Highway 101 meets up with the 405 Freeway in Sherman Oaks, where it splits to the south toward Los Angeles and north to Ventura.

The picture above shows the connector exit where the intersection of the 405 and Interstate 101 highways meet in California near Los Angeles.

There are several ways to pick up Interstate Highway 101 when traveling north along coastal California. This LAX route takes you past the Los Angeles Airport, where traffic almost always comes to a stop either at the airport or just north of it near the Hughes Center, a shopping complex on the west side of the road. As you creep along this stretch, many times barely moving at all, locals like an inland road filled with stoplights galore over on Manchester and La Cienega. Unfortunately that route goes inland to West Hollywood, and will not help for those trying to catch the 101 as it veers northwest. Of course you can pick it up on Highway 10 or another route, but if you decide to take the popular 405, just hang in there if you can. 

What will you see? Traffic and lots of graffiti. Some areas look like they could be bombed out wastelands, but believe it or not, many housing units are being built directly off the freeway and facing it. Hopefully the condos and apartments will curb the appetite for spray paint decor, but it's unlikely.

Finally, as you inch beyond LAX, see downtown Los Angeles to your right, then The Getty to the left, you either will find clear sailing as you arrive at the 101, or you will continue to creep on.

Sometimes when traveling you just get too tired to carry on. Other times you may pull off the highway because you have to use the bathroom, or the traffic gets to you.  If this is true, one Sherman Oaks hotel just a short distance from the 101 is the Courtyard by Marriott on Ventura Blvd. near the spot where the 101 meets the 405 shown in the photo above. If you spend the night, the Sherman Oaks Galleria is an ideal place to dine and shop.