Posted by:
PeacePrincess
(
)
Date: May 09, 2012 05:22PM
The current meeting spot is pretty well central to all those places you listed in the OP, and it is a nice place.
But if you're concerned about people not being able to reach it easily due to it's distance from the nearest freeway, with all the red traffic signals we have to deal with to get there, then I have a few suggestions to offer:
There is another Panera Bread, also on the Imperial Hwy, that's right next to the Orange Freeway (CA-57), thus making it a lot more freeway-easy. It's about a mile or two east from the one we've been meeting at, on the same (north) side of the Imp Hwy.
Or how about finding a meeting spot that's reasonably close to a freeway and right next to a train station that's served by a Metrolink line that has trains running on Sundays. The especially nice thing is that Metrolink offers "Weekend Passes" that lets people ride all the Metrolink trains they want all weekend long on just one $10 ticket. Much cheaper than gasoline!
There is a Ruby's Diner right inside the Orange Station, just north of Chapman Ave between the CA-57 and CA-55 Freeways, or there may be some nice meeting places within a block or two from the Santa Ana station, which is served by Amtrak as well as Metrolink, very close to Interstate 5 between the 4th street and 17th street exits.
I myself would come in on the Inland Empire line which goes through Orange at 10:08 and Santa Ana at 10:13. Those coming in from Oceanside's way (including San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Irvine, and Tustin) would arrive at Santa Ana at 9:37 or Orange at 9:42, a little bit too early, unless they rode the first Amtrak train after the aforementioned Metrolink schedule. Schedule pamphlets you can take home are easily available at most Stations and on board most trains.
But unfortunately, those coming in from Los Angeles' way (and Long Beach after a ride on the Blue Line light rail) would not come in until 12:35 for Orange, or 12:40 for Santa Ana, unless they rode an Amtrak train, one of which arrives at Santa Ana at 10:29 with no stop at Orange, instead of a Metrolink. Of course, driving is still an option, though I can't imagine why anyone would want to suffer that tight and hopelessly narrow stretch of Interstate 5 with its always-slow traffic between LA and Anaheim.