What are the best places to visit on a road trip to California?

I and my friends have been planning a trip to take a trip to California after we graduate for like two years. Next year will be the fantastic year! So we are trying to find some awesome places to stop along the way. We are traveling from North Carolina to California, and are planning to take any ware from three to five days for driving any entertaining stop is cool.... Parks, Museums (only if unique), clubs, etcetera. Thank you in advance for any help. Oh we are going to San Diego Californa. And three to five is our estimated time to get there. We are planing on staying for three days in San Diego then coming straight home not stops.

Public Comments

1. Las Vegas, also in california is this one road in movies that is twirly and a cool road
2. If you are going to be traveling through Arizona and like history, take a little side trip. Go down to Tombstone. It is so awesome. You can go see the Boot Hill Grave Yard where the Clanton clan is buried among many others and then on to Allen street where you can visit many shops and look in the museums and even look around the Birdcage Theater. Don't forget to Visit Big Nosed Kate's Saloon and the County Court House. You can also watch a reenactment of the gun fight at the OK Corral. Just do a search on Tombstone AZ and find out if it is too far out of your way and check for show times on the gun fight if you plan to go. If you will be on I-10, when you get to the exit for Benson, it is only about 30 or 40 minutes south. Hope you have a fun trip where ever you all decide to stop along the way....It is so beautiful out that way....I can't wait to go back myself..(from Texas)
3. Yosemite (best seen in spring when waterfalls are best and there are fewer tourists) Just drive Highway 1 from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The views are awesome. Lots of beaches. Along the way you can visit San Simeon (Hearst Castle), Big Sur, Pacific Grove, Monterrey (with Cannery Row and the world class aquarium), Santa Cruz (watch surfers from the cliffs) In San Francisco there are several great art museums, Fisherman's Wharf, and the Golden Gate Bridge. A little farther north is the Napa Valley, home to some of the nation's best wineries. Running parallel to Hy 1 is US 101 which is the route of El Camino Real established by the Spanish. Most of the colonial missions have been restored and are open to the public. Highway 49 runs through the foothills of the Sierras where much of the California Gold Rush played out (Coloma where gold was discovered, Colombia which has been restored historically.) In Sacramento you can see Sutter's Fort, Old Sacramento, and a terrific railroad museum. If you are really ambitious you can drive north to Lassen Volcanic Nat'l Park and climb to the top of Mt. Lassen, the last volcano in the continental US to erupt before Mt. St. Helens. There is more than 5 days worth of travel in this list. I hope you have fun.
4. If you want to be in California in three to five days then there is very little you can do. There is a lot to see in the USA. It does take time to see and learn. No there is not much you can do in such short time. Vegas might be about the only thing.
5. I made the haul from New York to California last year, and it was one hell of an experience! I foolishly moved out here, though. San Diego was one crazy place (I've since moved to Sacramento). Hypothetically, since I don't know where in NC you're venturing from, I put you in from Charlotte to San Diego. Long journey. You're looking at 2,486 miles. Google has you going across the Deep South for most of it.. and it's an alright route, lots of hick towns.. but I recommend the latter half of the route I drove. It's only 400 miles more, and there's lots more to do. I had a bunch of good times. I've compiled a list of the half of the states you'd be driving through should you take this route. Some unique things in: Oklahoma -World's Biggest McDonald's (outside of Tulsa) -Tolls! You'll pay tolls every time you exit the Interstate, then get reimbursed when you drive into Texas.. although I didn't find the reimbursement station when I left Oklahoma. -Disgusting rest stops. I kid you not, Oklahoma has the worst rest stops out of all 50 states - and I've travlled a lot! The last one I saw didn't look like it had been updated since 1956 -Okalhoma City - OKC in general is cool.. very big.. there's a memorial for the OKC Bombing victims which is pretty solemn.. you might dig that. Texas -Biggest welcome center in the state. You pass this about halfway through. You only go through the upper tip, and almost all of it is desolate desert and trains. Very, very boring New Mexico -Roswell - UFO Museum, show took place there. This is about 5 hours out of your way. I drove there simply because aliens are cool and there's a McDonald's there in the shape of a UFO. That and the museum is free. -Albuqurque - Big city, but nothing to do -Lots and lots and lots and lots of desert. Stay gassed up, you could run out and it means bad things there -Nations most expensive Subway. There's a Subway in the middle of the desert. $12 for a foot long sub. Yikes. Arizona -4 Corners monument. This is about an hour out of your way, but worth it. You go into 4 states at once (New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado) -The Grand Canyon. A must see! You need to go, the worlds biggest hole.. and it's just so damn pretty! You can lodge and eat there fairly cheap, and there's just TOO much to do. It's about 2 hours off of the Interstate California -Nothing until San Diego.. you'll enter the state in Needles and then it's desert until Rancho Cucamonga and then San Diego. You'll have lots of fun, no doubt! Just don't move out here, North Carolina is my old home, and that's where it's at! Below is a Google Map straight across, and then a second one putting you where I recommended stopping. If you have any questions, shoot me an e-mail! I've travelled all over the U.S., so I know what there is to offer.. and since I drove this identical route last year, I can tell you what to look for. Have fun!!