avoid sacramento at all costs. there is nothing to see.
one option, at least in the bay area, would be to use couchsurfing.com.
in the bay area you wont need mobile broadband. there is unprotected wireless everywhere, and every coffee shop will have free wireless.
while in the bay area use yelp from pretty much everything. we use it a lot down here and pretty much every business has a lot of reviews.
also, be sure to check out santa cruz while you're in the bay. a fun little town.
some google fodder:
-big sur
-big basin
-the saturn cafe, santa cruz
-gourmet ghetto, berkeley
-the berkeley bowl
-berkeley in general
-california farmer's markets
-the red vic
-china town, sf
-ucsc's campus, very pretty
I live near Sacramento, and I'd agree it's not really worth going out of your way to visit. It's not a bad or unpleasant place, and parts of midtown are quite nice, but there's not much point in being here if you could be somewhere else.
If you're heading inland from SF you should (as someone else said) visit Lake Tahoe instead.
I don't agree with what other people are saying about trading in your car on something more economical. You're doing maybe three thousand miles, but it's spread over a six month period, making your total gas costs for the actual road-trip only a hundred odd bucks a month. If the F-150 is reliable and holds all the stuff you want to take, then take it.
one option, at least in the bay area, would be to use couchsurfing.com.
in the bay area you wont need mobile broadband. there is unprotected wireless everywhere, and every coffee shop will have free wireless.
while in the bay area use yelp from pretty much everything. we use it a lot down here and pretty much every business has a lot of reviews.
also, be sure to check out santa cruz while you're in the bay. a fun little town.
some google fodder: -big sur -big basin -the saturn cafe, santa cruz -gourmet ghetto, berkeley -the berkeley bowl -berkeley in general -california farmer's markets -the red vic -china town, sf -ucsc's campus, very pretty
again, dont go to sacramento.