Central Coast to Valley Center (San Luis Obispo: live, best time, area)

[lyoncourt]

Sorry if a similar question has been asked before, I poked around with some search terms but didn't find any cases that helped me as much as I had hoped.

So here is the question,

I live on the central coast of California, San Luis Obispo to be exact and I plan on making a drive to Valley Center soon. The thing is that I rarely drive through this area (my last experience was about a month ago). I know the traffic can be bad, especially on the 405 and 101 (I have never driven on the 5, myself) and it can be really bad at certain times of the day.

So I seek advice for the best route, the best time to leave, and any other general tips you more experienced drivers can offer me before I make my journey.

(I have checked what GoogleMaps had to say but they don't give personal experience advice :] )

Thank you.

[TheSeaward]

I drove from Paso Robles to Valley Center and cut across to the 5 first. I heard 101 can be slow, but I've never tried it. I would avoid LA during rush hour on weekdays and on Friday, you have to make it through LA before 2pm or so or else you're going to hit a lot of traffic and you might as well pull over and wait till 7pm.