Monterey to Merced?
 

More college tours planned. The mapquest says take the 1 north to the 156 east to the 101 north to the 152 east to the 59 north. Is this a painful route? Allegedly takes a little over two hours, but I've never been on the 152 or the 59, so can't vouch for size of the road or other obstacles. Anyone have any knowledge of this route or the road conditions?

Dear Surfergirl:

Once you are on the 101 north, take the 156 east. 152 east from 101 is not the most direct route. On Hwy 156, you will pass thru San Juan Bautista & skirt Hollister, before getting to the 152 east. All these Hwys are 4 lane or good 2 lane highways. No need to worry about bad roads etc.

Good luck,

MY

Just the info I want, Michelle, thanks!

I've driven these roads many times. Not to worry. They are fine.

What colleges are you touring?

Revisiting UC Santa Cruz and visiting first time UC Merced. My son fell in love with UCSC (but not with the dorms) and I think the new UC, while not prestigious (yet) might be a good choice, since it's on the semester system and supposedly has nice dorms.

Thanks for the advice! Is it pretty hilly through this stretch of road?

Some hills and some valleys. Hills outside of Salinas, San Juan/Hollister & Pacheco Pass. Then you will be in the flat valley. good luck.

MY

Sounds great. One more question, is it fairly dead in terms of pit stops (gas and toilet breaks!)?

Surfergirl - there are a few places for pit stops, Casa de Fruita along 152 between 101 & I-5. You can then go into Los Banos before crossing the valley into the Merced area, not much between Los Banos and 99. Roads are ok, but busy.

Definitely stop at Casa de Fruta - it is a funny, kitchy place with clean bathrooms. They've also got better snacks than you usually find along highways since they have a fruit stand, ice cream shop, and a candy store :)

Excellent idea -- love it!

Yes, Casa de Fruta is a nice stop. We love their dried pineapple there, lots of healthy road snacks there and friendly people, too! ***kim*** ((f)) ((l))

Just do NOT get stuck on that route if it's a busy weekend or a holiday. We've taken it twice. Once midweek: just fine, no problems. Second time: the day before Thanksgiving -- if we'd had weapons with us, we would've become homicidal.;)

btw, re: Casa de Fruta -- it's not everybody's cuppa. But the bathrooms are good!

Once you get on to the 152, and before it gets to the 5, you pass the San Luis Reservoir State Recreation Area. There is a visitor center...with bathrooms! It's also quite interesting.

Lucie - I had a good laugh at your comment about Casa de Fruta not being everybody's "cuppa" since they have the famous cup flipper at their coffee shop, which they faithfully advertise for miles as you get closer and closer ;)

I hear you about the holiday traffic though. Geez. It used to be that was the "back way" to avoid the traffic. Not anymore. There can be as much traffic on a holiday on 152 as on 680.

Very true, J Correa. At least on 680, though, there are more lanes. Seriously, we almost decided to pull over and camp on TG eve. It took us 2 hours to go like 15 miles ... we were not a very happy little family that evening. ("Whose idea was it to take 152??") ;)

I am happy to report back that even with the holiday weekend (Presidents' Day), the drive was just as you all said and a breeze. Thank you MichelleY for pointing out the more direct route. Thanks to everyone else for all of the comments on Casa De Fruita, which we stopped at going to Merced to visit the restrooms (good!) and stopped again going back to Monterey to buy fruit. Typical California having a wine tasting spot right next to the highway! The pineapple was indeed delicious, as were all the dried fruits. Bought a lot of garlic products there too.

The new UC Merced is outstanding! Looks like it's helping the city of Merced branch out as well -- it looks like new projects are popping up all over town, especially near the university.

Glad to hear you had a good trip and that the university is reinvigorating the town of Merced.