may need to be downtown!

To get to the Griffith Park Observatory you'll need a taxi if you don't go on a weekend.

I'd put little Ethiopia with the Farmer's Market and do that the day you go to Westwood. The Getty Center is easy to reach from Westwood Village.

mlgb- Thanks!

The game is only a possiblity, but I can't just flip them, because the Getty Villa isn't open on Tuesday. A lot of the things I wanted to do aren't. So Hollywood/Downtown took Tuesday by default. I agree with the assesment, but I'm not sure how to fix it. Other than skipping the game, of course, which I'm very much not sold on, and really depends on other people's desires and plans.

If I only need one roundtrip via taxi, that's still affordable, and no reason to cut it, I don't think.... unless taxis are crazy expensive out in LA. I don't actually know what they cost.

What do you mean about getting into places in the Fashion district?

Then I would do the Getty Villa-Santa Monica- Venice on Monday. Tuesday is good for downtown. Wednesday you could do downtown leftovers in the morning, Huntington at noon, and come back to downtown for the game. If you don't do the game you could go to the Griffith Park Observatory and Hollywood (or the Obs is open until 10pm so you could also do it PM on Thursday)

You can't necessarily get into the wholesale showrooms in the Fashion District except on some weekends and one Friday a month. So I would visit the website to make sure it's worth your while.

Have you looked into www.atwest-rentalcar.com here in L.A.? And there's also Rex Rental Car at 9200 South Sepulveda Blvd. Also: www.supercheapcar.com/underage-rentals.html.

And on your Monday schedule, going to Huntington Library, from Century City (?) would take nearly an hour in a car. I'm from Pasadena which is Huntington Library area. On public transportation it would take at least double the time.

As for the rest of your schedule, most of it is all over the place. Very confusing. You have Little Tokyo, China Town and Little Ethiopia on the list for Monday, but along with Huntington Library. First of all Little Ethiopia, if it's the area of Fairfax south of San Vicente where the Ethiopian restaurants are, is not far from Farmer's Market. They're less than a 10-minute drive from each other. Farmer's Market is north of the Ethiopian restaurant area on Fairfax at Beverly.

As for Tuesday, what fashion district are you talking about? Are you talking about the Garment district in downtown L.A.? Like The Alley?
As for the Chinese American Museum, where is that? I've never heard of it. And why to the Disney Concert Hall? It's a nice concert hall. I've gone there for performances, but wouldn't make a special trip to it. Plus, the location is not convenient to other things.

And then you have Griffith Observatory on the same day with places on the west side? First of all, to get to Griffith Observatory, you'll need to take a bus and get off at Hillhurst and Los Felix. Unless, things have changed,there's no bus that goes up there. Back in the late 70s, I used to work there and when my car went out, had to take the bus to get to work, until I bought a new car. I used to get off at Hillhurst and Los Felix and then walk up to the observatory every day. It's on top of a mountain and a long walk. Then I walked back down to the bus stop every day.

And you said something about landing in Simi Valley? Where's there an airport in Simi Valley? Happy Travels!

I you are taking the train to San Diego you might want to consider taking it into downtown San Diego rather than to Del Mar (it is actually in the city of Solona Beach). Because once you are in Solona Beachwhat do you plan to do without a car? There isn't much to do there. So I would go to the station in downtown were you can stay in the gaslamp area and have access to public buses. Downtown is more centrally located to Balboa Park/San Diego Zoo, the Embarcadaro, etc.

Actually I would arrive by train into downtown SD then take a 10 minute cab ride over to Coronado. It is a great place to stay. Everything is within walking distance and you can take public buses into downtown very easily and efficiently. Coronado is like an island across the bay from SD.