Here is what I would do.
Day 1 - Arrive in SF. Spend the night.
Day 2- Check out the north bay. Stay in SF.
Day 3 - Drive Hwy 1 to Monterery. Take the entire day and stop at every turn out and historical marker. Stay in Monterey area.
Day 4 - Spend the day in Monterey area. Aquarium, Point Lobos, Jack's Peak (Maybe), Carmel Valley, Carmel by the sea. 17 Mi drive I guess you have to do it once. But it's not as great as the hype makes it out to be. Point Lobos in 1000 times better.
Day 5 - Drive south on Hwy 1. Stop along the way. Lots of little hikes to do. Spend the night at Ventana (It is worth the price if you ask me) or keep driving and stay in San Alselmo.
Day 6 - See Hearst Castle (Or skip it. It is worth doing once but it is kinda expensive.) Continue on hwy 1 south to Orange County. Stay at your relatives house.
Day 7 - Take the day to do nothing. On the 7th day he rested.
Day 8 - Take the ferry from Dana Point to Avalon and stay the night.
Day 9 - You still have time? If so drive back up to SF and return your rental. You can take Hwy 101 and get there in 5-6 hours. If you have even more time, drive back north along hwy 1 and stop at all the places you wanted to stop at last time but were out of time for. ;-)

Sorry. Typo,. San Anselmo is wrong. San Simeon is the town by Hearst Castle not San Anselmo. I'm not sure where that came from but all the San and Santas blur together after awhile. ;-)

<<<or keep driving and stay in San Alselmo>>>

Where is San Alselmo?

Haha - yeah, I was wondering where San Anselmo came from. That would be toward the beginning of the trip ;)

Chris_Brown: that's a very nice plan and kudos to you because it's obvious you took some time thinking it out for the OP.

Here's where I would suggest a few changes:

<i>Day 3 - Drive Hwy 1 to Monterery. Take the entire day and stop at every turn out and historical marker. Stay in Monterey area.</i>

I wouldn't suggest taking every turnout along this stretch of Highway 1. this stretch of Highway isn't all that interesting as to justify so many stops this early in the trip. With just a few stops, the OP can get into Carmel by noon. In the afternoon, if the weather is good, go out to Point Lobos. If not, go to the Aquarium. Spend the night in Carmel or at the Ventana Inn (not certain of what the OP's budget is).

<i>Day 4 - Spend the day in Monterey area. Aquarium, Point Lobos, Jack's Peak (Maybe), Carmel Valley, Carmel by the sea. 17 Mi drive I guess you have to do it once. But it's not as great as the hype makes it out to be. Point Lobos in 1000 times better.</i>

There are too many activities packed into this day - Point Lobos, the Aquarium AND 17 Mile Drive. Suggest doing some of them on Day 3 and the rest on Day 4. Spend the night at the Ventana Inn (it's not that far from Carmel). there are a lot of turnouts along the 17 Mile Drive.

<i>"Day 5 - Drive south on Hwy 1. Stop along the way. Lots of little hikes to do. Spend the night at Ventana (It is worth the price if you ask me) or keep driving and stay in San Alselmo."</i>

Ventana Inn is too far north. This is the day to make all those "little stops" along the gorgeous Big Sur coast and keep heading south. Stay in San Simeon or Cambria or even at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo, if they can get that far.

Million thanks to everyone!!! You guys are the best.

Based on some of your suggestions -

2 nights in SF (Point Reyes or Napa, Sausilito)
2 nights in Carmel (Stay in Carmel Valley Ranch. Carmel/Monterrey/Big Sur)
1 night in Santa Barbara
3 nights in San Diego (Relax, Coronado, Some of the beaches in the area).
1 night in OC/LA (Spend a day with family).

What do you guys think?

2 things:

1) Driving from Carmel to Santa Barbara certainly is doable, but it really doesn't give you sufficient time along Big Sur, particularly if you want to hike/walk some of the easier trails in the state parks. Big Sur really deserves more time. You might try to stop a bit further north.

2) Renting a car in SF and dropping it off in LA/OC might involve big bucks. Have you looked into how much it would cost you to rent one-way?

I agree with Easy Traveler re: changing my itinerary.
I'm not sure what your fascination with Coronado Island is but I think you might be in for a let down when you get there. It is a big developed island with a bunch of houses and a naval base on it. Some nice sandy beaches sure. Nicer beaches in other places with far less people. Water temp is a tad warmer in SD but still cold at 60 degrees or so. The air is certainly warmer. I've been to Coronado a few times and I wouldn't make it a destination in and of itself. Maybe someone else can comment as maybe I am missing something cool there.

I love Coronado, and I might choose to stay there if I were visiting San Diego, but if the goal is nice hotel/nice beach town (as opposed to the goal being seeing San Diego), you definitely don't need to go so far south.