Thanks Jon.

Nora - I found this from Deb. I'll add the specifics when I find them, or get them from the source. (edit because I found the post from Deb)

RESERVATION PROCEDURE

We have two options for your attendees to make a reservation:

# Call the Hotel reservations department at 1-800-243-1135. To receive the contract rates, the attendees should request the name of the group: Buffistas. # Attendees may also reserve their contract rate on-line through a reservation link to our website that will be provided to you after return of your signed contract.

All reservations should be made by April 16, 2006. After this date, we will release the remainder of your guest room block. Additional reservation requests will be honored on a space and rate available basis."

BTW, for people low on cash, there are a number of triple to quad occupancy rooms available at $119 per night, with a $20 per extra person surcharge. So, if my admittedly crap math skills are at all functioning, four people can share one of the big rooms for just about $40 a night each as the base rate. Hard to beat.

Laura, awesome page!

Suzi, I don't think I'll rent a car. I want to save dough for really fun stuff. All the in city things to do are available through public transpo pretty easily and for long hauls, I'm sure many of the localistas will want to be involved and offer haulage of peope and/or bodies.

Another note. I listed the localistas I could think of from memory. I didn't want to put any email links without permission. If I erroneously imagined you were a bay area resident, or if I didn't know you were so lucky, let me know.

Has someone volunteered to do roommate coordination, or local hosting coordination, cell phone lists, etc? Is there a local mailing list for these arrangements?

Has someone volunteered to do roommate coordination, or local hosting coordination, cell phone lists, etc?

Not that I know of. I'll be happy to do so, if no one else is jonesing to.

It was with particular glee that I added you to the localistas list juliana.

-t should be on the localistas list too.

Yay! I forgot that -t moved there too. The Buffistaverse is tilting to the NW.

That page looks amazing, Laura!

Sadly, Muni fare has gone up since the last info-gathering; it's now a whopping $1.50.

Laura, gorgeous page.

To do: the Wine Country (Napa, Sonoma). Marin County, from splendid Sausalito through Skywalker Ranch and all the way out to Tomales Bay. Sausalito has my favourite Italian restaurant, Angelino's, right on Bridgeway; it's featured in the Kinkaid Chronicles, the series I'm writing, and a few Buffistae have been, including juliana, today. If you like wild things, there's Mount Tamalpais and Muir Woods. There's the museum, Fort Point, under the Golden Gate Bridge. You can take the ferry from the Ferry Building at Embarcadero to the East Bay, or to Marin (Sausalito and Larkspur; not sure about the east bay destinations, as I've always been either Marin or SF).

There are shopping outlet malls galore: Napa has a large one, St. Helena (just up the road from Napa, heart of the wine country) has a small chichi one, with things like a two-storey Donna Karan outlet and a Coach outlet next door. Gilroy has a monster outlet mall in the South Bay, spread out over about four different sites. The Old Monterey Highway, which parallels Highway 101 south to Gilroy, has one of my alltime favourite burrito places on earth, El Patio, which also sells about seven jillion varieties of dried chilis in its grocery store section (Betsy's been there with us).

Down the road is Santa Cruz ("One thing I've always hated about Santa Carla, all the damned vampires!", and yes, the Lost Boys was filmed there). Also Half Moon Bay (some killer seafood). On the hill, La Honda, Roaring Camp, Alice's Restaurant...

Sadly, Muni fare has gone up since the last info-gathering; it's now a whopping $1.50.

Hrmph! Back to the drawing board as this changes everything. What were the Vegas options again?

Thanks for the list Deb. I'll update with a whole lot more in the Things To Do category after the soccer game, basketball game and the boy's 14th b'day party today. Tomorrow should be a little more relaxed.

Thanks for all the compliments on the page. I just did a big thread suck and put what I found on one page. Added pretty pictures. No shortage of pretty in the area.