I will be travelling to Southern California (Ventura area) in a month on business, and have been researching locations where I might sneak in a 1-2 day retreat before heading home. Does anyone have any recommendations?

maybe the burmese temple just east of la in azusa? try http://www.myanmar-pba.org/contact.php and ask if you could come stay for a day. i once met a lay practitioner who usually lives there and serves as an attendant to the monks. old burmese guy, his dad knew mahasi sayadaw and u ba khin and all those cats. trying to dig up his contact info but so far, no luck

give that place a try anyway hey

Awesome, thanks man! The location works for me...hopefully they will be able to accommodate me.

I would contact the kids at Tathagata Meditation Center in San Jose, which not that near LA, but they will know what there is in LA, I suspect, that has some similar influence to this stuff:

http://www.tathagata.org/
1215 Lucretia Ave., San Jose, CA 95122, Tel: 408 294-4536

Here is another contact. He teaches from the Mahasi Sayadaw / Ajahn Tong lineage.

Phra Noah
Wat Thai of Los Angeles
8225 Coldwater Canyon Ave.
North Hollywood, CA 91605

email address
yuttadhammo AT gmail DOT com