did 600nm from northern arizona to the bay area via the coast. did stops every 3 hours or so. took about 9 hours each way. did it in one shot, solo for a little over half way each way. id say dont rush yourself on the way out there...itll obviously take longer headed west. other than that...

* fiddle around with skyvector and airnav to pick and choose youre optimum routing (though it sounds like you got that taken care of)

* do your preflight prep like always.

* go to a dollar store and buy a water bottle.

other than that, vfr flight following never hurts.

and take pictures. it helps to attest to more than the remarks section in your logbook.