I hope parking is .25 cents a day or under.... I had to sell my soul and many material things to get out to CA. I mean I'm spending at least 1,000.00 just to get out there. Looks like power bars for breakfast and a shake for lunch everyday.
Living on my credit cards is becoming a reality.
It would be nice to catch a break once and awhile......
PARKING ADVISORY
There is no overnight RV or Trailer Parking on the Stanford Campus. Parking for competitors and spectators will be in the Galvez lot at the corner of Galvez and Campus Drive. There will be a nominal charge for parking which will be posted on this site, with a map by 7/15/06. The lot is about 250 meters from the pool area.
Originally posted by kristilynn
Wow. $12 is not my idea of "nominal."
If you go up to San Francisco, expect to pay more than that. We were taken on a tour bus everywhere so did not have to pay parking, even at Stanford. The kids had a clinic at Standford with a jazz pro. Very nice campus.
Gas was a little higher than here in Illinois, but not exceedingly so. In March the highest we saw was 3.10, lowest around 2.75.
You are lucky to find a hotel at 45 a night.
The traffic sure is crazy there. I was glad to be on a bus. The motorcycle drivers amaze me. They just cruise through the middle of the cars on the line.
"couple of years ago, when Stanford was first announced as the site for FINA Worlds, I raised parking and generally the high expenses of traveling to the SF Bay area for this meet (and was justly blasted by Aquageek for being so negative). "
I don't mind the fact that the meet is in Standford. I expected it to be expensive and that's why I'm staying in the hotel I'm in. What I have a problem with is the fact that I enquired about this back in February and even called the school and no fee was ever mentioned.
Annoucing there is a fee now is a little late in my book.
This should have been in the meet book that was printed months ago along with a map of the parking lot etc.
"We can save the constructive criticism for the post-meet discussions. "
Again this wouldn't be coming up now if this was dealt with in Feb.
I could find all the emails that I sent out about this topic back in Feb.....
Whatever...
From the Stanford parking website:
"One-day "Visitor" scratcher permits (which allow parking in Pay & Display lots and at meters), available for $12 each at the P&TS office (open weekdays 7:30 a.m. -5 p.m.)."
So, unless the LOC has made special arrangements you can plan on $12/day for parking, and hope that space is available once you pay for the parking pass.
We don't know if the LOC made any special arrangements. I'm just telling you what Stanford's normal visitor parking rate is. I used to work at Stanford, so I know that their parking is high.
Xenadiva,
I feel your pain, and I hope you can work something out. Some folks have suggested public transportation. I know it is common for the meet organizers to run a shuttle service from some hotels to the pool (but I've not scanned the meet booklet closely enough to know if they are doing that for this meet). Perhaps you are staying near one of these hotels, or you can park near such a hotel more economically, and ride the shuttle. You can also share your car and expenses with other masters swimmers. I've split rental car expenses at National meets with other denizens of the USMS discussion threads.
I'm glad to see this forum could be a source of venting for you and others. I hope we all keep in mind that we are long past the point of being able to offer constructive suggestions that the meet organizers can act upon. A couple of years ago, when Stanford was first announced as the site for FINA Worlds, I raised parking and generally the high expenses of traveling to the SF Bay area for this meet (and was justly blasted by Aquageek for being so negative). We have now reached the point where we need to smile, tell ourselves we're going to swim fast no matter what, and thank the organizers for all their hard work. We can save the constructive criticism for the post-meet discussions. Better for the meet committee, better for us if we want to swim our best.
See you in Palo Alto.
Matt S
I would not bet on .25! I feel your pain. Our family of 4 chaperoned the HS jazz band to SF in March to the tune of 4000+. With college costs this fall, we will not be going on another vacation for a long, long time. Thinks are not cheap in California!
