INSIDE: ‘Chariots of Fire,’ ‘Personal Best,’ ‘Peer Gynt,’ ‘Cannery Row’
february 24, 1982
emerald arts & entertainment
Oh, to be any
place but Eugene
now that spring
is (almost) here
Spring vacation is just around the corner,
and it’s time to start thinking about where
you’re going to spend it. The Bahamas?
England? Valley River Center?
There are thousands of choices regarding
the place, the transportation, and the financial
drain necessary To get you in the mood to start
thinking about it, join distractions on a trip to
vacationland.
Getting there (affordably) is half the fun
When it comes to traveling during the
spring break, there are a few transpor
tation options you should consider The
mode of transportation you use
depends on how much time you've got,
how far in advance you can make re
servations and how large the numbers
are in your savings account
If you're heading down to the Bay
Area, and you've got access to a car,
then by all means use it San Francisco
is only about 550 miles down 1-5, or 10
hours of nonstop driving — compared
to some lecture classes, little challenge
of alertness for most students
But if you’d rather leave the driving to
someone else, and you've got a few
extra dollars, then Greyhound will be
pleased to let you purchase a round
trip ticket for about $130 If you enjoy
riding the rails, Amtrak can take you to
and from the Bay Area for about $120,
as long as you buy the ticket a week or
so in advance
For about $30 more than the cost of a
bus ticket you can fly the distance
comfortably on United Airlines, which
most travel agencies agree is the
cheapest airline from Eugene The
catch here is that you make reserva
tions as far in advance as possible. If
you don't, chances of you getting a
space on one of their planes is pretty
slim
The Grey Rabbit Ride Center offers a
nice alternative to the usual means of
transportation to San Francisco For
less than $70 — almost half the cost of
Greyhound — you can stretch out on a
comfortable cot and snooze your way
to Fisherman’s Wharf and back. Of
course, Grey Rabbit doesn’t run as
often as Greyhound, and you have to
make reservations in advance, but
you’re almost guaranteed to have a
more interesting trip.
San Diego is about 1,000 miles away,
or 19 hours of straight driving — a task
that you may not find so pleasant Your
best bet may be the $270 round-trip
ticket on United, if you can afford it
But if you’d rather save money and
you don’t mind long rides, Greyhound
will bus you round-trip for about $185
Amtrak can get you there and back for
about $10 less.
If you're thinking about staying in the
Northwest, Seattle is a leisurely seven
hours away Greyhound’s price for a
two-way ticket is $60, and Amtrak's
costs $49
If you'd rather visit the East Coast
you can take in Manhattan and Staten
Island, too — via United Airlines — for
about $400 The travel agencies say
you could probably make it to the Big
Apple for $50 less through a different
airline in Portland, because the airlines
are more competitive there
If your budget is really tight, there's a
carpool board in the EMU to match
drivers and riders for destinations all
over the country And if that fails, many
college students have made long trips
cheaply by thumb.
Should you decide to stick with com
mercial transportation, the thing to
remember, especially on the airlines
and Amtrak, is to make your reserva
tions well in advance The sooner yoi
reserve your space, the more mon
you'll save and the fewer hassles
you'll have
by chris
courtnier