Hi, We're fom the Long Beach, CA area and need to vacate our house fo two nights. We have termtes! Any suggesions for a getaway that may be a little off the beaten track, and may have a a room at this time of the year (late August)? We don't want to do too much driving. A reasonable price would be nice, too. Not interested in the usual Santa Barbara, Lauguna Beach destinations. The desert is too hot for us at this time of the year. Thanks.

How about Idylwild?

Or head up to Ojai and stay at the Emerald Iguana.

Joesource: do you mean the Blue Iguana in Ojai? Have not been to Ojai in years? What's there to do there? Any hiking? How long would you guess to get there from LB? Thanks for your help.

any other ideas out there? Thanks.

This may seem obvious, but what about Catalina? I was there for a day trip last summer, and defnitely want to go back and stay on the island for at least a couple of days sometime. Such a beautiful place, and lots to do and see. I don't know about hotel availability, though. If you are going during the week, you'll probably have better luck than on the weekend. And you wouldn't really have to do any driving, except to the ferry.

Joesource: We ended up in Ojai. Thanks for the suggestion. We had not been there in over 10 yrs and thankfully the place is still beautiful and not particularly crowded. I am surprised at how little urban sprawl is there. A nice place for a couple of days though we did get caught in construction delays on both the 405 and 101 going there. Sara:Catalina would have been a good idea, too, but with motion sickness a constant for me, it just was not possible. Thanks for the suggestion.

annetti: Glad you got up to Ojai. I love that place! I too live in LB and will be tenting a house for termites shortly-- but we don't have to leave town with the cats, thankfully (I am fixing up my old condo, and we'll stay there while they gas the little @%$!ers). Where did you end up staying in Ojai?

We stayed at the Best Western Casa Ojai, very nice for the price. (See my comments on sheets below. Ate all our meals at Jim and Rob's. (might have the names wrong.) Very good. Now so much work to do, getting the house back in shape after the fumigation. Good luck. (PS really loved Ojai, too!)