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Thread: So...California exchange feb-april, what not to miss?

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    So...California exchange feb-april, what not to miss?

    Work (Volvo Cars) is sending me over to Camarillo February to end of April to help out in a project.

    Never been over to the west coast before, and I have a few things planned but if anyone can provide any cool stuff to do and see, please let me know
    I'm planning on catching the Formula D event at Long Beach in April, but that's the only motorsport thing so far...

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    Jedi Cam's Avatar
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    Road trip to National Parks? There are several within a day’s drive from LA.

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    Yeah, I sort of have that in mind. My plan is to do a little roundtrip the two last weeks of my stay; Go up to SF for a few days, then head towards Grand Canyon via the national parks.

    I'm pondering visiting Vancouver and maybe Seattle during Easter, heard a lot of good things about those places.

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    Jedi Cam's Avatar
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    Petersen Automotive Museum in LA is a good bet.

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    Yeah, that's a given

    Not sure where I will be staying yet, probably in Santa Monica for most of the time, althought I might start off with Ventura just to get my bearings and be a little bit closer to the studio.

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    Bad Taste novicius's Avatar
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    Holy shiat, a ca6 sighting!

    Um... go visit Tom Swervo and his lady in their swank pad?

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    Ask me about my bottom br FaultyMario's Avatar
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    Kindly ask the Nilsens to take you drinking and musicking.
    acket.

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    Yeah, I haven't shown my face around here a lot the last eh since ever it looks like

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    A few good suggestions already. Petersen is fun, expect to be able to kill a few hours there. They have a Ferrari exhibit with some really nice examples that runs through April, and the ground floor Bugatti exhibit is ending and going to be replaced by a Porsche one. Also, they have the "vault tour" that's a guided tour for a reasonably small upcharge where you go through a much larger portion of the collection that's down in storage. It's a fun tour, but it takes longer than they say (I think they said about an hour, ours was slightly over 2), you can't take pictures, and there are no bathrooms, so make sure you go before the tour starts. There are a lot of other museums too - if you're into art, there's LACMA (contemporary art) which is across the street from the Petersen, the Getty not too far from there, and the Broad (haven't been, but others seem to like it). There are also a bunch of museums by USC, and if you're at all into the space program seeing the Space Shuttle at the Science Center is well worth the trip.

    Outside of Long Beach for racing (which looks like it's mid-April this year), Laguna Seca is about a 5 hour trip. If you're willing to spend a lot of money, you could do a Skip Barber driving school thing up there. Driving PCH between Santa Monica and Oxnard is highly recommended, though it can be trafficky at times closer to Santa Monica. Angeles Crest Highway through the San Gabriel mountains is also a lovely drive, and significantly less crowded.

    If you're into hiking, there's lots of great hiking around here. Anything from flat, leisurely canyon hikes to climbing the 10,082 ft. peak of Mt. Baldy. There's also some decent biking if you're looking for that - quite a few long dedicated bike paths, though they rarely interconnect.

    Definitely yes on the National Parks. If you do make it to the Grand Canyon and have some extra time, I cannot recommend Zion in southern Utah enough. It's an absolutely stunning park. Also, speaking of bikes, you can get into the Grand Canyon for free if you park in Tusayan and take the bike path into the park. Otherwise, I think it's like $30 to drive in.

    When you're in the neighborhood, we'd love to meet up. We live just outside of Santa Monica in West Los Angeles. There's great food around here. The only downside, the trip between Santa Monica and Camarillo is not a particularly easy commute, so depending on how often you have to actually be in Camarillo, Santa Monica might end up being a painful choice.
    Last edited by Tom Servo; January 10th, 2018 at 06:28 AM.

  10. #10
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    Thanks for the long answer!

    The Vault sounds very cool, I'm sure I'll get that scheduled in!

    Yeah, regarding the commute it seems to be a bit of a pain. Santa Monica is where some other guys in the studio work, so it would be nice socially, but yes the commute is a bit of a pain I've heard. He stayed for a while in Ventura, but didn't find the city very interesting but maybe he just went to the wrong areas.

    I'll definitely try to do some hiking, I spent the afternoon here chatting with a colleague who was on the exchange prior to me. He's not that much into hiking though (I'm not very much into it, but he's not into it at all)

    I'm skething on the road trip, my buddy was lucky that he was over when the Monterey Reunion was on...I won't be as lucky it seems.

    Definitely it would be cool to meet up, I'm sure we could make something work
    Last edited by ca6; January 10th, 2018 at 08:16 AM.

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