More California questions

[Pinkpeanut27]

so far I have had great advice,so I hope you dont mind a few more questions
we are planning on
san franscisco 4 nights
yosemite 3 nights
la/universal 3 nights
san diego 5 nights

we have up to 3-4 extra nights to plan what do you suggest? maybe somewhere between yosemite and LA

I know this sounds the wrong thing to say but Id like to keep driving to a minimum bearing in mind the distances we have to cover! I also want a holiday rather than a mad rush. I dont want to be packing and unpacking everyday.

what is the weather likely to be like I understand with the locations it will vary?

we have b/g 13 yr old twins and a 6 yr old boy no special interests as such but what would you suggest as must see's

LA and universal where to stay what to see? dh and I are not keen on theme parks or the whole celebrity thing but it seems a shame to go that far and not indulge a bit! what are the must see things and the best cheapest and definately easiest ways to do them?

Has anyone tried the suitehotels ? any recommendations , are the sofa beds any good to sleep on as an adult?

If anyone has any specific hotels etc that will take 5 one way or another Id love to hear them.

This is such a big trip for us and we have not done anything like it with kids which somehow makes things harder!

weather: I don't see what dates you are going above? But basically think British summer the whole time.

They are all a good age for LegoLand in Carlsbad.

We stayed at the Apple Farm in San Luis Obispo between San francisco and LA, rwally lovely place to say and did Hearst Castle from there, and whale watched on the way down.

At Universal I would highly recommend the VIP tour which is ££££'s but really really worth it.

Would second Hearst Castle, we loved it. LA, the Getty Centre, brilliant and amazing views, a museum but with outside sculptures and not 'stuffy' at all. 17 Mile Drive in Monteray is stunning. Big Sur is also beautiful, we stayed at Post Ranch which is adults only I think but a good location on the way to LA. To be honest though may be worth tacking an extra day onto SF as there is so much to do and see....

hearst castle or Highway 101 would be quite a long detour from the Yosemite to LA drive, though, think about what you want.

I'd detour like that to go see redwoods & otters along 101, but not for HC.

We are going at the end of August .

Will check those ideas out