Many of you are planning to road trip to Celebration. I've decided to take Amtrak to Celebration instead of driving. I know, how un-California of me. (I've taken the train many a time from Washington, D.C. to New York.) Why? I figured it would cost at least $60 in gas plus $75 to park my car in the hotel and for what? I probably won't drive it much while I'm there. My friend is coming by car from San Francisco with a friend of hers, so we have a car if we need it. I also won't have to worry about anything happening to the car or endure the pain of sitting in rush hour or holiday traffic. I can sit back and relax, and roundtrip via train was $68.
But for the rest of you, here's what I've experienced on the road in SoCal:
Many people do not realize that outside of the coastal cities and some inland valley towns, CA and much of the West is VERY rural. Even with the population moving east, it still takes less than a half hour to go from the middle of SD to the boonies. There are winding mountain roads and long stretches of desert with absolutely NOTHING around. You might occasionally stumble across an Indian casino, but that's about it. For that reason, if you are coming from the east, you have to make sure your car's in good working shape and you can handle driving long periods of time. Keep an ear out for weather reports--a spring storm can bring snow to higher elevations, even if it's technically "the desert," and if it's really windy it can be tricky driving.
The freeway traffic in the Los Angeles area is as bad as everyone says it is, especially during rush hour or on the weekends. The worst are I-10, the Hollywood Freeway, I-405, and I-5. The freeways are old and the population is far higher than what those roads were supposed to accommodate. Get as much time as you can while the traffic is free flowing because near the city it starts to coagulate. Keep an eye on when your exit to downtown is coming up because you really don't want to be waaay over the wrong lane when the cars are completely packed around you and it's moving at 5 mph.
If you are coming on I-10, I had the "pleasure" of sitting in heavy, slow-moving traffic from Palm Springs on a holiday weekend, stuck with everybody traveling from Phoenix and the Coachella Valley toward L.A.. At least we had to turn off somewhere to head south, ducking out of the jam near Cabezon. The problem is, it's the only major road going through the desert in that area. Just think of all the people you're going to be trapped with heading back east after Memorial Day weekend. Yay!
Other than creeping traffic, L.A. isn't too hard to navigate on the freeways or on regular roads. It's not midtown Manhattan or the horror show that is driving in Boston. Just beware of crazed starlets fleeing paparazzi and you'll be fine.
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