San Francisco airport at night? Flying tips.

I'm flying into San Fran 6/14 at 10:40PM. My end destination is Pacific Grove, by Monterey. Am I best off driving straight down to PG? Driving out of Bay area to avoid the morning rush and finding lodging and going on in the morning? Getting a room right in SF and fighting my way out in the morning?
I should be somewhat rested after my 4 hour flight /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif . I'm not really worried about my driving ability as far as fatigue. I am concerned about driving in an unfamilliar area. In an unfamilliar vehicle. Also I haven't done much driving in an area with a population in excess of 100,000 for 11 years. Any tips, thoughts or cautions would be welcome. I will be traveling alone.

Also I EDC a Gerber Multi-Tool is there anyway to carry it in carry-on? On my trip back I'd like to avoid checked baggage and I'd rather not mail it to myself /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I will follow the suggestion of putting everything into my carry-on so I don't set off the detectors. Any other tips to someone who hasn't flown for almost 10 years would be welcome.

If your main concern is traveling in an unfamiliar area, I would highly recommend getting the GPS in your rental car. I use Hertz and the last time I missed the turn off from 101 to Carmel, it re-routed me through the back of Carmel Valley and saved me over an hour.

Traffic wise, I think the Bay Area has become terrible. I have to temper this by remembering that a traffic jam for me now is the rancher moving his cows down the road. I believe they have completed the highway project south of San Jose, so that bottle neck should be better, but if it was me I would try to get out of the Bay Area A.S.A.P. If you get tired on the way, you can always stop in Gilroy. You'll have close to an hour head start the next morning and miss the traffic.

Driving Tip for the big city: Just stick to the right lane and watch the show. It's amazing how much effort someone is willing to go through to gain 100 feet in heavy traffic.

There is no way to take a Multi-Tool in your carry-on. Even if you were able to remove the blade, they may claim the screwdriver could be used as a weapon. I heard they even confiscate the blades on a blender. If you forget to put it in your checked bags, there's a new service at the S.F. airport where they will mail it back to you--for a fee of course.

Have a great trip.

Greg

I live about 5 min from SFO and work about 10 miles away. My morning commute down 101 is 15 - 45 minutes depending on how stupid people are (yesterday there were a lot of stupid people.) Traffic is not too bad if you can get off of 101 by 7am or after about 10am. It doesn't start getting bad again until about 3:30pm and gets reasonable around 7pm again.

As far as driving tips, pick the #2 or #3 lane depending on how traffic is moving and stay there. The right lane has alot of short on ramps which means cars are sometimes entering the freeway at less than ideal speeds.

Have a good trip.

I would drive down to Pacific Grove at night. It isn't difficult to catch the freeway and head south.

You can't carry a multitool on as it has a knife and they will not allow it, don't even try. Very bad idea! If you check a bag you can put it there, although I avoid checking bags myself.

You might see the site www.flyertalk.com, which is a great site for any travel question. I am a volunteer mod on that site. Try the TravelBuzz! forum.

Got to second all the comments. All are good.

SFO (airport in San Fran) is south of SF, as is PG (Pacific Grove).

My wife swears by the Hertz neverlost. You can specify it when you book the reservation.

If you decide to drive it in the morning, the traffic clears a bit after 9:30 am, but you'll find the hotels near the airport are pricy. Unnerv might be able to steer you to a local hotel that's decent.

If your route takes you through Salinas (on highway 101), I would NOT drive through it after midnight. For that matter, I'd not stop in Seaside (on highway 1) after midnight either. Some rough areas there.

If you love scenery and don't mind twisty roads, take Highway 17 and detour up through Santa Cruz to Highway 1. 17 is twisty for about 10 miles, but very good road. 1 is freeway from Santa Cruz south to Monterey. Take 1 all the way down to Monterey/PG. This, of course, assumes daylight. While you can pick up 1 just west of the airport, I remember it as a very twisty road that hugs the shore line for 30 or 40 very slow miles.

A note about GPS if you have not used one. They know the fastest way to get there, but not the safest. They will happily take you through slums and industrial areas. In the Neverlost GPS, choose "Most use of freeways" when that prompt comes up.


Welcome to the bay area.

Daniel

Well rested after a 4 hour flight? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crackup.gif

Let's see, a timeline for a 4 hour flight into SFO (we'll ignore timezones and base everything on CA timezone) and we'll also base this on a non-stop from the WI airport directly into SFO:

- flight is scheduled to leave at 18:30 and is supposed to get into SFO at 22:40. Need to allow 1-2 hours for check-in and security screening, so need to be at airport by 16:30. Of course this is the end of the day, so you'll have had to do all your 'normal' day-to-day stuff first.

- get to departing airport at 16:30, go to check-in counter and check the baggage (since you want to bring a Multi-Tool, you have to put it in a checked bag). Wait in line, finally check-in.

- go through security check point, get scrutinized over flashlights, camera (insist on hand screening of film), get re-dressed after having to take belt off (it has a metal buckle of course).

- Sit in uncomfortable airport chair waiting for inbound plane to arrive. Walk up and down terminal to avoid sitting in uncomfortable airport chair. Airplane finally arrives, it has to be fueled and cleaned a bit, only a minor mechanical issue has to be resolved before you can board.

- board plane 30 minutes late. Sit in uncomfortable airplane seat while they get luggage loaded and plane ready for departure.

- depart finally. Sit in uncomfortable airplane seat for 4 hours. Sip the 4 ounces of soda they give you. Drink 2 liters of water you brought with you in your carry-on. Go to bathroom to get rid of 1 liter of water you drank, the 4 ounces of soda and one liter of water was lost to the dry cabin air in the plane.

- get to SFO closer to 23:00. Wait to taxi to terminal, wait to get off plane, wait to get luggage, wait to get rental car. Time is now close to midnight or after, remember that you've been up all day.

Your call as to how much driving you want to do at night in an unfamiliar area. But I doubt you'll be well rested after the flight. Even if you managed to doze off in the plane, it will not be a "well-rested" sleep.

A quick check on mapquest shows that Pacific Grove is maybe an hour south of SFO. I'd do the drive that night, stick to the big highways and maybe get a coffee or other caffeine jolt before leaving the airport. The GPS nav system sounds like a good idea, like others said the maps are in the unit but it doesn't know good from bad areas.

Check the TSA website for the latest list of things you can and cannot bring on a plane with you. You can NOT bring the MultiTool on the plane with you (you can put it in your checked bag), you can not bring a lighter, you can not bring any tools (screwdriver, pliers, etc). You might want to print out the list of prohibited items in case you have to discuss anything with a TSA person.

You would not want to head southward in the AM.. it'll be hellish gross idiot commuter hell until at least 930AM on either 101 or 280. Heading south at night would be a far better bet.

Hope you can drive the coast sometime during the day though. Highway 1 in that area (say 70 miles north and south) is some of the most beautiful driving on earth. You will certainly recognize it from innumerable car ads.

Have fun!

Mapquest shows 1hour, 48 minutes SFO to downtown PG. That's about right. Mapquest takes you by way of Highway 17 and Highway 1. The route is reasonable, and the drive through the Santa Cruz mountains can be nice at night too.

Midnight in the Santa Cruz mountains might be a good place to test the throw of your lights. There's a restraunt at the summit where you can pull over and shine your lights over a valley with a view of 30 miles or so.

Daniel

You will be lucky to get your bags, rental car and out on the road before 11:30 or even mignight. If you are flying from the central timezone, that will be 1:30 or 2 in the morning by your body clock and then you have a 2 hour drive ahead. Maybe you are more of a night person than I am. I wouldn't want to do much driving at that hour in an unfamiliar area and risk getting lost or falling asleep at the wheel. My priority would be to get to a comfortable bed ASAP. By the time I would wake up, dress and have breakfast, rush hour would be over. Remember, 9:30am in SF will still feel like 7:30am to you. I could enjoy the drive in daylight and feel refreshed rather than feeling like I was up all night long.

And as mentioned above, you will not get a multi-tool into the passenger compartment. The easiest thing is to take a padded envelope with proper postage along with you for the purpose of mailng it home. Or just check a bag.

Lurker pretty much summarized my feelings. I personally would be a disaster, coming from a long flight, from two time zones away, late at night, and facing a 2 hour drive in the dark in an unfamiliar area. I'd get a room at the airport, and head out around 9am. Here's the route I'd take: Do not take 101 all the way down, instead, take 380 and skip over to 280 south. Take 280 south to 85 south, and 85 south to 101 south. You will have skipped the busiest part of 101 and taken a much more pleasant drive. The area of 101 that you'll get on has been expanded and will run fine that time of the morning.

Tough call - it'll be mighty late by the time you get to Pacific Grove, but it'll be an easy drive, with nobody else on the road.

I'd probably drive straight from the airport, via Santa Cruz - I did the drive from SFO to Carmel at dusk/dark last year, and it's pretty easy - On the way back, I did the 280/85/101 combination, and it's both more crowded, less attractive, and a little less clear, as you have several highway changes.

I think the best bet would be to go 17/1 when you arrive, with nobody else on the road, sleep in when you get there, and have a fine first day. +1 on the Neverlost in the rental car.

By waiting, you've paid for a room, bought an extra hour on the drive and a whole lot of traffic stress, and you don't get there 'till mid-day.

No chance of taking a multi-tool, scissors, nail file, or anything that might fit the description 'tool' in your carry-on. Ya gotta check it or mail it to yourself.

IF you decide to take Highway 17, a word of advice:

Make believe the speed signs are accurate. If it says a curve is 35 MPH, it's a good idea to drop your speed to 35. There are a couple of curves that are decreasing radius and they tend to look like you could do 50 or 55... until you are half-way through them.

The CHP now have radar (thanks to local governments) so watch it going down those long empty stretches at 1 AM.

I'd take 101 south to 156 west to 1 south, and right into PG if you want to get there fastest with the straightest roads. The whole route is 55 and 65 MPH, no curves to speak of.

Daniel

Thanks for the tips. I didn't think I could transport my tool, just hoping /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
I will look into GPS in the rental. If nothing else I can get maps from AAA. Anything else? Bringing water was something I hadn't thought of, Thanks.

Tips?

Bring water, snacks, reading material, any medicines you need, cell phone, minor first aid kit, portable GPS if you have one, flashlights, pens, paper, pencils, some change for tolls, etc in your carry-on. Maybe a windbreaker or light raincoat as well. But your EDC multi-tool, pocketknife, and stuff has to go in the checked baggage.

Air travel used to be a bit easier and bearable, now it seems like more of a hassle. To me at least.

You can get a map from the rental car agency that will show the area at the destination OK. If you want/need a detailed map, you can use a mapping GPS (if the maps are loaded) or get them off the web or from AAA or whatever.

Bring a couple of glow-sticks to play with. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Have a safe trip.

Well it turns out I had to drop my plans to leave next week. I'm leaving this week with 5 others from my family. We will fly to LAX on a red-Eye. Arriving on Wednesday night-late.
My Mom passed away unexpectedly. I didn't get a chance to see her before she went.

So sorry to hear that. Hope you have a safe trip.

Daniel

Yes, very sorry to hear of your loss.

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/au.gif and prayers for you and your family

Our condolances on your loss Herb and family. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif