Memorial Day: Going away? You’ll have lots of company and options

If you’re planning a Memorial Day road trip, you’ll be in good company, AAA says. More than 2 1/2 million Southern Californians are expected to hit the highways for the long holiday weekend, the auto club says, a 1.6% increase from last year.

Where will you be going? San Diego, Las Vegas, Arizona’s Grand Canyon, San Francisco and the Central Coast, the Auto Club says.

And more of you may be camping. Kampgrounds of America reports an 8% increase in reservations for this weekend.

The only bad news of this getaway is the price of gasoline: $4.35 a gallon in the L.A. area as of Wednesday, AAA reported. That’s up from $4.13 a year ago, although down about 6 cents from last week.

If you need ideas about where to go and what to do, turn to our Road Trips in the West page. There you’ll find 188 suggestions on getting away for the weekend. Or you can take a look at our Weekend Escapes, which have returned after a hiatus of several years. And make sure you take a camera: We’ll be asking readers to submit their favorite vacation photos from their summer journeys for a special issue on Sept. 23. For details, see this page.