The drive from San Francisco to LA is indeed lovely, from dramatic coastal drops to lovely vineyard-garlanded hills (I didn't attempt photos while driving! these images are from one of the less crowded stops on Route 1 and from Descanso Gardens) but the last part of our trip that
took us across Los Angeles was a little surreal. As commuter traffic clotted and churned on either side, we whizzed down the HOV (high-occupancy vehicle) lane fancy free and almost entirely alone. Queasy-making to realize the throngs on the sometimes six lanes to our right weren't in the HOV lane as each was a solitary driver. (And unlike us, most weren't driving a hybrid.) New York subway misery aside I'm happy to be only a holiday driver. 