I can drive Nilly up to SF as long as the drive is after August 15th. I'll be in Ojai from the 8th to the 15th.

It looks as though the coordination for Allyson-Kristen-Tim and the LA part of the road trip can be easily coordinated with the SF part of it. My thinking was that the drive up would happen on whichever Friday works for everyone, and it would have to happen early in the day; Nilly can't be in a car after sunset on a Friday night, because it's technically the Jewish sabbath, if I'm remembering properly.

ND, would your schedule allow you to drive back on Monday, rather than Sunday? That would give us the Saturday for the BBQ (Nilly wouldn't have to be in a car; all she'd have to do it sit, enjoy herself mightily, and eat), and all day Sunday to show her around the Bay Area.

And who else would be coming up in the car? Sean?

Yeah, my schedule is open. I could also bring her up on Thursday that way we've got no worries about getting caught driving after sunset on Friday.

Don't want to sound like I'm trying to show-up VW, but I already sent Nilly an email offering to put her up in my guest bedroom (complete with high-speed internet access!) should her travels take her to Boston.

And if she can't make it up here, I'm seriously considering a trip to L.A. and/or S.F.

Ah...you have a whole guest bedroom. That definitely sounds like a better deal.

Boston Nilly party at Jon's house! For everyone in Somerville and Boston and all those New Englandy-type places!

(or you could all come to California...)

ND, Thursday would work fine for me. We just need to await the LA logistics, because those definitely come first.

Nilly in Boston!! If that happens I can visit too! Yaaay!

Not to interrupt the Nilly Tour planning, but I finally got my KC pimping post done.

And KC is full of museums and cool touristy stuff to do (Negro Baseball League Hall of Fame, Jazz Museum at 18th and Vine, Science Museum at restored Union Station, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, and a fantastic zoo and hey - more fountains than Rome - seriously).

Tina hit a lot of what I was gonna list. Also... Starlight Theatre (where I used to work) is a gorgeous outdoor theatre, Missouri Rep, and some fun, funky, small theatre groups. The KC zoo had undergone major renovations in the past several years. In addition to the Nelson (home of the worlds largest shuttlecock and the Henry Moore sculpture garden) there is also the UMKC Belger Art Center. The Plaza and Wesport are great places to wander, browse and shop. Westport also has a variety of clubs for the nightlife scene. The Royals at Kauffman Stadium (which is a very nice stadium) for baseball fans. The Truman Library in Independence is worth seeing. It has a stirring exibit on WW2. A day trip to Lawrence would be very cool. I think someone already mentioned the fabulous yarn shop there. I could get a list of places quilters would like to visit. If you're into the agricultural history of the area, there is the American Royal Museum. And for the theme park enthusiasts, Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun. The Timber Wolf is an awsome wooden roller coaster.

The drawbacks of KC would be a lack of decent public transportation, although if we center most activities around the Plaza/Westport that won't be too bad. The airport isn't near anything, you will feel like you are landing in a corn field (or a soybean field). And temps can be anywhere from the mid 40's to the low 90's that time of year. Chances are the temp will be more moderate (and all indoor activities will have AC), but there are no gurantees.

Oh, and any theme song for KC should be by Charlie Parker.

Nilly, the offer to stay with me still stands. If you want to come to DC towards the end of that, that would work for me. Any time after August 27th would be great. (Maybe August 26th -- I'd need to check about that.)

Just FYI, on August 30-September 2 they are having the Republican National Convention in NYC. There will be extremely high security, and lots of protests. It will be a good time to not be in New York.