Heading North on I-5 from San Diego

[IrishRover2]

Couple of question for you more experienced So. Cal. types:
I'm heading north on I-5, July 8:

1) Is there a better/good time to drive through LA traffic, , pulling a 28' TT? Early AM, late night, or ???

2)End destination is the KOA at Watsonville. I'm good for about 6-7 hours driving while pulling our TT. So, looks like I'm not going to make the final destination in one day. Can anyone out there recommend a campground some place between Bakersfield and Fresno on I-5. (Yes, I know neither City is on I-5 but needed some points of reference).

Any suggestion/help would be appreciated !

[wkerfoot]

Originally Posted by IrishRover2

Couple of question for you more experienced So. Cal. types:
I'm heading north on I-5, July 8:

1) Is there a better/good time to drive through LA traffic, , pulling a 28' TT? Early AM, late night, or ???

2)End destination is the KOA at Watsonville. I'm good for about 6-7 hours driving while pulling our TT. So, looks like I'm not going to make the final destination in one day. Can anyone out there recommend a campground some place between Bakersfield and Fresno on I-5. (Yes, I know neither City is on I-5 but needed some points of reference).

Any suggestion/help would be appreciated !

Irish,

The best time to travel through downtown LA is late morning to early afternoon or middle of the night during the week. On Sunday, you should not have any problems. However, I would suggest taking the 57 to the 210 to I-5. The distance is about 15 miles farther, but the road is much wider.

Regarding the Central Valley, I suggest 99, more interesting scenery and more places to stop. There is nothing on I-5, gas stations are few and far between. I-5 is two lanes each way and much of 99 is three lanes each way and the road is better on 99 than I-5.

Bill

[cammur]

If you do stay in Bakersfield, check out Orange Grove RV Park - Bakersfield, CA.

All the sites are separated by orange trees, and you can borrow a fruit picker from the office and have some fresh oranges. (Oranges may not be in season right now - if the oranges motivated you, be sure and ask when you make your reservation or stop in.) A very nice clean place with all hookups and a hose for washing your trailer, if you wish.

[IrishRover2]

Thanks for the suggestions!
This will be our first trip to Santa Cruz with the TT, so need all the help we can get. I like the idea of going up the 99, it sounds more user friendly.

Bill, not sure about the directions you're suggesting "57 to the 210 to I-5".
I can head up the I-5 or I-15 from San Diego, where does the 57 come into play?

Irish

[wkerfoot]

Originally Posted by IrishRover2

Thanks for the suggestions!
This will be our first trip to Santa Cruz with the TT, so need all the help we can get. I like the idea of going up the 99, it sounds more user friendly.

Bill, not sure about the directions you're suggesting "57 to the 210 to I-5".
I can head up the I-5 or I-15 from San Diego, where does the 57 come into play?

Irish

Irish,

The 57 is affectionately called the "Orange Crush" by us locals. It is about 5 miles on I-5 past the 55 at the north end of Santa Ana and about 5 miles before the 91 and Disneyland.

I-15 won't do you much good as it will take you through Riverside and on to Las Vegas.

Happy travels,

Bill

[IrishRover2]

Bill,
I could take the I-15 to the 210 to 1-5 but sounds like it would be way out of the way. What do you think?

[wkerfoot]

Originally Posted by IrishRover2

Bill,
I could take the I-15 to the 210 to 1-5 but sounds like it would be way out of the way. What do you think?

Irish,

You could, but I am not sure that the 210 is complete from I-15 to I-5. Also I think that it would add more miles and not save any time.

Bill

[Condoluminum]

Irish;

Both our children went to college in San Diego, so we made that drive a lot, including hauling U-Haul trailers with furniture..

Mid day is good (10 AM to 2PM), and the plan to take 57 Freeway to I-210 West to I-5 north again is worth considering.. We had good luck with it unless there was crash on northbound 57.. Avoid urge for tranquility and listen to one of two news AM radio dstations in LA for traffic alerts every 10 minutes.. (KNXT?) Avoid the 405 Freeway on west side at all costs between 6 AM and 9 PM, as it is horrible and they're still doing construction north of airport...

Good luck...

I think there is RV park near Harris Ranch about 90 minutes south of Los Banos, and restaurant is good one.. There are several marked around major cross highway exits near Fresno, and there's one popular with Airstreamers west of I-5 at Los Banos/Hwy 152 Exit... (San Luis RV Park - not very lovable..)

[argy]

Bill

Since you are leaving on a Sunday, you might want to take the 5 to the 405. Instead of pulling the grapevine, take 101 rather than the 5. The CentralValley heat can be brutal. There are very few midway places to stop. There is a lot more truck traffic. At some point you're going to have to cut back to the west anyway.

While the drivng might be a tad slower, it is mostly pretty scenery on 101. Expect some minor slowing past LAX, in the SF valley and Oxnard and Santa Barbara. There's a pretty good grade north of San Luis Obispo, but not the long hard pull on the grapevine. If you are going into a second day anyway, you might enjoy your trip a lot more.

[Fyrzowt]

I was going to suggest a similar route.
If I'm heading north on the 5, I generally take the 126 at Magic Mountain over to the 101 at Ventura then north. Sometimes I go the 5/118/23/101.
The grade out of San Luis Obispo is a 5% grade for about 3 miles, not bad at all compared to the grapevine on the 5. The scenery is definately better.
Dave

[argy]

The problem with the 5 through LA is that it seems very narrow and there is a lot of construction south in the Downey area. Expect some really slow traffic even on a weekend.

Generally speaking the mid day advice above is good for a weekday on any SOCAL freeway.

We've found coming back in the afternoon from the north, the 210E to the 15S works best. It is complete to the Cajon Pass,
but not all the way to San Bernardino.

If you are planning on Watsonville for a second night before Santa Cruz, a lot of people seem to like Casa De Fruta. You have some choices in that area. However, you should have no problems getting Santa Cruz pretty early from SLO.

[leetimes]

Avoid the 405 at all cost. Airport traffic and construction in the area makes it just a horror.

[Kintscher]

I agree with the 57-210 to the 5 suggestions. A much better route.
We've been up the 101 several times. It is a much nicer drive. You could stop just north of Santa Barbara or near San Luis Obispo.

[CaddyGrn]

Hello,

I lived in the Central Valley for 45 years. I suggest you avoid as much of it as possible. I would nix Hwy 99 ~ the truckers are crazy and it is very hot in the summer, not to mention the cross traffic across the "freeway" in many places. If you are going to Watsonville, I suggest going up the coast unless you are in a real hurry. At least go up 101 as much as you can.

I agree I-5 is awful as well, but if you drive it at night you won't miss anything and it won't be as hot. There is gas, but you have to pay attention. Gas up at the grapevine and then you can go as far as Kettleman City and cut over to Hwy 101 at Paso Robles or so. I would really check out the google maps to see what you might want. Much depends on what you want to see. If you go Hwy 99 you will be much farther East than you want to be... it will add a couple of hours to your journey to come back to the West.

If you get stuck on I-5 you can always "camp" in the parking lot at Harris Ranch Restaurant just out of Coalinga. They have great steaks and shade trees. You can park on the pavement and your wifi will probably work if you park between the restaurant and the hotel (you will see others there...)

Good luck... hope the weather cools for your journey!

Mrs. NorCal Bambi (traveling in S Tardis)

[CaddyGrn]

Hello,

I lived in the Central Valley for 45 years. I suggest you avoid as much of it as possible. I would nix Hwy 99 ~ the truckers are crazy and it is very hot in the summer, not to mention the cross traffic across the "freeway" in many places. If you are going to Watsonville, I suggest going up the coast unless you are in a real hurry. At least go up 101 as much as you can.

I agree I-5 is awful as well, but if you drive it at night you won't miss anything and it won't be as hot. There is gas, but you have to pay attention. Gas up at the grapevine and then you can go as far as Kettleman City and cut over to Hwy 101 at Paso Robles or so. I would really check out the google maps to see what you might want. Much depends on what you want to see. If you go Hwy 99 you will be much farther East than you want to be... it will add a couple of hours to your journey to come back to the West.

If you get stuck on I-5 you can always "camp" in the parking lot at Harris Ranch Restaurant just out of Coalinga. They have great steaks and shade trees. You can park on the pavement and your wifi will probably work if you park between the restaurant and the hotel (you will see others there...)

Good luck... hope the weather cools for your journey!

Mrs. NorCal Bambi (traveling in S Tardis)

[bobkelly]

If you are comfortable trailering on the I 5 in San Diego, you'll be comfortable on the rest of the 5 going N. Avoid the LA Int'l airport area (405) and you'll be just fine. Your primary question was timing the passage thru downtown. 10am-2pm is the best. Go the way you want and have a great trip.

[DFord79]

Duhhhh!!!.....I think its too late for most of our advice.....There were gonna hit the I-5 almost two weeks ago. I do the same thing. Check the time lines...I never do...much...lol

[IrishRover2]

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions about traveling north from San Diego to the Santa Cruz/Monterey area. We ended up taking the 15 north, to the 210 west, to the 5 north, to the 99 north. Those of you that aren't from Southern Cal. this must sound like a code of some kind. To those that know the area, understand that this lingo is just a fact of life for us.

Anyway, the trip north was great with little traffic and smooth sailing. We ended up staying at the KOA in Watsonville. The park was a terrific place to stay. Good professional management, clean and lots for kids to do. Our grandson never stopped smilin' for 5 days till I told him it was bed time each night.

Also, plenty to do for adults at the park and not far away (10 minutes) were two beautiful California State Beaches, resturants galore in both Monterery and Santa Cruz (30-45 minutes). If you're traveling through that area the Watsonville KOA is a good stop.

On the trip back we took the 5 south, to the 210 east, to the 15 south. Now this was Southern California driving at it's worst. We hit about 10 miles of bumper to bumper around Magic Mountain and another six plus miles of the same stuff around Pasadena. My recommendation is driving south on Interstate 5, Saturday morning, heading to San Diego, bring your patience and make sure you've got plenty of diesel.

IrishRover 2