I’d say driving down to Big Sur is always an experience.
They had a pretty nasty mudslide though recently and I am not sure if you actually can drive there at the moment.
If yes, I recommend to stay at Glenn Oaks http://glenoaksbigsur.com/
For dinner, we really enjoyed Nepenthe http://www.nepenthebigsur.com/
Good but affordable hotels in SF are actually surprisingly hard to find.
But when I travel for work/fun, I often stay at the Phoenix http://www.phoenixsf.com/
It has a good vibe and it doesn’t break the bank. The only drawback is, it’s in the tenderloin which is one of the roughest hoods in SF.
However, it’s very central and close to pretty much any part of town with both BART and Muni close by.
For food, I would recommend both Statebird Provisions and their sister restaurant The Progress. Both awesome.
Good call on Palm Springs! Not sure where you are staying but the different resorts have a bunch of fun activities.
We were at the Ace and had a lot of fun with karaoke and bingo. There are some mid-century architecture tours you can do but I thought they looked a little thin and quite pricey.
We also did a pretty stunning hike in a reservation which was amazing. I think it was called Palm Valley or something like that. Otherwise, just vegging out by the pool, drinking cocktails is not a bad way to spend the day 