i've found this very informative as my husband and i are doing a similar trip in march. we are also concerned about driving. we are from small town and may find this daunting. Tentative itineray SF 5 days, 4 days to Bakersfiels, 5 days LV, 5 days LA.

canadarose - looking at your itinerery, you are going from SF to LV to LA, correct?

I would recommend SF to LA to LV as the order of cities so that you can see the coast of California.

Unless you are planning to spend some time in the Sierras - Yosemite, the Gold Country, etc - if that is the case then SF to LV to LA makes sense.

canadarose: May I ask wht you are planning 4 days in Bakerfield? Unless it is to visit relatives living there, there is really no reason to even stop in Bakersfield, let alone stay there. Also 5 days is a pretty long visit for Las Vegas.

If it is just LA, SF and LV you want to see you would be better off flying between the 3 cities. But as J_Correa says traveling down the coast from SF to LA would be much more scenic.

I too am curious about why Bakersfield--although now I'll probably be chastised by someone from the Chamber of Commerce there. Oh--I see, you're plannning to take 4 days GETTING to Bakersfield, but are you actually planning to step there? That route would take you down the central valley, and it is a deadly dull ride. Last time we were reduced to playing the alphabet game just to stay awake. Either 101 or 1 would make for a much more scenic and interesting trip.

I am sure that canadarose has a reason for staying in Bakersfield. There's no need for people like jnais and Undergill to jump down this poor person's throat. Geez, people lighten up a bit.

will be staying 1 night in bakersfield- business. that's why the round about trip. 4 days is to get there

If you have 4 days to get to Bakersfield from SF, this is what I would do:

Day 1: Drive to Monterey, seeing sights along the way.
Day 2: In Monterey area
Day 3: Drive down Hwy 1 through Big Sur to Cambria/Morro Bay area
Day 4: Drive to Bakersfield.