Carmageddon

If anybody has ever flown in to LAX on the 405, you know about the horrific traffic that can plague a trip. LA is notorious for horrible traffic. The 5, the 405 the 10. Scott and I have been stuck in them all. Just a few years ago my parents and I took Emily to Disneyland (Scott didn't make it to CA that time) and we were stuck in traffic on I-5 for so long I thought my dad was going to turn the car around and cancel the trip all together. On the way home from Disney my mom and I were talking about how much fun we had, and recalling some of the things that were certain to be life-long memories. My dad could only mutter that none of that was worth the traffic that we had to endure to get there. Part of me agreed.

That is why I am dreading the trip from the airport to my parents house on Saturday morning. The 405 (one of the most traffic-plagued freeways I've ever seen) will be shut down for just over 50 hours in a section around Sepulveda Blvd. Our flight in to LA arrives just a few hours after the shut-down begins.

Time magazine has an article here that refers to this traffic mess as Carmageddon. Airlines have began offering "Carmageddon flights" from LAX to both Long Beach airport and the Burbank airport. These flights sold out in less than two hours.

Scott was looking around the web this morning and he even found there is a special app that I could download to my iPhone that would show the best ways to navigate in through carmameddon. I think we'll give it a try.

Both my mom and dad are coming in both of their cars to pick us up. We don't all fit in one car, especially not with our luggage. Surely this traffic mess will provide us with countless hours (I'm afraid this is no exagerration) of conversation with either my mom or dad. But since I remember my dad's aversion to traffic from the Disney trip, I think I'll claim the seat in mom's car.