Leaving for Weekend? Better Get Going : Travel: No matter where you're headed for the holiday, it'll be crowded on the way there. Experts recommend an early start.

By SCOTT GOLD

Sept. 3, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

To the north and to the east, California is burning, suffocating under a blanket of smoke from raging wildfires. To the west, the waters off Huntington Beach are recovering from an infiltration of fecal coliform bacteria. The freeway, as James Taylor might say, looks like a parking lot, gas prices jumped 12 cents per gallon in the last month and the airports are too crowded for even the Hari Krishna.

Road trip!

In what has become an annual ritual of motorist masochism marking the end of summer, millions of Southern Californians will pack the dog and the trappings of a robust economy in their minivans this Labor Day weekend and take to the highway.

This morning, Tom Schmeckel, an automotive parts salesman in Huntington Beach, will load up his wife, his daughter and his mother-in-law in their 38-foot RV, and head off for a long weekend in Ramona. The roads into San Diego County aren’t likely to reflect a time when Ramona was still a humble cluster of turkey farms. But Schmeckel says it’s all worth it.

“Anything’s better than sitting in this asphalt jungle,” said Schmeckel, his arms full of propane tanks and other camping gadgets. “You’ve got to get the hell out of here sometimes. . . . If we get out early enough, we’ll miss the traffic. If we don’t, it’ll take an hour or an hour and a half just to get to Corona. It would be a nightmare.”

This is no ordinary are-we-there-yet, I-really-have-to-go, you-just-went weekend.

According to the state Department of Transportation, motorists typically travel 400 million miles each day on California’s freeway and highway system. This weekend, they will tack on another 50 million miles a day, or 200 million between today and Monday. That’s 400 round trips to the moon, Caltrans points out, though, it might take less time to get to the moon this weekend than it will take to get to, say, Monterey.

But don’t take our word for it:

“Just take your time, enjoy the ride and have a great weekend,” said Bruce Lian, spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. “We ask that you leave yourself plenty of time so you don’t get rushed and do something silly.”

What about Lian? “I’m staying home,” he said.

How about Marie Montgomery, a spokeswoman for the Automobile Club of Southern California?

“I’m staying home,” she said.

“I hate waiting in lines. I hate that stuff. But that’s just me.”

Most of us, indeed, are perfectly willing to brave the crush: Experts predict 2.6 million Southern Californians will hit the road.

Nationwide, according to travel groups, 34.8 million people will escape this weekend, be it by plane, train, automobile or other form of transportation.

That’s slightly lower than the record high, which came in 1997, but a slight increase over last year.

Getting there will not be half the fun this weekend. But there are ways to ensure that getting there will be more fun than banging your head against the dashboard.

Avoid peak travel times, Montgomery says, especially this afternoon and this evening, and Monday afternoon.

Check your car and plan your route before leaving.

The Highway Patrol considers this weekend a “maximum enforcement period,” which means 80% of available officers will be on patrol.

So don’t speed, and don’t drive drunk.

Motorists can also call a Caltrans information line at (800) 427-7623. Callers can punch in the number of a freeway to get warnings of delays and closures.

The Department of Transportation’s Internet site, at https://www.dot.ca.gov, also has statewide and local travel information.

The roads most traveled: Highway 1, especially near Monterey; Interstate 5, especially in Central California; Interstate 80 and roads that lead to the Sierra Nevada and other mountain destinations.

Interstate 15, which leads to Vegas--the most popular getaway destination from Southern California this weekend--is often crowded on holiday weekends.

Airlines remind passengers to arrive earlier than usual for flights--two hours ahead of time for domestic flights and three hours ahead for international flights, said Los Angeles International Airport spokeswoman Diana Sanchez.

Travelers also might want to consider taking a taxi or shuttle bus to airports, since parking lots will overflowing.

The situation at John Wayne Airport is less dire: last year the passenger count dipped slightly on Labor Day from the corresponding four-day period a week earlier.

Officials also expect few parking problems, in part because of the addition of the 2,000-space East parking structure.

Among many Southern Californians who want nothing to do with travel this weekend is Ida Johns. The Costa Mesa resident will take her grandsons to the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific.

But that’s as far as she’s going.

“We stay local on weekends like this,” Johns said Thursday.

“There never seems to be enough time on holiday weekends, and when you get there, it’s too crowded anyway. We live in vacation land. Why should we go anywhere?”

Times staff writers Brady MacDonald, Antonio Olivo and Karima A. Haynes contributed to this story.

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Labor Day Travel

Road trip in your weekend plans? It’ll be you and 2.6 million other Southern Californians on the road, according to the Automobile Club of Southern California. Even though holiday gas prices are 27 percent higher than last year, lots of people will still head out of town, many to Las Vegas--the top Labor Day weekend hot spot.