California Road Trip - 3 weeks in August

Hi Jamie,

I have been reading your book and I am getting very excited for our trip next summer.

We fly into Las Vegas for 2 nights, 2 nights grand canyon, another night Vegas, 1 night tonopah, 2 nights tahoe, 2 nights yosemite then head over to San Francisco.


My problem is San Francisco to Los Angeles? I want to do it all but can't! Where do you suggest to stop? We have two weeks in the middle of August to do the coastal drive, and we would like to include Big Sur, Santa Barbara, a couple of days on a beach maybe with a surf lesson and possibly San Diego before flying out of LA.

We have planned 4 nights in San fran then hire a car????

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks, Donna

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Hi Donna --

Thanks for writing in to Road Trip USA, and for reading my book -- hope you are having a happy New Year, planning your great road trip adventure!

Your plans sound like great fun. After reading your outline itinerary, my main suggestion might be to swap Tonopah for a tour of Death Valley -- even in August, just to say you've been there. Or if the August heat would be too much, consider spending some time at Mono Lake and Bodie Ghost Town and maybe Virginia City in Nevada, on your way to Tahoe and Yosemite. There is more than enough to see and enjoy in that stretch, it is worth spending a little more time so you can enjoy it more fully. (Am I right in thinking you have 3+ weeks for this whole trip -- that's very lucky!)

Between SF and Los Angeles there is also a lot to enjoy -- Monterey and Carmel are lovely, as are the many "old" mission towns (especially Santa Barbara, which is gorgeous.) There are lots of very pretty vineyards around Santa Barbara (as seen in the movie "Sideways"), and Big Sur is beautiful, too.

You can learn to surf in Santa Cruz (a funky old beach town, 75 miles south of San Francisco), though the water is much warmer down San Diego way -- here is the URL for what I understand is the best "surf camp": http://www.paskowitz.com/

Sounds like blast. I hope you have fun!

Happy Trails,



Jamie Jensen
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Road Trip USA