So I hear nightmares about I5 and LA. How long does it take to get from LA to SF? I'm going to be driving from PHX to Portland, and figured I'd do it in two legs - PHX to SF, and then SF to Portland. What sort of day am I in for on that first leg?

around 6hrs I believe.

Cool, thanks! I'm going to try to avoid the 4pm time slot, but I've heard that rush hour never really stops.

it's not so bad,but it's a boring ugly drive on the 5..you should take the pch hwy..great scenery and lots of people selling strawberries and stuff + Santa Cruz is fun

i took i-5 from sf to san deigo for the con, the only issues i ran into, was the fuckin traffic when we got to LA. and the trip with stops for gas, stretching and food is actually about 8 hours. also make sure you have 4$ for the bay bridge, because unless you break off from i-5 to get to SF your gonna end up having to cross it.

Yeah, I'm now debating whether to stop in SF. I just looked at hotels and it's about $200 for a night. And there's a good chance that I'd get into town after S7 closes, and have to leave before they open - the whole point in staying the night in SF was to check out the shop. I might just look for a cheap bed in Stockton, Sacramento, Davis or somewhere along the corridor.