I did LA - Vegas - Death Valley (an amazing place) but then up to Lake Tahoe and down to SF as the passes through the Sierra Nevadas were stiill closed in May. Went past Mono Lake, though, where High Plains Drifter was filmed ...
The Vesuvio Bar near the City Lights bookstore on Columbus where Kerouac and Ferlinghetti hung out is brilliant, and I didn't even try the absinthe. Chinatown is a bit touristy, as are the cable cars, but you've got to see both. It's also baseball season, so try to catch either the San Francisco...