19th AUREO Conference - Pepperdine University, Malibu, California - October 9-13, 1999
Dated: November 1, 1998
Many AUREO members have indicated that they intend to take extra time either before or after the 1999 AUREO Conference to enjoy a vacation in California. To help in the planning of that time, I offer the following information, suggestions and Web-links.
Clicking on the Web-links should answer many of your questions, however should you wish, feel free to e-mail me (mailto:dtorres@pepperdine.edu) and time permitting, either I or my staff will try to respond to your inquiries.
California is a very large state and driving distances can be deceiving. The time of day can also add or subtract hours from your drive. For this reason Californians often use hours instead of miles to answer the question "how far is it?" For example driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco is about eight hours; San Diego three hours; Las Vegas five hours; The Wine Country nine hours; Lake Tahoe eight hours; the North Coast 10 hours.
When traveling within the greater Los Angeles area the time of day/week factor is even more critical. The same drive that could take 20 minutes in light traffic could easily take 1-1/2 hours or more in heavy, peak, commuter hour traffic. Our freeways are posted with 55 M.P.H. and 65 M.P.H. speed limits, but during peak times the average car moves along at just 11 miles per hour.
As in most cities, peak traffic hours are usually during the drive time commute 7 A.M. - 8:30 A.M. and 4:30 P.M. - 7:00 P.M. Monday through Friday. However, special events, accidents and other happenings can cause traffic congestion at all hours so plan ahead, check the Radio/TV traffic reports and ask the locals.
California is noted for having one of the best climates in the world. However what many non-residents do not know is that California has many different climates and that a mere 8 or 10-mile drive could mean a temperature difference of 30 degrees or more. In mid-summer it is not unusual for the temperature in Malibu to be in the mid-70’s, a 15-minute drive over the mountains to the San Fernando Valley and it will be in the 100s. At times during the year you could lounge at a pool in Palm Springs (two hours from L.A.) in 85-90 temperatures or take the Palm Springs tram (Tel. 760-325-1391) up the mountain (a 15 minute ride) and enjoy snow skiing (on real, not man made) snow.
Without unusual weather patterns like last year’s El Nino, our seasons can be broken down into wet and dry. The dry season runs from about April through December. Our hottest month is September. For the AUREO conference we should have nighttime temperatures in the 58 to 64-degree range; evening temperatures in the 67 to 70 degree range; daytime temperatures in the 75-85 degree range; and no rain. It would be very unusual to have temperatures below 58 and possible to have daytime temperatures in the high 80s and even the 90s and 100s; all it takes is a shift in the wind.
Beach areas where the University (Malibu) and the conference hotel (Tel. 310-301-3000) (Marina Del Rey) are located seldom get above the low 80s. Check the weather via the internet ( also http://www.intellicast.com/ and http://www.abcnews.com/local/kabc) before you leave and use the cities of Santa Monica, Malibu, and Marina Del Rey instead of Los Angeles although we will be visiting The Getty Center in Los Angeles. Check also for any of your vacation destinations.
California is a land of contrasts. The highest point in the U.S.A. (outside Alaska) is Mt. Whitney 14,494 ft. above sea level, located in California just a few hours North of Los Angeles and the lowest point in the United States, Bad Water is 282 feet below sea level, located in Death Valley, California (which is also the largest National Monument in the United States). Note: Fellow runners in AUREO might be interested in the annual Bad Water to Mt. Whitney run covering 136 non-stop miles, starting out in temperatures around the 130 degree mark and finishing below freezing on MT. Whitney; but hey, finishers do get a T-shirt!
California has two magnificent deserts, the Mojave and the Colorado contrastingly different and unbelievably beautiful especially in the spring when the wildflowers bloom. There are also mountains, beautiful, heavily wooded with waterfalls and wild rivers (ideal for fishing, white water rafting/kayaking) and the famous pacific coast where these majestic mountains meet a charismatic sea.
The list of what to see and do in California is seemingly endless. There are cities:
San Francisco, voted by the Conde Nast reader survey as the best city to visit in the United States, the cable cars, Barbary coast history, incredible architecture, a premiere Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz Prison (now on the tourist tours), the Golden Gate bridge, Sausalito, very quaint, very friendly, laid back yet cosmopolitan.
Sacramento the state capital is right in the heart of the delta region one of the largest rice growing areas in the world and full of great history.
Los Angeles, really a city of over 50 villages housing virtually every immigrant ethnic culture in the world and each village unique unto itself, from college town Westwood (UCLA) which hosts more movie premiers than any other place in the world to Koreatown, Little Saigon, Watts, the San Fernando Valley, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Pasadena (home of the Rose Bowl and Parade), Marina Del Rey (the largest man made marina in the world – some 7,000 private boats), Malibu, Downtown and on and on.
Then there is San Diego, a 2-1/2 hour drive south of Los Angeles. San Diego in many ways symbolizes the California lifestyle, the laid back outdoor lifestyle centered around magnificent Mission Bay. The city is home to one of the worlds finest zoos too (a can’t miss).
San Diego is also the gateway to Mexico just a few minutes trolley ride (or drive) to the new cosmopolitan international trade city of Tijuana. Since passage of the NAFTA free trade law, many factories have sprung up along the Mexican border making San Ysidro (San Diego) the busiest border crossing in the country. Tijuana, of course is well known for duty free shopping and sightseeing.
Those are the big cities but the real must sees in California are the countless smaller towns like Santa Barbara, Ojai, June Lake, Arrowhead, Calistoga, Big Sur, Carmel, Mendocino (which was the real location for the New England town on the TV series "Murder She Wrote".); Malibu; Solvang; Tahoe City and countless others.
Visit our ghost towns like Bodie (a must see for history buffs) and National Parks like Yosemite, Lassen Volcanic, Sequoia, and the nations newest national park The Channel Islands National Park just about an hour drive North of Los Angeles and accessible only by boat. National Monuments like Death Valley (remember the Borax 20 mule-team and "Death Valley Days" with Ronald Reagan?) Great state parks like Anzo-Borrego East of Los Angeles and Julia Pfeiffer North at Big Sur, Kings Canyon, Josuha Tree and others that equal or surpass the nationals.
Some tourist centers are divided into regions: The Mother Lode country where gold was discovered at Sutters Mill in the mid-1800s setting off the famous California gold rush, plenty to see there including the historic gold towns of Columbia (preserved as a State Park) and Angels Camp (made famous by Mark Twain).
The world famous Wine Country, centered around Napa and Sonoma where the very best wines in the world are grown and made; what wine; what food; what beauty; what spas.
Actually, there are now four major wine regions in California one in the North near the Anderson Valley (about a 10 hour drive from L.A.); the world famous Napa/Sonoma area (about an 8 hour drive); another along the Central Coast at Santa Barbara and Los Olivos (about a 1-1/2 hour drive); and another in the South centered around the town of Temecula (about 1-1/2 hour drive). Great microbreweries too!
About an eight hour drive North is Lake Tahoe site of the 1960 Winter Olympics (remember Squaw Valley). What a magnificent lake, deep, deep blue surrounded by high mountain peaks blanketed by pine forests. Lots to do and see here including Las Vegas style gaming casinos.
And you golfers, don’t miss Palm Springs/Palm desert (call the Visitor Information Center at 800-549-5133) (a 2 hour drive) home to more PGA golf courses than any other place in the world, over 100; home too, to the Bob Hope and Dinah Shore Classics. Or head North to the world famous Pebble Beach Golf Course (remember Bing Crosby) near Carmel in Northern California.
Disneyland for your information is about an hour drive from our conference hotel.
Californian’s lead an active life style and visitors often go native with some of the best camping in the world (mountains, deserts, sea); biking; skating; surfing; sailing; hiking; running; windsurfing; skiing; snowboarding; motorcycling, golf, tennis etc., etc. Some of these activities will be available to you right at or near the conference hotel.
So much to see, so much choice, impossible to see all and do all in a dozen visits so what’s a can’t miss? That really depends on what your interests are. To me, I love nature. I always tell visitors the one thing they must see before leaving California are the redwood trees especially those found in Sequoia National Park (about a five hour drive from L.A.).
These incredible trees are the largest living things on the earth. They were big trees growing silently in the undisturbed Sierra Nevada mountains when Christ was born. So large that forty, five room houses can be built from the lumber of a single tree and just the upper limbs alone are larger than any trees East of the Mississippi. Near the turn of the century a section of one tree was cut and transported back to the Worlds Fair on the East Coast. Cut like a slice of cucumber it was so huge that hundreds of men could stand on its surface, so unbelievable it was denounced as a hoax by newspapers and Fair goers alike.
Imagine yourself walking through this ancient forest surround by hundreds of trees fat around as a buildings and reaching hundreds of feet into the dark blue California sky (the tallest Redwood reaches over 362 feet up), the mountain air fragrant and crisp and you ant-like in the garden of God. I promise you if you like nature and have any spiritual center it will be an experience you will cherish forever.
These red wood trees are found only two places in the world, China and California and the ones in China are much smaller. The oldest living things on earth are also located in California (in the Inyo National Forrest; Bristlecone Pines estimated to be over 4,600 years old.
Some of you may want to see how movies are made. There are several television and movie studio tours (NBC Television Studio Tour call 818-840-3537) that can be covered in one day. Universal Studios is probably the most popular and is about an hour drive from our conference center. There are also opportunities to visit movie sets for free. The set used for the filming of Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman is in a State Park only a few minutes from Pepperdine and open to the public. Incidentally, Jane Seymour who plays Dr. Quinn lives just across the road from the University.
A few minutes up the canyon from Pepperdine is Malibu Creek State Park which has served as the location for many, many films and TV shows. Remember "Tora, Tora, Tora"? The bombing of Pearl Harbor was filmed in the park using miniature ships, planes and a big above ground pool. Also, "The Planet of the Apes", the entire series of " M*A*S*H" and many others.
The number one TV show in the world "Bay Watch", films almost daily along the beach between our conference hotel and Pepperdine. If you are a fan, be sure and sit on the ocean side of the bus when we leave the hotel for Pepperdine.
Several members have expressed interest in going to Catalina Island (Tel. 800-242-4969) 26 to 60 miles off the Los Angeles coast depending on your point of departure. Since it takes close to an hour to get to the boat (Tel. 800-Catalina) , then another approximate two hours sailing from there to Catalina (the same on the return). You will want to spend many hours exploring and enjoying the island that we do not have time to do during the conference, but I encourage you to go there on your own.
I really enjoy Catalina. I like to hike in the wilderness areas just outside of the main town of Avalon. A few hours day hiking is all you need to really enjoy the peace, quiet, solitude and outstanding views. Take a picnic, it feels like you are a million miles from civilization somewhere in the Mediterranean.
The island is home to herds of buffalo (American Bison to you purists), wild goats, deer and pigs. A few Buffalo were brought to the island in 1924 by a movie company as part of a western movie and left there when the filming was complete; over the years they have multiplied and some have become Buffalo burgers in the local restaurants.
The town of Avalon is for all intents and purposes the only town on the island. Avalon is a typical beach front tourist town – cruise ships stop there on the way to Mexico. There are beaches, hotels, restaurants, a golf course and tours of the rest of the island, which is dedicated to open wilderness. Incidentally, no cars are permitted in downtown Avalon so you can stroll or rent electric golf carts to explore the town. By October most of the crowds will be gone and it will be less hectic.
The fast boats (Tel. 800-842-1057) to Catalina run about $32 per person round trip and take 1-1/2 to 2 hours each way. But a word to the easily sea sick, the channel between L.A. and Catalina is not "on golden pond", it is open ocean, it can get rough, so if you are easily affected take the right remedies. Helicopter transportation is also available at about $120 round trip for the 15-minute ride.
Las Vegas, while not in California, might as well be since it has been financed and kept alive by Los Angelinos who make the five hour drive many times a year; you can also fly there in less than an hour.
I think I am on very safe ground in saying there is nothing on this planet quite like Las Vegas. If you like glitz, shows, gambling, theme hotels, non-stop excitement, non-stop food and drink and big crowds this is your kind of place. I believe Las Vegas invented the term 24/7 (24 hours per day, 7 days a week). You can e-mail AUREO member Bob Lamkin (University of Nevada, Las Vegas) for any inside tips or click on the Web-link below.
Hawaii. Californians have sort of adopted Hawaii as a second home. . A five-hour flight from Los Angeles can either take us to New York or Hawaii and Hawaii is a lot closer to our lifestyle. Similar climate, philosophy, palm trees, beaches etc. yet different enough to make it a real treat. There are really several Hawaii’s to choose from; Kawai the garden island; Oahu the cosmopolitan island; Molokai the quiet isle; Maui the happening isle and Hawaii the big unspoiled island. E-mail our fellow AUREO members at the Bishop trust for more information or click on the Web-link below.
That’s it for now. As we think of more things or respond to member's inquiries we will add to this commentary and we’ll date the entries so you don’t have to read old material to find the new.
Coming up will be information on transportation options from Los Angeles Airport to the hotel, rent a car deals and lots of inexpensive, close-in, fun things to do in the area around the hotel. So check back often; we want you to have a great time on your visit to California and Pepperdine University.
Dennis Torres
And The Real Estate Operations Staff
Pepperdine University
The Web-links:
NOTE: We will try to add more links as we find them. You can also do general searches on the Web for areas of particular interest.