Hi ,

We are planning to drive from SJ to Anaheim for the weekend before Christmas..

We have 2 options for the drive. Please suggest which do you think will be better interms of traffic/drive-time.

Option 1 - Start Friday evening around 4 from SJ . We thought we might reach LA late in the night and might avoid LA traffic but I guess we will be hitting more traffic getting out of bayarea.

Option 2 - Start Saturday early morning 4 AM . I guess getting out of bayarea will be smooth here but not sure how LA traffic will be Saturday around noon.

We are planning to take I-5 route.

Please share your suggestions or alternate routes..

Thanks

To some extent it depends where in San Jose you are leaving from. If you're in South San Jose (Blossom Hill area) you'll at least avoid the rush hour through San Jose proper. Unfortunately, you'll still have big traffic between San Jose and Gilroy, but after that it shouldn't be too bad.

You could leave San Jose around 7 p.m. -- you'd probably get to Anaheim around 1 a.m.

Leaving San Jose in the late afternoon/early evening, I would be most worried about traffic on 152 east of Gilroy. 101 between San Jose and Gilroy isn't as bad anymore since the additional lanes were openned, but the construction on 152 makes a slow drive even worse. The Friday before Christmas will be worse than normal since a lot of people are likely to be taking off then.

For that reason, I would leave either much later in the evening as dm suggests, or I would leave early Saturday morning. I would not want to be in traffic trying to reach I5 that Friday afternoon.

Southbound on Friday afternoon before a holiday...NO WAY!

Saturday will not be nearly as bad.

Yes, I think the I-5 route is fastest. Although be aware that if there is Valley fog forecast it can be a dangerous route, and I would switch to the 101. It happens a lot around Thanksgiving, less sure if it is a problem in December.

So Cal traffic at noon is not too bad.
6 hours either way, 101 or 152. Add some time for 152 on Fridays.

My husband came back from SoCal via 152 this past Sunday night and said it was pretty bad due to the construction (and obviously, they weren't actually doing anything on Sunday night).

Yep - about a month ago, we were coming back from southern California, and that section of 152 at the 156 interchange was horrible. And this was a Sunday evening. West bound was not so bad, but the east bound traffic was literally backed up almost to Gilroy.

The 101 suggestion is a good one, esspecially if I5 has fog, or if you decide to leave on Friday afternoon and don't want to deal with 152. That would avoid the Tehachapi mountains too, which might not be fun if the weather is bad.

Leave very early Sat Morning (4am is a great idea). Friday evening at 4pm will be a mess (ITA on the 152 back up also a mess!).

First big Tule fog accident of the year.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la...la-home-center

Sounds like early morning is a bad time for fog.

For anyone who's never driven in tule fog, take this seriously. You literally cannot see two feet in front of your car because the fog is only 2 feet above the ground.

Thanks a lot to everyone for the replies.
Looks like starting early Saturday morning is a better option than starting Friday evening due to traffic conditions.

The fog warning looks pretty scary.
Is the forecast for foggy conditions usually accurate ?
If so , we could take 101 instead of I-5 on Satuday.

The fog warning looks pretty scary.
Is the forecast for foggy conditions usually accurate ? >>

You can pretty much forecast fog right now for Christmas time in the San Jauquin Valley.

There were times when driving around town at night we would drive with the car door cracked open to see the lines on the road.

People will hitch up to the tail-lights in front of them to follow them.

Can be dangerous if the vehicle suddenly turns off the freeway.

It's nothing to have multi-car pile-ups on the valley freeways.

I was pulled over when I was 17 for driving 70 in the tule fog. I didn't have a problem but the officer did. You learn early.

Another option you might consider is one we often do driving down to Orange County to visit extended family (we live in Sonoma County so have a littler farther to go than you do). We started doing it this way when our kids were very little, and we needed to stop often. We still do it, even though the kids are in college, because its more enjoyable for us than barreling down I5.

We take 101, leaving in the afternoon/evening, spend the night in San Luis Obispo, which is a town we like a lot, stroll around by the beautiful creek, mission, etc., have a late dinner, then finish the drive the next morning. It's very relaxing - well as relaxing as that kind of drive can be - and MUCH prettier than I5 - and makes the drive seem more like a vacation. We arrive Sat. morning - depending on how early you get up you can get in well before noon.

Since you're starting in San Jose, you might want to spend the night farther along than San Luis Obispo - maybe Solvang or Santa Barbara.

Just an idea - not for those who prefer to get the drive over with in one dose.

NorCalif gives a good suggestion. We've stayed in Buelton or Solvang when going to OC or Oceanside area, driving from San Jose. You would avoid the Tule fog.

We never stay over anywhere when driving to SoCal, BUT, I just wanted to pipe in the San Luis Obispo is a wonderful little town -- nice place for an afternoon stroll, cup of coffee, glass of wine, shopping, etc. Really pretty and pleasant.