Yes it is a good idea to pre-book but do NOT pre-pay in case your plans change. Most hotels and motels will let you cancel without penalty anywhere from 72 hours to less than 24 hours in advance. There are not as many hotel and motel rooms as you might think along that route.

Kevin -

<<I will also remember to say and type San Francisco. >>

When you type it the abbreviation of SF is perfectly acceptable and fine. You don't have to type San Francisco every time !

<<We have have 9 days to travel down to San Diego. >>

What dates do you plan on being in San Diego for help finding a place to stay here.

I think we will pre-book, we are trying to decide how many days to spend in LA and San Diego. Any advice on where we should be looking to spend more time would be good. We would like a couple of stops where we can stay for 2 days.
Thanks again for you assistance.

<<I think we will pre-book, we are trying to decide how many days to spend in LA and San Diego>>

I think it's up to you to decide what you want to see in each city. I live in SD so, I'm biased :) I'd say 2 ni, 3 days in LA and 3 or 4 ni, 4 or 5 days in SD.

But, that doesn't help you much. If there are more things you want to see in LA than SD it would obviously be a different number of nights for each city.

Hi elizzie

We were looking to stay on the 8th and 9th June in San Diego.

I was looking at the Best Western Island Palms but not sure what part of town to stay in.

You should be able to reserve Camp Curry inside Yosemite Valley. The cancellation policies are reasonable, if it turns out Tioga Pass is closed.

http://www.yosemitepark.com/curry-village.aspx

If you're looking for less expensive in Mammoth I was just at the Motel 6 there which has been recently remodeled, and it comes in just at your $120 budget. It was fairly quiet (ask for a room upstairs in the back). Also a good cancel policy. www.motel6.com

On the central coast you might also look at a range of locations. Try searching on booking.com under Central Coast and you'll find 40 or so hotels in your price range, even in Pismo. Just check the cancel policies.

Hi mlgb.

We are happy with the booking in Mammouth just a little concerned that if Tioga pass is closed it changes are plans quite considerably as we are heading up from Las Vegas.

I have used booking.com for a few of the bookings and use this for bookings in the UK.

I will take a look shortly

Thanks Kevin

<<I was looking at the Best Western Island Palms but not sure what part of town to stay in.>>

BW Island Palms is located on Shelter Island. It very scenic. There are just a handful of restaurants within walking distance. And I believe only 1 place that is open later than 10 or 11pm. It's at Humphrey's

Shelter Island is a good location to easily get around to various sights.
https://goo.gl/maps/iu53Y

I use booking.com all the time -- but do note it is not useful for booking properties IN the national parks.