Lesley's recommended California RV adventure

Try this out for a California RV adventure starting in San Diego! This would take a minimum of 1 week, but 3 weeks would be ideal!

Day 1: I hate the Los Angeles perpetual traffic, so I take the inland route and go up the 15 to the 10/210 to the 101 and head north from there. If you avoid the traffic, you can get to Santa Barbara in 3 or 4 hours.

If you planned way ahead and made a reservation, stay at Carpinteria State Beach. For a list of other campgrounds with RV sites in the Santa Barbara area, go to this helpful site. Lake Cachuma is up in the mountains a ways. El Capitain, Refugio and Gaviota state parks are quite a ways north of Santa Barbara proper. Ocean Mesa is a luxurious, expensive RV resort north of Santa Barbara.

Day 2: Make sure you see Mission Santa Barbara and La Purisima Mission State Park (the latter is a California Mission that is run as a state park, with animals, crops, restored buildings, etc.). The Danish village of Solvang is also a popular tourist spot and they have a big RV park, Flying Flags.

Day 3: Continue into the Central Coast and pick a campground, such as Pismo Coast RV Resort or a cheaper state or county park in the San Luis Obispo/Morro Bay/Pismo Beach area. Or go all the way up to San Simeon State Beach and tour Hearst Castle (reservations needed).

Day 4: Backtrack to San Luis Obispo and take the 101 for the 3 or 4 hour drive to Salinas. Go west on the 68 to Monterey. Go a little ways north on the 1 if you want to stay on the beach at Marina Dunes RV Park or a little south if you want to stay at Carmel by the River RV park or Saddle Mountain RV Park . Try to catch a shuttle or public transportation into town because there is no room to drive or park RV's.

Day 5: Monterey day trip: Start with the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Cannery Row. Catch a ride to Fisherman's Wharf. Walk along the scenic coastal trails.

Day 6: Visit the Carmel Mission, then walk around downtown Carmel, admiring the quaint cottages and boutiques. Walk down Ocean Avenue to Carmel Beach. Guess the prices of the beach-front homes. Eat at one of the many 5-star restaurants (no black ties required here!). Stop at the Safeway and pretend not to notice the movie stars shopping.

Day 7: Head south on the 1. Stop at Point Lobos Reserve and watch the wildlife. The drive south to Big Sur is 45 minutes by car, but longer in an RV. You have picked a campground from this list and reserved a long time ago, right? Alternately, you could take a tour bus or public transportation or rent a car to drive down to Big Sur. The best part of the trip is the view from the road and the campgrounds are extremely busy, especially in the summer. But if you want to stay down there, have fun hiking, walking along the rugged beach, horseback riding, buying healing crystals and hemp bracelets from the hippie residents, etc.

Day 8: Whether you stayed in Big Sur or another day in Monterey/Carmel, head north again. You could stop (and even spend another night) in Santa Cruz. Take the kids to the Santa Cruz Boardwalk/amusement park. You can take the 17 east to catch the 101 again, or if you skip Santa Cruz, just go back on the 68 to Salinas and hit the 101 there. A couple hours puts you in San Francisco. Stay at Candlestick RV Park in the city or San Francisco RV Resort on the water south of the city.

Day 9: Tour San Francisco. Ride the cable cars. Walk up or down Lombard Street. Visit Golden Gate Park. Eat at a famous restaurant on Fisherman's Wharf.

Day 10: It's a 4-hour drive from San Francisco to Yosemite Park. Find an RV site in the park at or stay at a private campground outside the park (more expensive but they don't get booked as quickly).

Day 11: If you are camping in the park, take the shuttle around the valley floor, go to the visitor's center, the short hike to Bridalveil Falls, and whatever else suits your fancy. If you have kids along, read them John Muir: My Life with Nature by Joseph Cornell.

Day 12: Take your pick of a day-long guided tour (like up into Tuolomne Meadows) or a major hiking expedition. You can hike on your own or in tours, for a few hours or a few days. You can also get in some rock climbing if that is your sport.

Day 13: The drive straight from Yosemite to San Diego is 8 hours or more. If you are pressed for time, you could do a marathon driving day, or stop halfway in Visalia or Bakersfield. You could extend your trip and go into Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks near Visalia, but with the mountainous driving this would take longer than driving all the way to San Diego. (You should probably take another week some other time to do these two parks.) Bakersfield RV Resort is well-rated and fairly inexpensive at $39 per night.

Day 14: Finish the drive home, dump and wash the RV and unpack. Or, if you can't bear the thought of unpacking, sleep in the RV in your driveway like we have!