Originally Posted by BhashaZ

Okay, since I want to keep this alive, I'll start planning the route. Don't complain if it's not right...I don't know the area north of LA really well so please feel free to chime in or whatever. The following info is for the Socal crew. Anyways, here it is:




As mentioned earlier, our meeting spot can be at the Starbucks in Woodland Hills. I don't know if the parking lot is big enough, but I'm assuming it is since it seems like people have gathered here for previous meets. The address given by Iris is:
We can meet at this location at 8:00AM like Bryan (B-Unit) suggested. Plan to arrive early and and with your gas tank full so we don't waste too much time. We can mingle and take pix for about 30 to 45 minutes, which should give people plenty of time to arrive. At about 8:45AM, we should go ahead and get prepared to depart. At 9:00AM, we will begin driving north towards Hearst Castle, which is located at:
The drive from the Starbucks in Woodland Hills to Hearst Castle in San Simeon is supposed to take about 3 hours and 45 minutes. Of course, this is if we stay on track and we go the speed limit, and there's no traffic, etc. We may stop for some pix, getting gas, or regrouping, so it may take a bit longer. Let's assume it will take 4.5 hours, which puts our arrival time at Hearst Castle at about 1:30 PM, which should be a good time to have lunch.

At this point, we should hopefully have met up with the Norcal crew and can all have lunch together or do whatever. I don't know what eating places are around there, however, so if anybody knows a place, please let us know! Beyond this, I don't know what you guys want to do. After eating we can take more pix or tour the Castle or do other things. It really is up to you guys, and I don't want to waste my time planning something when I think people will want to do different things.

If some people want to drive back down together, we can also do that as well. We can leave Hearst Castle as a group at around 4:00 or 5:00PM, which should give us a nice drive home.

Here are the directions from Starbucks in Woodland Hills to Hearst Castle:

1: Start out going NORTH on TOPANGA CANYON BLVD / CA-27 N toward CLARENDON ST. 0.1 miles
2: Turn LEFT onto BURBANK BLVD. <0.1 miles
3: Merge onto US-101 N via the ramp on the LEFT. 176.0 miles
4: Take the CA-1 N exit toward MORRO BAY / HEARST CASTLE. <0.1 miles
5: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT onto TORO ST / CA-1. <0.1 miles
6: Turn RIGHT onto CA-1 / WALNUT ST. <0.1 miles
7: Turn RIGHT onto CA-1 N / SANTA ROSA ST. Continue to follow CA-1 N. 41.4 miles
8: Turn RIGHT onto HEARST CASTLE RD (Gate access required). 0.4 miles
9: End at 750 Hearst Castle Rd
San Simeon, CA 93452-9740, US



Let me know if there are any other suggestions! Oh, we are doing this on JULY 8, 2006!