Travelling in California

Alex_sl said:

I-5 is quite a bit faster than the 101. By at least an hour.

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Truth. 101 is for tourists, and that's fine if you want a longer ride.

Alex_sl said:

I-5 is quite a bit faster than the 101. By at least an hour.

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I would say even more then that. I would say its about a two hour difference on the drive down/up. Besides you're not in the SJV for long. Just got to watch out for the CHIPPER's when speeding through. Funny I find driving through the SJV kinda calming, just watching the rows of golden hills on the side float on by with the fields on the opposite side. No traffic at all. It can smell sometimes though hehe.

Also on the 101, you can hit some gnarly traffic in Santa Barbara going south or north. Ugh total fucking downer man.

Santa Barbara traffic sucks, but only happens during normal rush hours (7-9 in the morning, 5-6 at night) except for Friday (people coming in for vacation) and Sunday (people leaving from said vacation). Also a couple of spikes when UCSB gets out/gets in. Very little of that traffic is locals, it is all people who work in SB but can't afford to live there or people who are visiting. Construction all bets are off, because people lose their minds, but they just finished up their latest big project so that shouldn't be an issue.

Seriously some of the worst driving I've seen anywhere and I've lived all over the US, but it is nice that you can avoid it just by timing it correctly. Glad I don't live in SB anymore.

I-5 is much faster and the speed limit is actually 70 over most of it, but for a vacation I cannot recommend anything but taking the Pacifist Coast Highway, the 1. Unless you are very prone to car sickness because of mild curves or something, if driving while looking at pretty scenery is something you might even remotely enjoy, that is the best choice by a wide margin.

BrutulTM_sl said:

The thing that always got to me on I-5 was the aggressive drivers trying to pass on the right all the time. You can basically drive 75 with the cars in the left lane or 65 with the trucks in the right lane but there were always people who wouldn't accept that and they would pull into the right lane, go 100 mph and try to pass 3 or 4 cars on the right and then cut them off to get back in the fast lane before the next truck. So they put everyone's life at risk, cut somebody off and cause 10 people to hit their brakes, all to gain about 4 car lengths. If you do that all the way to LA you will probably gain 5 minutes on your trip and piss off 800 people. I always had to talk on the phone or listen to an audio book or something to distract myself from my road rage at those dipshits.

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That's because, unfortunately, that's how you have to drive in LA. It's not like the rest of the planet where you can expect people in the left lane to move. They never will. An example is stop and go traffic. Everywhere else, you'll be in your lane and the lane next to you starts moving. You stay in your lane because it's ridiculous to think that moving lanes will be more productive. But in LA, it is. If you stick in your lane you're going to just sit there forever while people pass you in the newly moving lane.

I used to think like you. But LA traffic is so fucking bizarre that it causes you to change your driving habits. I don't even live in LA, it's just whenever I drive through I have to drive differently.

Right, I'm just saying all the people in LA drive differently. So if they're taking the 5 to go up north, they'll continue to drive like they're on the 5 in LA County.

BrutulTM_sl said:

The thing that always got to me on I-5 was the aggressive drivers trying to pass on the right all the time. You can basically drive 75 with the cars in the left lane or 65 with the trucks in the right lane but there were always people who wouldn't accept that and they would pull into the right lane, go 100 mph and try to pass 3 or 4 cars on the right and then cut them off to get back in the fast lane before the next truck. So they put everyone's life at risk, cut somebody off and cause 10 people to hit their brakes, all to gain about 4 car lengths. If you do that all the way to LA you will probably gain 5 minutes on your trip and piss off 800 people. I always had to talk on the phone or listen to an audio book or something to distract myself from my road rage at those dipshits.

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I agree, I hate that. Back in the college days I took some rides on 5 with a few people that drove on it that way, and it literally made me fear for my life. Putting my life in the hands of an 18-year old freshman sorority girl? Not a fan. I think a lot of the people that drive that way are those college age / early 20's kids that take frequent trips back and forth from so cal and nor cal. It can save 30 minutes to an hour on the trip for sure, but one screw up and you're dead, period.

Skip LA. There is absolutely nothing worth seeing. Land at LAX rent a car drive to Santa Monica spend the a day or two. Hop back in the car and hop on Pacific Coast Highway and start driving to Napa / SF. This will allow you to see Most of the coast of CA and a few state parks, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Carmel, SF, and Napa Valley. If you have lot of time fly to San Diego check out the town go to Coronado Island - Hotel Del Mar and then head up Highway 1.

Napa

Seriously, as posted above. Skip LA. You won't miss anything.

I think bus is a best way of transportation with in the country. I have been used totour to washington dc from nyclast year with my friend during my USA trip. That was such a wonderful experince.

You would think Ethan wants his username changed to Kurt...

Just stay the nights at motels, you know like the holiday inn you mentioned or other brands eg best western. They are like everywhere over the US and usually a room for 2 was around 45$ a night, no extras needed.

There are a ton of hostels in San Francisco. They have a lot of sponsored pub crawls and stuff like that too.