SoCal Driving Advice

How odd that you did not mention the PCH being closed at Big Sur. It has been closed several months and has not yet re-opened.

Troll thread.

r1, Dude, we'll be taking Hwy 1 from SF to (my college town, old friends and family in Santa Cruz) to Watsonville, then cutting over to 101 down to Ventura (dear friends retired nearby) for the night. Of course, Hwy 1 has (as in many years past) eroded along the Central Coast. It used to happen all the time at Devil's Slide while growing up until the tunnel was finally built. And it may be years before it is "fixed". The geology of that area of the CA coast is particularly unstable (google Gary Griggs', a geology prof. at UC Santa Cruz) opinion about ever rebuilding.

Any simpleton who looks at USA Today headlines or watches Fox News knows about the sudden collapse near Big Sur.

My question is about how best to get from Ventura to Palm Springs. How is that trolling? From Ventura, one can take 101 inland, then take other freeways out to PS, or take Hwy 1 (the PCH) down to Santa Monica, then take I-10 through LA and then out to PS. Have you ever seen a map? Do I need to post a fucking clip from Saturday Night Live for you, Magellan?

FYI, 101 is for the most part inland in California. At times it combines with 1. No one north of say, Morrow Bay refers to Hwy 1 as the "The Pacific Coast Highway" -- that's a SoCal and tourist thing -- it's the PCH (to them) from Ventura to the Mexican boarder. FYI, in the other direction, it goes all the way up to the Canadian border as 101 when there is only a single highway along the coast. In parts of CA, 101 and 1 run parallel until they merge. From Oregon through Washington, there is only 101, which hugs the coast all the way up to the Olympic Peninsula. If you were lost in Ft. Bragg, CA, and asked someone about the PCH, they'd know that your Mother let you out of her basement in Peoria.

Hoping that someone who actually lives in California (not you) will offer their genuine experience and perspectives for our road trip.

R2, You are either a septaugenarian or lifted your info from Trip Advisor.

And you are so off the mark about the PCH. That is what we call it. It is not a tourist phrase. I didn't even try to follow the rest of your verbal rambling. Don't try so hard. You tripped yourself up in your op and the entire thing sounds like fiction.

Done. Don't bother.

[quote] Dear Gentile Angelinos,

Oh Dear. Oh, Dear.

If you're starting from the Bay Area and going soon, might as well take 101 since the coast road is indeed closed at the moment. 101 may be a very nice drive right now, it's the height of spring and the wildflowers are blooming, with any luck the drive from the BA to Santa Barbara will be gorgeous. The alternative would be I5, which is probably faster, but which is never gorgeous.

If the traffic is bad or you just decide to skip LA altogether, you can drive east from Ventura along Hwy 126 (lovely drive), you can jog over to Hwy 14 and out to the desert, and just take the smaller highways though the desert east of the San Gabriel Mountains... but that's a long way around and involved hours of desert, if you like desert. I think the shortest way is basically 210 to 10, but ask a native Angeleno about traffic. I just visit.

I take it that OP does not want to know about the best spots to stop for some pastrami on rye along his route?

Just stay to the right when you see this sign.

I would take PCH from Ventura down through Malibu and Santa Monica and then the 10 east. I would stop for lunch in Malibu. There’s a very nice restaurant at the end of the Malibu pier called Malibu Farm restaurant. It also has a less fancy café. There’s tons of nice places in Malibu to check out. There’s also a restaurant called The Lobster in Santa Monica that has nice views.

I would try to leave Santa Monica by 1:15 PM to get an early jump on traffic. Once you get east of downtown LA you will have an HOV lane for you to use. Should help with some of that congestion.

If you enjoy Mexican food there is an awesome place 30 min outside of Palm Springs in Banning called Senorial. Good luck and have fun!

Thank you, r5. The smaller highways would be nice, but we want to get from Ventura to PS within 5 hours, including a lunch stop. Will be staying overnight in Ventura, then drive to PS in the morning.

But once again, I will be taking 101 (from Santa Cruz County) down to Ventura, NOT Hwy 1 -- because it is closed -- as everyone knows. I take 1 from SF regularly to Santa Cruz because taking 280 or 101 to the Hwy 17 "autobahn" sucks.

Ugly I-5 and the San Joaquin Valley in general are out of the question. Even in wildflower season. And it can even get worse: Hwy 99 in the 60's and 70's to stop and see relatives in places near Fresno and Bakersfield in the Summer. Been there, did that too many times in my youth, and yes -- I'm getting close to becoming a Septuagenarian. Hence the possible move to PS, which my partner and I will be exploring.

Have driven to SoCal (but not to the Coachella Valley) and back dozens of times via 101 and/or 1-5 and even 99 in my life, but only twice all on Hwy 1 decades ago. Now that's not possible, but I'd like to see the PCH between Ventura-Santa Monica, which would require taking 10 to PS.

My question remains (for mature people who live in SoCal) and it's simple: Is it worthwhile to drive into LA and take 10 out to PS just see the stretch of PCH between Ventura and Santa Monica? Or is 10 a bumper to bumper nightmare and it would be better to continue on 101 over towards Pasadena and take that route out to PS?

Thanks in advance to any gentiles (they exist) or any gentle Angelinos who care to respond to an aging Northern Californian and his birthday boy partner to my very clear and simple question.

Angelenos

Avoid the 10 at all costs. Nasty, traffic-ridden shithole.

At least the 210 has a view of the foothill mountains.

ROFLMAO @ r7 and thank you, r8!

It’s already such a long drive, why make it longer. I don’t understand how I-5 is so “ugly.” It’s California, it’s a freeway. What do you expect. At least you’re not driving in snow and ice.

Thanks, r11. That answers my question exactly. Will see Malibu on another trip then.

LOL, for the spellcheck,/reality check, r10. At least I didn't call them "LA People" or even worse -- Dodgers fans. Angelenos. Spelling makes sense. Feeling so woke now.

@ r13 -- I get that. My partner lives north of Boston. He used to live in SF years ago, but had to move back. We met randomly in Puerto Vallarta two years ago. We've visited each other many times since and hope to retire and live together soon. Have been there during the last two Winters. Leaving the house and walking out to the caaah in the paaahking lot to find the engine running but no one in the car still freaks me out every time. We will not be retiring there. He's over shoveling his car out! And I am over taking I-5 to SoCal.

OP if you skip Malibu you won’t be able to see Cher’s house!

The American habit of holding conversations with numbers and verbs always escaped me.

"You take the 7 all the way then turn the 212 almost to 87 but not quite, instead we take the Old 413..."

WTF?

R17, in front of the number (e.g., 5), there's a word, e.g., "Interstate Highway 5." The US spends a ton of money on its "Interstate Highway System" to connect all the states on a vast piece of land plus control traffic in heavily populated cities.

Saying just the number is an abbreviation. You can also say"I-5."

I live two blocks from the 210 in the San Gabriel Valley, and it's my "go-to" east-west freeway. That said, it is ALWAYS crowded. Less so now with more people working at home, but there are still bottlenecks all the time--especially when it goes from five lanes to four at the east end of Pasadena, and where it intersects with the 605. And then past the 57, where it goes from four lanes to three in LaVerne. But after that, it's usually not bad. Of course a lot depends on the time of day/day of the week. Friday afternoons are a nightmare, for example.

Traffic between where the 101 goes south and you will continue east on the 134 (both are called Ventura Freeway at that point) can also be tough, at least until you get through Glendale. And then when you enter Pasadena and meet the traffic merging from the southbound part of the 210 (coming from the 5), its also a mess. Use a good navingation/GPS system that will direct you to alternate routes.

And wave, when you pass my exit!

A dear old colleague is from Riverside County. Didn't know he still regularly visits family down there. Struck gold: He said that at any time of day, 10 through LA is a slow, ugly nightmare, and that "seeing a short stretch (Ventura to Santa Monica) of tourist hell PCH is just not worth it. Period." "You will save yourself HOURS of pure, uncut misery".

r11 and r19 win for contributing to this dilemma, which represents the greatest challenge to end all human suffering. And a Sophie's Choice, if you will.

Meanwhile, for the tens of thousands of other Bay Area Pickled Queens (BAPQ's) who seek their final, leathery-skinned days in a tacky gated community pool with cheap Vodka cocktail in hand, here's the I-5 avoiding route he suggests: From Ventura, take 101 to 23/118 through Simi Valley, pick up the 210 in San Fernando, and ride it out until it ends at I-10 in Redlands. Continue on I-10 until the 111 to Palm Springs.

Never in my life would I have imagined voluntarily moving to Southern California, let alone being in my 60's. Karma's a bitch, and then you die of liver cirrhosis and sunstroke.

Just ask The Californians.

Stewart knows the way.

r19 again here. I was born and raised in the Bay Area, but somehow ended up in SoCal 34 years ago, much to the horror of my family (my father's family had been in SF since the 1870s.) But with all of my family up north, I drove up and down at least two or three times a year, until both parents passed away. I still go up once or twice a year. So, with many years of experience, and having driven every possible route -- even taking 395 north and then 80 to Sacramento), I've seen it all. Of course much of my experience was in the distant past, so I don't know how useful any of my advice will be, but I've taken the route you decided on, and it's fine--and definitely more interesting than going through LA.

My cousin (who was living in Sonoma Co. at the time) had a vacation property in La Quinta (east of Palm Springs) and she used to take a weird route going east from Bakersfield and then over to the 15, through Lucerne Valley and Yucca Valley, and then down to the 10. I've never tried that one.

These days, when I go north, I rely on Waze or Google Maps. I'm usually heading to Sonoma Co., and it often takes me on some strange back roads -- I usually take the 5 to the 580, but then it navigates me through some back roads in Alameda and Contra Costa (where I grew up) Counties, to Vallejo and then over 37 to Lakeville Hwy. up to Petaluma. Again---depends on the day of the week and the time of day.

I would help you, OP, but since you are obviously an antisemite, and only want assistance from the Goyim, you are on your own.

Here's the thing about the PCH/I-10 route: there's really no "good" day to take that route. If you make the drive on a Monday-Thursday, PCH will obviously have less traffic (and be more enjoyable) than a weekend, but the I-10 will be a nightmare -- all the way from the coast to DTLA, and beyond. If you go on Saturday/Sunday, the traffic on I-10 won't be AS bad, but PCH will be a slog.

You'll note I left out Friday. Whichever route you choose OP, you DO NOT want to make the Ventura-to-Palm Springs drive on a Friday! Trust me on this. It will be pure fucking misery.

r24, thanks for the notes, but it will be next Friday, leaving Carpenteria at around 11am, but NOT taking PCH to 10 through DTLA! (see above).

r19, we have much in common. Was born and raised in Berkeley and Walnut Creek in the early 60's and 70's. Paternal grandma's family came to SF in the 1880's, grandfather came to Oakland in the 1910' from Oregon. They had a vacation cabin near Gualala where they eventually retired. Sadly, it's no longer in the family. The North Coast is still my Happy Place. And NO ONE calls it the "PCH" -- it's just "One"! And not "The 1". Petaluma was a one-stop light town we'd drive through to get there. Whenever we passed by That Fucking Schoolhouse in Bodega, my asshole older brothers would taunt me about "The Birds", which I saw at the age of six. Pure terror, lol. Had relatives all over NorCal, most gone now. Have lived in SF since 1983. Am done with wind, hills, stairs, and fog. So many old friends have moved to PS.

My Mom's Greek parents immigrated to New Jersey in the 1910's and ended up Madera/Fresno in the 1940's. Not great choices, IMHO (but they had a pool and spoiled me silly). So, I had more relatives all up and down Hwy 99 and spent too many trips up and down the hot, flat, smoggy San Joaquin Valley on I-5 and Hwy 99 in the Summer. An uncle and cousins in Bakersfield, the armpit of CA.

Parents divorced in the late 60's. Court mandated visits to visit the deplorable father, who moved to a shitty part of LA between Venice and Culver City. Took Greyhound until I could drive. Memories of heat, thick smog, and massive freeways make me want to avoid LA. The attitude from a NorCal perspective was that it was artificial, concrete, sprawling, White, and conservative -- which it certainly was. Today the air is cleaner and more culturally diverse. Dodgers fans are people too, turns out. But it's still LA, and verbally trashing it is still fun. Do you like where you live now?

East of LA/Coachella Valley and Palm Springs is the only corner of CA I haven't explored much. The desert to me has surreal beauty. Maybe it becomes monotonous. There have been multiple DL threads on the pros and cons of retiring there.

Looking forward to this trip, a voyage into my own future private twilight zone and I will wave to you as I pass by!

I'm a native Californian. I was born in the SF Bay Area, went to college in Malibu, and lived in LA for over 20 years. Everyone I knew in Northern CA and Southern CA nearly always called the Pacific Coast Hwy "PCH." A few times people called it Hwy 1. I never heard anyone call it 1.

Yes, I’m familiar with saying PCH as well.

You'd have to time your arrival into LA very carefully as all routes leading east out of the city become parking lots after say 3 pm, until about 7 pm, whether 210, 10, or the 60.. If you knew that that was the time you'd arrive in LA, I think you'd almost be better to take the high desert routes to get over to I15 and swoop down into San Bernardino and east to PS on the 10. It's longer in miles, but might save you an hour or two of being stuck in bad traffic. After 7 pm or so, leaving central LA becomes much easier and faster. When I'm staying in PS, I usually do one or more trips to LA. I leave PS after 10 am , get into LA by noon, do my sight-seeing or museum hopping, have dinner in LA and leave at 8 pm or so. Then I experience no major traffic problems in either direction. It's kind of sad to have your travel schedule dictated by rush hour concerns, but that's the situation in nearly every large American city now.

r25 We really DO have a lot in common. My mother's parents were from Greece, too -- but came to SF via Utah and Nevada in the 1930s. I was born in San Mateo but grew up in Orinda. My father's family had a cabin the Santa Cruz mountains, but my cousin had a place in Sea Ranch (i.e., Gualala.) I think I'm older than you, though.

I don't much care for where I live, and having been retired for 10 years and with no real need to stay in this area, I've been thinking about moving back north -- but of course it's so different from when I grew up. I really like Palm Springs, but I cannot stand the heat. It's too hot where I live right now -- I don't want to go somewhere that's even hotter. So I might try Sonoma Co. or the Central Coast. Both areas seem too isolated for me -- and too far from decent airports. But as I get older, and as travel gets more problematic, maybe that shouldn't be an issue anymore. I've had relatives at Rossmoor in WC and Oakmont in Santa Rosa, so I'm familiar with those areas. It's just another thing I keep putting off.

[quote] [R24], thanks for the notes, but it will be next Friday, leaving Carpenteria at around 11am, but NOT taking PCH to 10 through DTLA! (see above).

Fool, idiot, moron! You're gonna wish you went on Thursday. But carry on.......

OP why not just fly and have your dear old friends meet you for a reunion or an orgy in PS? Driving that much in CA is asking for trouble. You know the drivers and traffic are terrible in every part of the state. Get a bit airbnb and tell everyone it is on you. If your friends are like any of mine - they are cheap and will jump at the chance for a free vacation.

If you do make the foolish decision to drive, avoid the 10 and DO NOT tempted by that trashy outlet mall in Cabazon. It is a gateway to hell.

r25, agapi mou! Now I want to take your exit off the 210 and take you to lunch, lol. The Cabin was on 7 acres with ocean view and redwoods at Anchor Bay. They built it in the 1920's. Too bad my family sold it when the grandparents died. *Sigh*. As an adult, I've rented a places at the Sea Ranch with friends, stayed at the funky Gualala Hotel, but especially Mar Vista Cottages, which is next to where The Cabin was. Always thought I'd retire in Mendocino (no healthcare) or Sonoma (fires) and no major airport.

Am 61, planning to retire in 2.5 years (and 53 days and 15 hours...). Both my partner and I have medical issues -- hence earlier retirement while we can still do things -- so we can't live somewhere too remote. PS heat in Summer is a huge concern. We're trying to think of ways to NOT have to live there in summer. Rossmoor is still a thought (because swimming pool), but Rossmoor?! Really? How did we get that old, lol. There is an LGTBQ community there, but it's -- still WC.

San Francisco is no longer San Francisco to me. And for my partner, Baaahston is still fuckin Baaahston.

Thanks to all for the driving advice. This road trip is set in stone, but at least we are psychologically braced for traffic next Friday, and thanks to DL, we sure as hell won't be taking The 10!