Looking for road trip advice. Leaving Vancouver Jan9 and need to be Palm springs on the 14th. Returning to Kelowna. Whole trip to take 13 days or so. Any advice on sight seeing and routes? Just me and my daughter to her Lacrosse tournament in Palm springs.

There is a lovely zoo in Palm Springs.

The 101 is a beautiful coastal drive and will have most reliable weather that time of year. If you drive I5 keep an eye on the weather as you want to avoid storm systems though the Oregon/California mountain passes.

I used to live in OC. If you take I-5, you’ll be down there in 24hrs. Not much to see on the 5 though.
If you take the 101, it’s gorgeous but will take time. There are plenty of areas you can cut across, back to the 5 to get back on track. Hit hwy 10 in LA to get to the desert.
The Siskiyou Summit can be scary this time of year. Make sure you buy tire chains no matter what before you go. If they have a chain requirement and you don’t have any, you won’t be permitted by. The local shops will double the price and also sell out.

ChristyI have winters and chains. How does this summit compare to say the Coquihalla or the Connector 97c from Merritt to Kelowna? I travel them constantly in winter

Fabian if you can do those without problems, then you should be fine. You have experience.
It’s just at the state line at Oregon to California., it’s 4,310 feet in elevation. I used to do it every 2nd Christmas when I lived down there and it’s a fairly easy summit that they keep maintained. I’ve had worse drives through Yosemite and on the Coquihala.

I have driven vancouver to Palm Springs a few times. Solo driver so start at 8 am finish at 3 pm, takes 2.5 days, first stop Eugene Oregon second stop around red bluff in Northern California, third day is shorter get to ps around 1 or 2 pm. I stay at best western plus, always decent and clean have free breakfast and usually indoor pool. Buy coffee and sandwich at gas station for lunch stop for half an hour at rest stop.

Kelley what about driving to LV?

Jess
Kelley Christy have u taken this route? Are there high mountain passes (re snow) this way to consider too? Travelling in mid Feb. (sorry to hijack ur thread Fabian
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Jess no I have only taken I 5 south

If you're into historic homes there are many cities to visit, like Astoria, Eugene, Petaluma, San Fran, and more.

Live in delta bc. When ever we go to California we either leave 11pm to 2am time period beat seattle and Portland traffic. Only trucks on the freeway

Slight detour for the coastal route along big sur area, carmel south to Santa Barbara well worth the extra drive time and the elephant seals are there at this time of year. Also as someone else mentioned the i5 near the border of Oregon and CA has some mountain passes aswell near Mt Shasta the hwy frequently gets snow. Use the Caltrans app for updates on chain control.
We just got back from this road trip, have a great time

See you at Sandstorm! Lots of BC families going down.

Mex Jillabsolutely will be awesome. Wanting to avoid airports with all the recent issues and also make a trip of it and explore. Will be fun.. safe travels