Advice on our proposed route from SF to LA

My wife and I, and our 6 month old boy (Jack), are coming to the US for a wedding (in Houston) and then flying on to California afterwards for a holiday. Brave (or foolish!) I know, but whats the worst that could happen...! Anyway, our planned itinerary is as follows:-

SF - 3 nights

Drive up to Napa for 1 night.

Drive across to Yosemite for 1/2 nights

Then to Carmel/Big Sur/Monterey for 2/3 nights.

on to Santa Barbara for 2 nights

Santa Monica for 2 nights

Then finish up in LA for 2 nights.

We appreciate that some of the routes will be c4-5 hour drives, but we are comfortable with this because we know that there will be plenty of opportunities to stop along the way. I would be grateful for any feedback/suggestions re our route, as well as any tips re ';must sees'; in yosemite and napa (which I have not had time to fully research).

Advice on our proposed route from SF to LA

Hi - welcome to California :)

Your route to Yosemite will depend a lot on where you are staying. There are 3 entrances on this side of Yosemite - Hwy 120, 140, and 41. For all 3 routes, the scenery gets nice once you get into the Sierra foothills - before that is the central valley which is mostly farmland and smallish towns and cities. And if you are coming in the summertime, it might be quite hot in the central valley, so you will probably want to drive through with minimal stops.

Yosemite to the Monterey area - we always take Hwy 140 west to Merced, then 59 south to Hwy 152 west. Then take Hwy 156 to Hwy 1. Again, not much of interest along the way because you%26#39;ve got to get across the central valley. Things start to get scenic again west of Los Banos. Casa de Fruta is between Los Banos and Hwy 156 interchange is a common stop - they%26#39;ve got a bunch of stuff there - fruit stand, coffeeshop, ice cream shop, playground, etc. It is a central California institution. The town of San Juan Bautista is nearby and definitely worth a stop if you are interested in California history - they have a mission and the old town square has been restored/rebuilt.