[Flieger]

It depends on what you like to do. Me, I like nature/hiking. But with the ages of your kids it sounds like this won't be of any use to you. But here goes anyway:

Certainly highway 1 from Monterey to San Luis Obispo is a beautiful drive with some stunning natural scenery. Point Lobos is very beautiful, but try to go after the morning fog has burned off. Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park has some great views (particularly the beach/cove), further south I liked eating at Ragged Point. I went to school in San Luis Obispo. The town has a quaint downtown and Bishop Peak and the rest of the 9 Sisters are pretty, as is Montana de Oro. And the central coast has some nice driving roads, and SLO has a decent classic car scene, but nothing like what you can get in Monterey at the right time of the year, or in LA at some of the shows.

I haven't done Hearst Castle because to me it's just a big house that some rich guy built.

If any of you are into cars you could check and see if there's anything going on at Laguna Seca while you are up north.