loisco

Planning a trip to San Jose to see family. Husband wants to come home to San Diego via Rte. 5. (we will do other route on the way up).We need a place to stop and eat and maybe a motel..we were going to stop at Harris Ranch but the reviews on the food are not great.

Any ideas...??

Thanks.

sf7307

The food at Harris Ranch is actually excellent - much better than I expected. But won't you want to stop to eat when you get hungry (as opposed to planning in advance where to stop)?

dbdurand

I agree with sf7307. Just get into your car and go! It's a fast highway designed to get you where you want to go with no nonsense. There are about 4 public rest stops along the way, And my recollection is that some of the intersections have service stations and fast food places. If you want to stop overnight, I recommend Santa Clarita on the outskirts of LA. But this is a one day drive, if you want to do it that way. Depending on the hour, you could get slowed considerably going through the LA area. (Sorry for being obvious).

sf7307

And I agree with dbdurand regarding it being a one-day drive. I would personally never stay over part-way between San Jose and SD.

ksucat

from SF to SD around Del Mar area took us 8 hours and that was with an hour lunch going about 85 mph average..LA.. slower but leave in the morning and get home by 5pm!
It's usually an In and Out double double and would love to find a nice place to enjoy a good ice tea and grub.
I'll check out Harris Ranch next time..Thanks!

sf7307

ksucat, you've never eaten at Harris Ranch? Neither had we until a couple of years ago, despite 35+ years of driving back and forth between SF and LA. We finally happened to be passing by at what could pass for lunchtime, and we were hungry! Definitely enjoyed it.

SeaUrchin

I had a pretty bad meal at Harris Ranch but that was over a year ago maybe they are better now days. If you don't have to have a time limit to get home I suggest staying around Santa Clarita also or even drive down to Pasadena area for the night.

sf7307

Our meal was 2 or 3 years ago, so maybe it's gotten worse !

As for staying over, the question is WHY? If you leave San Jose around 9:30 (to avoid rush hour), you'd be in San Diego by 6 even if you hit traffic and stop for lunch.

SeaUrchin

I was thinking she may want to have a leisurely time in the morning before leaving her relatives. Harris Ranch was pretty and had clean restrooms and gift shop but the coffee was horrible, I sent it back twice and then thought better of doing it the third time. The entree was really tough, vegs overcooked, etc. Maybe it was a bad day for them. I remember sending them a letter when I got home and they offered a free meal but I hardly ever go up I5 now days.

november_moon

We've always done SJ to SD in one day as well. It is a long day of driving, but not bad if you have 2 drivers. I've done it by myself too. We like to pack a picnic lunch and then stop at a rest stop along the way - nice to sit under some trees and relax, breathe relatively fresh air, etc before getting back in the car. Then we stop at San Clemente and walk around the state beach - nice to get out of the car after the drive through LA. Makes the last bit of the drive into SD nicer because we are a bit refreshed.

easytraveler

Harris Ranch is a good midway stop between San Jose and LA, it's a bit far for San Diego, but doable.

I always stop off at Harris Ranch, order a takeout beef sandwich or sit down for a meal and use their clean restrooms.


The other convenient stop is Buttonwillow, which is not far from the foot of the Tehachapi Mountains. Lots of gas stations and fast food places to choose from.


If you zip past Buttonwillow and find yourself in the Tehachapis and need to find a restroom, don't use the bushes. Here's a secret stopover, at Vista del Lago (closer to LA side of the Tehachapis than the Bakersfield side), there's a State of California display about water. Clean restrooms to the right of the lobby, even though the displays guide to go left first.

http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/CA3162/

The displays are very interesting. Open M-F, 8-5 only.

loisco

I knew you would hep...I also puzzled over the Harris Ranch stop...but my husband figured we could stay there too...now I have new things to think about. I always hate to rush home...thanks.

ncounty

I hate LA traffic so I would probably leave in a leisurely later fashion, have dinner somewhere during the rush hour and then do the final 2 hours drive home to sd when traffic has died down.