Road Trip Question.......

[THE HCP]

Heading down to Riverside, CA. tomorrow with the family for a big reunion. Haven't driven with the family down to SoCal since I was a kid. Wife wants to stop and stay the night so the kids don't go crazy in the car. I wanted to go a little more then halfway tomorrow, but I know that once you get past Sacramento/Stockton it's nothing but desert til LA. Any suggestions on a safe place to stop and get a hotel that's past Stockton. I was thinking Modesto or Merced, but we'd have to get off I-5 and get on 99. Is that going to slow us down? How much slower is 99 compared to 5? Leave in 11 hours, hope somebody can help out. Thanks!

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

http://www.harrisranch.com/

its in coalinga..on I5. halfway between Bay and LA.

 

[barfo]

Heading down to Riverside, CA. tomorrow with the family for a big reunion. Haven't driven with the family down to SoCal since I was a kid. Wife wants to stop and stay the night so the kids don't go crazy in the car. I wanted to go a little more then halfway tomorrow, but I know that once you get past Sacramento/Stockton it's nothing but desert til LA. Any suggestions on a safe place to stop and get a hotel that's past Stockton. I was thinking Modesto or Merced, but we'd have to get off I-5 and get on 99. Is that going to slow us down? How much slower is 99 compared to 5? Leave in 11 hours, hope somebody can help out. Thanks!

I haven't done it for a few years myself, but maybe more recently than when you were a kid. Seems to me there are motels along the freeway, you wouldn't need to go to an off-freeway town to find one. But I don't remember exactly where, because I never used them. I'd just sleep in my car at a freeway rest stop if I couldn't make it all the way in one shot. Not really an option with a family though. You don't want to spend a lot of time on 99 if your goal is to get to LA rather than explore the central valley.

barfo

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Mexican Hilton!

 

[jlprk]

There are many cheap motels along the way. You won't have a problem.

For you, I'd say to head East, where the Nevada whorehouses are, but you'll have to use Highway 99.

In Riverside, I used to stay at the Motel 6 next to the UCR campus. Lived there for a month once. Nothing has changed, except gas might not cost 31 cents per gallon like it did then.

Whatever you do, never follow advice from anyone born in Riverside.