Hi all,

I have been searching through the forum but cannot find an answer that relates directly to my question, so please forgive me if I have missed anything and am repeating here...unfortunately, this trip is all very last minute, so apologies if it all sounds a little haphazard!

My wife and I are arriving in San Fran from the UK on the 14th May. We are spending a few days there before picking up our hire car and driving to Vegas. We need to arrive in Vegas the day after we set off from SF. We would obviously like to drive through beautiful scenery, but are aware that our time restrictions will dictate what we can do.

So, a couple of questions, which is the best route to set off from SF one morning and arrive in Vegas the following evening? Where would be best location to stay over for the night of the road trip? Are we likely to be able to just turn up at a hotel/motel/etc and get a room or should I be calling them all now?

Extra info: my wife would really like to see Yosemite. I would prefer to see Death Valley, but am happy to go with either depending on the time restrictions above. I have also never driven with snow chains (if they would still be required in the middle of May).

Any advice would be much appreciated.
Kind regards,
Dave