SAB

January is usually wet with mild, pleasant weather when its not raining We can get endless days of rain at the time of year and then it can be mild for a few days or even longer. Its hard to predict. At that time of year storms can pile up over the Pacific and come rolling in one after each other. Or it can stay clear.

schnauzer

thanks for the quick responses. My DH and myself have been to California a few times before, however, our 16 yr old son has never been to the US and we wanted to give him a taste of America. I realise the timing is not the best for anything other than skiing, but hey, while we are over your way we thought we would make the most of it. I guess the cities in the rain are always easier to cope with, but driving along in the rain with a bored teenager... yuk. We are flying in and out of Denver, are there any ideas of things to do around that area? My DH is not interested in the Grand Canyon which I thought could be an idea - any thoughts on going there at that time of year that I could use as persuasion?

schnauzer

I meant we are flying in and out of Denver for the skiing bit and then LA to return home to OZ.

What colour schnauzer do you have Cabovacation? I have a black and silver boy and a silver girl. ( A real princess, where as the boy is a real bouff)

janisj

W/ your flights already booked I'd still go to California. We do get storms but there is lots to do when it rains, and if it is nice it is the best place for a winter holiday.

just a few comments to help you make some choices.

- If you are not all "skied out" after Colorado, there are some terrific ski areas in California, like Alpine Meadows/Squaw Valley/Heavenly Valley around Lake Tahoe.

- San Francisco is a great place to visit w/ tons to do for adults and kids.

- LA can have serious storms - but it is more likely to be nice.

- And you haven't mentioned San Diego - it is a wonderful area for a winter holiday since the weather is pretty moderate year-round.

A few options might be:

Fly to Reno for Lake Tahoe, 2 or 3 days more skiing plus all the glories of the Tahoe basin, then fly to San Diego for about 4 days. Ending up driving up to the LA area for about 3 days in the LA area.

Or - Fly to SF for about 3 days. You do not want/need a car in San Francisco unless you stay longer and take some day trips out of the city. Then spend the rest of the time in LA and/or SD

Or - just do Colorado and So. California. Fly from Denver to SD, stay about 4 days and spend the rest of the time exploring the LA area. I'd recommend this option if you have any interest in Disney/Universal. Otherwise, I'd likea bit more time in SD.

Spencerinc

I have made this trip the same time of year. I live in Colorado and we drove to Southern California from there and up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco and back. It was enjoyable.

We drove South out of Colorado through New Mexico because the chances are that the weather in New Mexico isn't as bad as trying to cross the Rocky Mountains in the wintertime. I recommend a car with front wheel drive. Make sure you don't rent a car with rear wheel drive if you're not used to driving on ice. We were lucky and didn't have bad weather at all.

California was great that time of year. It was about 65F the entire time.

dina4

You could spend at least a week in the bay area and do a few days in the city, a few days in the wine country, and a few in the Monterey area.

Driving the coast would be pretty risky in January if it's rainy, but you could take the highway 5 through the central valley and be in LA in less than 6 hours. highway 101 is about an hour longer, but more scenic.

J_Correa

I'd go for it. It might rain on you while you are here, but such is life. The coast is beautiful rain or shine. And as others have said, if it storms when you plan to drive through Big Sur, just head inland and take 101.

If on your drive from SF to LA you plan to stay in Monterey and then plan another stay in Cambria, Morro Bay, San Luis Obsipo, Pismo Beach, etc., then it is really easy to take either 1 or 101 depending on the weather. And, you wont have to miss ALL the beauty of the coast if the weather doesn't cooperate because you will have seen the Monterey area and just south of Carmel there is a really terrific state park called Point Lobos - this will give you a nice taste of the Big Sur coast if you can't actually drive it.

schnauzer

thanks for the additional responses. I am smack bang in the middle of "planning" this section of our trip. I had thought to stay one night in Carmel and then one night in Cambria region or maybe even Santa Barbara. I think this should be enough time to see a few things along the way and take our time driving. We hope to see the aquarium and Monterey generally, drive the big sur, see the elephant seals along the way and maybe Hearst castle (not sure on this one) Does this sound like a plan? How long will it take to drive from Cambria to LA proper?