Traveling from San Diego to Pismo Beach

[Ray]

Gps is routing me up Interstate 5 to 101 West. Is there a good time of day to travel thru LA or a better way to Pismo Beach?

[Will Garner]

Ray,

I've only been through LA on I-5 once - and that was enough! Carole was taking pictures until we got in LA traffic. About all I saw was the rear end of delivery trucks and OTR tractor trailers. Carole stopped taking pictures and I asked her why. She told me the obvious, her view was blocked by the trucks too. I told her to snap away as this was LA and I wanted pictures to talk about when I got back to NC. I am a traffic engineer so it was a natural for me to want the pictures. I'd guess the better times would be anytime outside of the morning and evening rush hours and those times when there is no active car chase in progress!

Good luck on your trip through LA. Pick a lane and stay in it as best you can.

[flyu2there]

Ray,

I have done that route numerous times. Your GPS probably gave you the 5 to the 405 to the 101.....NO! My recommendation would be to only use that route during the middle of the night when you will only have what most would consider heavy traffic. Personally I would not use the 405, rather stay on 5 north until Valencia then transition to the 126 towards Ventura and intercept the 101 at Ventura. Avoid the rush hours (5am to 10 am inbound and 1pm to 8 pm outbound, if you can)....probably best to hit the outskirts northbound about 10 am and hope that your window of opportunity stays open. I cannot overstate that as a thru routing, the 405 is probably the most overcrowded hunk of pavement in the land and the transition to the 101 can be a real challenge...best to avoid.

[Lawrence M.]

Ray,
Each way has it's god and bad points. The secret is to go as early in the morning as possible. If you choose the 405, get past LAX by at least 5:00 am. I personally don't like going up the 5 because it goes through the downtown area.