Tour de Gorman : Umbrellas: Those who want to see the environmental art piece in high style take a limousine, plane or helicopter. Trips to Christo’s Japan project are also offered.

A group of Oklahomans chose a busy day recently to tour Christo’s umbrella project, but as far as they were concerned, there was no traffic.

They were comfortably ensconced in the air-conditioned passenger compartment of a sleek, white limousine, worlds away from the congestion Sunday when more than 25,000 visitors jammed little Tejon Pass communities like Gorman and Frazier Park to see the golden parasols.

“A lot of people wouldn’t even consider something like this, but we figure it only costs a few more cents to do it right,” Suzi Hoffman said, leaning back in the limousine’s black leather seats to sip a glass of white zinfandel. “The drivers out there are a little squirrelly.”

The $75-per-person limo excursion is one of many tours available to those who don’t want the hassle of dodging other sightseers, many of whom are driving with one eye on the road and the other transfixed by the shiny umbrellas. For fees ranging from $14 to $199 per person, visitors can see the umbrellas from a limousine, bus, plane or helicopter, complete with such accompaniments as picnic lunches and the wine of their choice.

Some travel agents are even offering guided tours of the 1,340 blue umbrellas in Japan. One ad for a $2,860 trip asks: “Why not get the full artistic experience by seeing the closing of Christo’s blue umbrellas in the countryside of Japan?”

Suzi Hoffman of Tulsa, Okla., read about the exhibit in a Bakersfield newspaper. With the help of her sister-in-law, she persuaded her husband, son and brother to forgo their usual golf game. The family is temporarily living in Bakersfield because the men are working to install a natural gas pipeline there.

The super-stretch limousine glided to a stop early Sunday in front of the modest suburban house the Hoffmans are renting. Clearly in the mood for a party, the group had asked for front-door service so they could drink without worrying about having to drive home later.

“I usually wait until 5 p.m., but, heck, it’s 5 p.m. in London,” said Don Edens, 70, Suzi Hoffman’s brother. He opened his can of beer as the limo approached the Grapevine at 9:40 a.m.

Minutes later, the group was toasting the yellow umbrellas and snapping pictures from inside the limo.

“This is on the scale of Mt. Rushmore,” said Mac Hoffman, 70, a pipeline expert who marveled at the scale and engineering of the project. “If you say this is a waste, you might as well say Mt. Rushmore is a waste.”

But his son, Dan Hoffman, 49, a pipeline inspector, disagreed. As the limo nosed its way through crowds of tourists buying umbrella-decorated souvenirs, Dan Hoffman said the scene reminded him of “a cheap carnival or a zoo. This is not art to me. You don’t have to be intelligent to come out and put up umbrellas on the side of a hillside.”

His uncle, Edens, had a different point of view.

“Oh, America, I love it. What a bunch of moneymaking son-of-a-guns. This has been a wonderful sojourn.”

Part of the fun was the cachet of riding in a limousine. Sightseers stared at the long car, enviously watching as the chauffeur opened car doors for the group and served cold drinks from a cooler in the trunk.

“They probably think Elizabeth Taylor is in here, when it’s really just a bunch of country boys and girls,” Edens said.

Helicopter tours are less luxurious, but they offer an unforgettable view of the project, said Tia Misson, a Beverly Hills art consultant who paid $60 for a 15-minute helicopter ride this week.

“Unless you get up in the air, you’ll never really grasp the magnitude of the project,” Misson said.

One tour operator is offering a 90-minute aerial view for about $20 per person. Santa Clarita pilot Gary Emrick is charging passengers only the cost of renting and fueling a single-engine plane as a way to accumulate flight hours toward earning a commercial pilot’s license. FAA regulations prohibit him from profiting from flights until he obtains his commercial license.

Bus tours have proved so popular that many operators are already sold out, including a Los Angeles company that has booked 2,961 people, said Laurie Lincoln, president of Main Street Tours.

But there are still some openings left with other operators.

Available ‘Umbrella’ Tours Here is a partial list of available tours:

* Six-hour limousine tour, $75 per person, Limousine Scene, departs from Bakersfield. (805) 831-7955.

* Two-hour helicopter tour includes picnic lunch catered by DC-3 Restaurant under umbrellas on mountaintop overlooking the project, $199 per person, Heli-LA, departs from Van Nuys Airport. (213) 553-4354.

* Two-week trip to see the blue umbrellas in Japan, includes air fare, transfers, hotels in various cities on the main island of Honshu, including Tokyo, $2,860 per person, departs Tuesday, Air & Sea Travel, Bakersfield. (805) 837-1899.

* Ninety-minute aerial tour in single-engine, four-seater plane, about $20 per person to cover renting airplane, pilot Gary Emrick, departs Van Nuys Airport. (818) 362-6643.

* Four-hour bus tour, includes lunch and stop at gallery exhibit of Christo’s work, $27 per person, departs Bakersfield Museum of Art. (805) 325-6133.

* Four-and-a-half-hour bus tour, includes commemorative envelope, lunch and stop at gallery exhibit of Christo’s work, $30 per person, departs Bakersfield College. (805) 395-4537.

* All-day bus tour, $14 per person, lunch not provided, Oct. 27 only, Airport Bus of Bakersfield, departs Bakersfield. (805) 395-0635.

* All-day bus tour, includes three galleries exhibiting Christo’s work, restaurant lunch in Bakersfield, $45 per person, L.A. Today, departs various locations in Los Angeles area. (213) 454-5730. Also five-hour tour that includes lunch at the Okie Girl restaurant for $35.

* Seven- and 15-minute helicopter tours, $35 and $60 respectively, no reservations necessary, San Joaquin Helicopter, departs east side of Interstate 5, Gorman.

* Sunset buffet dinners and walks on mountaintop overlooking the project, $50 per person, benefits The Umbrella Coalition of 15 Kern County nonprofit organizations, (805) 835-9097. Also Sunset Finale multicourse dinner, $75 per person, Oct. 27.