What are you babbling about Mr. California? Who is Uncle Sam? I made no mention of the time it would take to drive. That would of course depend on the route taken, of which I never suggested. And as I've stated, the mileage between LA - SF is approx. 380 miles. If you think it's not, let me see the source.

Dear Uncle, as we head south on 101 from San Jose (about 50 miles south of SF) there is a road sign that states that Los Angeles is 460+ miles away. You've got to be dreaming to think it's 380 miles. Or, you've never driven it firsthand.

Not to belabor the issue, but I have driven "firsthand" numerous times from Hollywood to San Francisco. The odometer on my vehicle nearly always clocks it at 380 miles. Both Mapquest and Mapblast show my route at 376 miles. My Rand McNally 2001 road atlas shows it at 380 miles exactly. "As the crow flies" is 348 miles. This webpage chart shows the distance at 387 miles -<BR>http://gocalifornia.about.com/bl_distance.htm<BR>Naturally, one could take a less direct route such a Routes 1 or 101 and come up with greater mileage, that only stands to reason. Regardless, there is absolutley no way for anyone to drive from Hollywood to SF (sticking to 101 all the way) and clock over 500 miles. I would like to see that sign south of San Jose that reads "460" miles. (I'm pretty sure there is one in Santa Clara giving the distance there at 411 miles)

Dear Uncle, Perhaps it is in Santa Clara, which is actually as you know north of San Jose so the distance would be farther. We live Palo Alto and clock it to the middle of SF at 44 miles. So 44 plus 411 plus the distance between Palo Alto and Santa Clara (which is about 5 miles) comes up pretty close to 500 miles and West Hollywood isn't downtown LA. It's silly to belabor the point though because the poster needs to know how long it will take.

Kam,<BR><BR>Actually, Palo Alto is about 14 miles from Santa Clara, and Santa Clara is actually 5 miles west of San Jose, not north of the city.

So, does that add up to about 500 miles on 101? I can only think that Uncle is driving the 5 between SF and LA and that would be hell for a tourist wanting to see part of the pretty part of the state.

Kam,<BR><BR>I beleive that there is a sign on the 101 south of the International Airport around 13th Street that says LA is 398 miles. Therefore, adding the 55-60 miles to San Francisco, you come up with a total of about 453-460 miles.

J.B., I just returned from CA. We left LA (Hollywood) and drove on the 101 & then the 1 and we stopped in Morro Bay and looked around and got ice cream. It was a 4 and 1/2 hour drive including the stop in Morro Bay. We spent the night in Cambria at The Pelican Suites which I highly recommend. Then we took the 3:00 Hearst Castle tour in San Simeon. If you are in the area you won't ever find another castle like the Hearst Castle. Then the next day we drove on into SF. We left at 11 and got into SF about 3-4. The drive wasn't as bad as I thought it would be on the Hwy 1. But I'm a big Nascar fan. Ha Ha. Have a great time.<BR><BR>Melissa

we did the trip in '98 with three kids in the back of the rental car...hwy one all the way! you could go as far as santa barbara the first evening and have the whole day to get to sf. if you could squeak in a little more time, staying near carmel or big sur would be my pick!<BR><BR>best vacation we've ever taken...something for everyone

<BR>Find, doing the math. it is approximately 500 miles from SF to LA depending on where you start in SF and where you end in LA. The important point is to tell the tourists that it's a long way and a big day of driving that they might want to break up with stop along the way.