with an aching in my heart
My next assignment is going to be in California. Time will be split between Sunnyvale and San Diego. Possibly starting next week. Might entail some weekends there as well. Should be through some time in May.
Anyone interested in getting together?
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
You betcha. I bet we could get Hostile Dialect, Astroboy14 and Encinitas together for something, and maybe a few more.
There have been rumblings about a larger-than-usual Southern California Dopefest sometime in the early part of this year, and your presence should be all the motivation necessary.
I think you should split the difference between Sunnyvale and San Diego and just have the 'fest in LA. 
Oh really? Maybe y’all need to rumble a little louder - I couldn’t hear it from here. 
ShibOleth,
When I read the title of your post, I immediately thought… with an aching in my heart.
Love the Led Zeppelin reference! Have fun in California!
Los Angeles might work for me as well, I have some relatives in the area. Will be nice to finally see beautiful San Diego, and would love to finally meet Scout.
Well, if you find yourself in the East Bay (Oakland) with nothing to do, I know where to get the best Mexican food & the best barbecue. It seems (tentatively) like we’re heading into our early spring weather here – I saw my first Japanese cherry-plum tree in bloom Tuesday.
Enjoy your stay!
rumble
rumble
rumble
Can you hear it now?
Huh. Thought it was an earthquake.
Let me know when you’re in Sunnyvale. I’m 15 minutes down the road.
First three weekends in April are good for us.
rumble, rumble
Best Mexican would be cool. You don’t mean Chevy’s I hope. 
Not sure I can handle California BBQ, but I guess it should be tried once.
Never fear. Santa Maria tri-tip is quite a respectable form of barbecue. And there are plenty of Wood Ranch Grills in SoCal that do it proud.
We sure could!
Never! It’s called Juan’s place; it’s in a tiny charming building in west Berkeley – white stucco, with wrought-iron railings and a lovely garden.
The barbecue place has free live blues on weekends – even if the food may or may not be canonical! (I have nothing to compare it to, I’m afraid.)
If you all take up a collection, you might raise enough to make me interested… ah, who am I kidding? We’re in!! Me and the wifey, that is…
San Diego would be best, of course (I’m all about conveniencing me!); but if it has to be LA, well, maybe we San Diopers could car-pool up. I can fit about 20 people in my SUV.
Me too! Made me smile to see you said it… Have fun!
I’m hearing lots of talk and very little planning. How does mid- to late-April (in LA) sound to people?
rumble rumble rumble
That’s not very nice, is it? ShibbOleth will be in San Diego for the first time and you’re going to make him drive to LA?
(Actually I’m just trying to make this easier for me. I am about 85% certain I won’t be able to go up to LA in April.)
I was trying to be considerate. How’s he going to see more of California if you try to pigeon-hole him in San Diego? I want him to get out and see more of the sights!
In all seriousness, I’m happy to participate in the coordination effort, and if San Diego makes more sense, so be it. However, I know there are an awful lot of LA-area Dopers who seemed interested in a larger meet-up the last time we talked as a group, and I don’t know how many of them would be willing or able to make that day trip.
[subtle hint]Hopefully, more of them will participate in this thread so we can start getting some ideas.[/subtle hint]