Tomorrow, (Friday), I’m going to drive from Glendale Arizona to Atascadero, California to visit my daughter for spring break. I’ve charted my route with AAA, and on the way out they have me taking the I-10, then juking around most of Downtown LA by grabbing the CA-57N to the I-210 W through Pasadena, onto the CA-134 W before hitting the 101 N up to the Central Coast. I know these freeways have local names, but I don’t know them. This is the route I’ve taken there and back for the past two years. It’s become fairly familiar, though I only drive it once a year.
On the way back, It recommends the 101S to the 1-10E and there it is. The way back I’ll also be driving on a Friday and hitting LA outskirts about 10-11am. On the way out, I’m hitting LA about 2-3pm. Is the juking about a huge advantage, or is it simpler only to remember one turn (slight merge) in 600 miles?
I realize this almost belongs in IMHO, but it’s semi factual, and I thought it’d get more attention here.
And you don’t have to follow the directions to go all the way into Barstow. The 58 turnoff is before Barstow. This was the only way I could think of to show you how to do it.
Mapquest recommended that, this time, and I almost bit. Two things against it, It’s not as familiar, and I don’t get to drive by the ocean. As a desert creature, I can count on one hand the times I’ve been that close to that much water. It’s the high point to the driving part of the trip, really.
I’ve saved those instructions, though, and If I’m ever held up so bad I’m not in my hotel room before 10pm, I’ll start using that route.
I think I will. Unless I get a chorus of ‘OMG, NO!!!’ about something to do with that particular interchange. I never knew, really, If the 1-10 and 101 ever intersected. I was always paranoid about missing that turn after Pomona and having to sort myself out, asking directions in Compton, or somewhere.
Thanks, Rico and Silenus, you were fast on that. I love the SDMB.
I miss the water, as well, being up here in the Utah desert. I fully understand why you’d want to go that way.
Just a note of interest, though - if you do go the Bakersfield route, you will pass by the historic Tehachapi Loop, a railfan’s delight as you see the trains passing through the mountains, and the Loop is the only place where you can see a long train pass underneath itself. No guarantees, of course, but if you go through during the day, it is fascinating viewing.
Unless you need to go to downtown LA, go around it anytime the sun is shining. I’d even ignore AAA’s return trip advice and just do the reverse of the 57-210-134-101 bypass recommended for the outbound trip. The return advice puts you at the 101/10 intersection (the very heart of downtown - the so-called “4-level interchange” at the beginning of the Friday weekend rush hour.
10-11am Southbound on the 101 shouldn’t give you too many delays, barring accidents and the like. The merge with the 10 is right near CalStateLA. Personally, I’d grab the 210 and follow the foothills over to Claremont, then take the 15 South and pick up the 10 again. But that’s just me.
Just an FYI, although I know the OP has already ruled out this option. My wife and I took that route between Paso Robles and Barstow to get to our honeymoon destination (we got married in Cambria and honeymooned in Las Vegas). It seemed like the most direct way, and since we live in LA, we were a bit wary of the traffic as well.
I can tell you that the route just isn’t worth it. Much slower speed limits, lots of windy roads, and it even gets down to a single lane at points. The entire trip took just over eight hours, meaning it would have actually been faster for us to drive home first and then head to Vegas.
I think I’ll stick to the oceanside route, but juke around downtown, outbound, because I’m driving through in the afternoon. On the way back, I think I’ll try the simple way, just to check it out. (Our biggest stack is only 3 levels, I think) I’ll let Asimovian know if the 101/10 was jammed up at 10am on a friday morning. Thanks, also, for justifying my aquarian predilections.
And If you see a White 2001 Chevy Metro with NRA, Grateful Dead, Baphomet and ‘Tree Hugging Dirt Worshipper’ stickers chug by, Wave at the travelling Doper!
I’ll try to look out of a window from my downtown building around that time. Granted, I can’t see the freeway from my building, but it’s the thought that counts, right?
I won’t tell you how you should go. If I were making that drive I wouldn’t go any closer to Los Angeles than San Bernardino.
I would take I-10 to I-215 in San Bernardino. Then the I-15 through Cajon Pass to US 395 and north to state rounte 58. West on 58 to Bakersfield and state route 99. North on 99 to state route 46 and go to Paso Robles then soutn on 101 to Atascadero.
Nice desert scenery and not a drop of water to be seen.
A local variant on this would be to go south on 99 down to 166 (it is only about half an hour) and then go west on 166 to 101 - that takes you through some amazing and beautiful country but it is windy and there isn’t much out there. Then go north on 101 from Santa Maria to Atascadero (less than an hour). As a bonus, you get about five minutes of ocean views as you drive past Pismo!
Yeah, Rico and Mapquest suggested the same route, but I like driving by the water, and Asimovian pointed out that your way’s got some twisty one lane roads and low speed limits. Not that I get much up over 70 with the 1.3 liters of raging power at my command, anyway, but it was mostly a question of how much of downtown LA to skip, not if. Thanks all the same, Dan.
Avoid L.A.'s freeway system like the plague. Atascadero’s not anywhere near L.A, but a little inland from the coast, about midway between L.A. and S.F.
I don’t have a good road map handy, but check out the small state highways. They can be a lot of fun to drive on, especially the ones that take you from the desert up into the mountains, and back again. See if you can fit State Highways 166 or 33 in your route somewhere; you may have to go out of your way but it would be well worth it.
I may be misremembering, but I think if you head for Bakersfield you can take 166 from there, which will take you to Santa Maria near the coast, and a hundred or so miles south of Atascadero.
