My work is looking for volunteers to work in -not 100% sure- Gardena. Like a mile or two west of Compton....

It's a couple of months job, which would be nice to spend a bit of winter in the area, but if the location is correct, how is the area? Would I be commuting a bit do find a decent hotel?

Go, have fun, soak up some sun.  Company's paying for the motel, correct?  Ship the wife out and enjoy the respite from snow.  Wanna borrow my bike trailer to take the GS with you?

I'm sure if I go, it will be 80-90 hour weeks (that is how we roll here). Wife might even find some work there. I was thinking of riding out, but riding back in Jan/Feb could be a bit sketchy, so, maybe yeah, on the trailer.  Thanks for the offer.

Well as the first SoCal person to respond, Gardena is not one of the garden spots of El Lay. You could live in Manhattan Beach or Redondo Beach and commute reasonably safely. Maybe. You need to stay out of Compton.

Here is a crime map of Gardena, CA Is your company located on the west side? I hope so.

Also all signs point to us having an El Nino year - that means rain, rain, rain... and mudslides. December, January, February, and March would be the times it would be raining. I know this is not generally a big deal, but if you are expecting sun, then you might be disappointed. Lastly, people cannot drive in the rain out here.

On the other hand... you can lane split in CA so you could live in Pasadena (very close to excellent motorcycle roads) and use the 110 freeway to commute down to Gardena. But this would be like living in West Bloomfield Township and commuting into Detroit. And again, rain causes mountains in SoCal to crumble onto the roadways.

Sorry I can't paint a better picture for you, but I'd skip this year. But then again...  if you are working all the time.... then meh on the riding and just enjoy the beach.