1

I would think you could live quite well for $10,000. In some of the larger tourist areas you may have to pay $160 a day for hotel/motel, but if you can stay in some of the smaller towns I would think you could save considerable. I would also doubt that you will be using a tank of gas a day, especialy when you are in Las Vegas, and other cities. Yes you will when you are covering long distances. I really question if you are going to be driving 6 or 7 thousand miles in 25 days.

It is hard to answer any quesitons on your car rental. What kind of car, will you be returning the car to the place you picked it up, how old are you, also would you please add your country to your profile, that information can really help answer some quesitons.

It is also hard to answer your food question. What kind of restaurants do dine at and how frequently. Yes there is fast food and while on the road you could easily go to supermarkets and prepare picnic lunches. Get a small inexpensive cooler for the car for these days.

I can not even quess on the amount of money you will need for shopping. It could range from zero the sky is the limit.

2

Some of the casinos in Las Vegas include all-you-can-eat buffets for free to gamblers. A lobster dinner for 2 at the Red Lobster may cost about $40-$50. A buffet meal at something like the popular Country Kitchen Restaurants may cost about $20- $30 for 2. Some motels, such as the Quality Inns, cost about $40/night, including free buffet all-you-can-eat breakfasts. When I am traveling, I usually eat a large breakfast and a late lunch/'dinner, and maybe just a snack at supper time.

Currently, the regular gasoline price is around $3.35/gallon in New Mexico. It depends on how many miles/gallon your rental car gets as to how expensive a full tank will cost. It currently costs $40 to fill the tank of my Jeep Liberty, and I can get around 300+ miles/tank, depending on whether I am driving on flat highways or steep mountain roads or in stop-and-go city traffic. There are some much more economical, compact cars than mine. Rental cars are more expensive for those people under age 25 years.

I recommend that you spend one night either in Napa Valley -- Calistoga preferably, or in the town of Sonoma in Sonoma County while you are wine tasting. It can be a long drive back to San Francisco and if one of you wishes to actually drink rather than simply "taste" the wine, you need to have a sober designated driver.

It is a very long drive through Death Valley and Yosemite National Park for just one day -- you will need to spend the night in Mammoth Lakes or Lee Vining. I don't know what town Biositi is in -- is it en route to Merced?

3

There are a number of first class wine regions in California, in addition to the better-known Napa Valley. You will pass through several of them on the drive down the coast.

I'm going to copy a post I made last September, with some edits.

In September, which is harvest season, the Napa area can be very crowded, especially on weekends. You will be sharing the road and the tasting rooms with tour buses, limos, truckloads of grapes, and lots of other people. Tasting fees can be high. Friends of mine who were visiting the Napa Valley in Sept. 2011 reported paying up to $15 for tasting at some wineries.

In other wine regions, crowds will be smaller (it might just be you and a winery employee if you get lucky) and wineries may not charge for tasting. Another advantage is that many of the smaller wineries in other areas may only sell at the winery or may not sell outside of California, so you will have a chance to try some wines you'd never see at home.

In the interest of laziness, I'm just going to link to previous posts of mine about wineries along the coast.

Wineries between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara I'd consider one of the drives I linked to. Much prettier than the freeway.

Winery links, including Monterey & Santa Cruz

I'd add your Napa day to the drive down the coast and spend a day doing wine tasting, foe example, stay two nights in San Luis Obispo and visit wineries in that area.

What is "Biositi lodging"?

4

Your car rental and gas prices seem way too high. You should be able to get a compact car with unlimited miles for $20-$25 per day at most. You will not need a full tank of gas every day, either.

Impossible to say on food. Could be $20 per day per person, or you could eat at the best restaurants in Vegas, San Francisco, Napa/Sonoma, and Los Angeles, which can easily run $200 or more per person. Ditto for shopping.

Hotel budget seems reasonable for nice but not top end hotels. As mentioned above, in some places you probably can't even find a hotel that costs that much. You can make up the difference at some super nice digs in San Francisco or Wine Country, however!!!