Instead of taking 120, we went the other way. 101, 152, 5, 58, 178, 14 and 395. We saved an hour of driving and the $20 dollar fee at Yosemite.
Robbo is correct, you can save the $ for entrance to Yosemite, but I find hwy 120 faster, and much more pleasant than going south from Lone Pine to hook up with Interstate 5. Your return is on a Tuesday, so traffic should be no problem through Yosemite Park (providing Labor day does not cause some unexpected traffic issues).
