Thanks for the replies everyone. I just got back a few days ago and had an amazing trip.
Of course nothing went to plan
. We ended up leaving LA in the afternoon. When we got to Baker it was already 5 Pm so we decided to head to Vegas and stay the night there.
From Vegas we left in the morning and drove through death valley and through to Bakersfield and made it all the way to Monterey. Crazy I know
Our hotel was booked in Monterey so didn't have a choice but not to drive all the way.
I would do it again in a heartbeat (Maybe not taking 198 from I5 to 101 in the dark
)
Thanks