making road trip this friday. what best route to go. any places to see along the way. anything i should bring with me three others coming.

I guess the quickest route will be I-10 W, hop I-210 W to bypass downtown LA, then I-5 up to SF. I'll let others clue you in on the joys of Bakersfield and the CA Central Valley. I can't. There's really not that much to see on the way.

What about going up the east side of the Sierras and cutting over on Hwy 50 or 80? I don't know if this is longer or shorter than coming up through the central valley as rjw has suggested, but it is more scenic. And the weather forecast has nothing but sun for the next week or so - so that means no snowy roads coming over 50 or 80.

I did most of this route several years ago - we only went as far as Nevada City in California rather than down to SF. We picked up Hwy 95 north through Nevada, just after LV, and then cut over at Carson City on Hwy 50, went around part of Lake Tahoe and picked up Hwy 80 at Truckee. Going through Nevada was rather boring, but once we got into the Sierras, it was scenic.

Since you are going to SF, you could continue on Hwy 50 west and pick up 80 in Sacramento, then follow that into SF.

Hi, ok i take a look at map and check it thx much. Bud

Both routes would work, except that I would opt for rjw's simply because crossing California on I50-80 is a terrible drive. Mucho traffico. Once it took me four hours to do 80 miles, peak traffic hour.

Coming up I-5 may not be very scenic but it's fast. On I-5,when you get up to Highway 152, take that westbound and cut over the Pacheco Pass to Highway 101.

101 will take you straight up to San Francisco. Or, after about 20 northbound on 101, you can take the more scenic I-280 to SF.

Getting into SF from the south is easier than from the east.

Traffic on 80 and 50 is an issue to consider. Friday heading west shouldn't be bad though. Most weekend and commute traffic is headed east on Friday afternoons and evenings.

The route through the central valley has the least risk of traffic though - until you get to San Jose, there aren't really any places where things back up, as far as I know.