Advice Please Re San Francisco and LA

For LA, you have to ask yourself what you would want to see to determine if it's worth it. I agree that staying in Santa Barbara is a good place. La Brea Tar Pits is a nice museum and they are still doing active excavations. Ronald Reagan Library is amazing even if weren't a Reagan fan. Driving through Malibu is nice. All of those can be done from Santa Barbara. Other than that, L.A. was just a traffic nightmare that I had to navigate to get to San Diego from Central CA.

Pacific Coast Highway is one of the most amazing drives you will ever take. Your rig is short enough but I'm still not sure I would tow on the PCH. Stop at Monterey, Big Sur, Hearst Castle, scenic cliffs, arch bridges, and on and on.