Navigating from Santa Clarita to Santa Monica, CA

[mgarnett]

We're planning a Southern Tier tour for the winter/spring going east to west.  After a diversion to the Grand Canyon, Zion, and Las Vegas, we'll head back south and proceed west past Barstow to Santa Clarita.  We have a route planned for our last day from Santa Clarita to the Santa Monica Pier.  However, the route is based on one from a 1988 book entitled, "Bicycling Across America," and although the route checks out on the maps, we don't know the neighborhoods or traffic patterns.  Can someone with a familiarity of greater Los Angeles please contact me and approve the route or provide some suggestions?
We appreciate any help you can offer.

-Margaret