Driving from Bay area to Las Vegas
 

Hi,
We are driving from the bay area to Las Vegas with kids. I believe it is a 10 hr drive. Is there any place good on the way to stop and see or maybe spend the night ?

Rea

You could drive down the 5 freeway to Los Angeles and spend the night near Universal Studios, taking the tour in the morning. Or if it's a weekend day, Magic Mountain off the 5 freeway near Santa Clarita. Then head off to Vegas...but don't drive it on a Friday or on a Saturday, it's C R O W D E D on the 15 north.
Also, if you're coming in to L.A., don't approach between 4:30pm and 7:30pm weeknights or you'll hit big traffic.

I-5 is pretty boring and not much for siteseeing. In Boron there is the Twenty Mule Team Museum and Visitor's Bureau but I've never been.

http://www.rnrs.com/20MuleTeam/

Just east of Barstow is Calico Ghost town which is a real tourist trap;)

http://www.calicotown.com/

Utahtea

I forgot about the Tehachapi Loop. We've seen it as we've driven by many times but we've never stopped.

http://www.tehachapicentral.com/community_rail001.html

You will also pass by the Worlds Tallest Thermometer in Baker, CA

http://www.schweich.com/imagehtml/2907-21.html

Remember....you asked! ;)

Utahtea

Hi,
We're planning to do the drive to Vegas as well in Jan05. It didn't occur to me that traffic might be an issue (silly me!) but after reading the Fodors boards, it sounds like there'll be traffic.

How bad is the traffic from Barstow to Vegas on Sat morning? We're planning to possibly drive there on Jan08,05. Is it too "late" if we get to Bakersfield by 9am? Is the traffic worse than on highway405(which seems to be pretty bad each time we go to LA)?
Are we crazy to do this drive?
Thanks!

That Saturday morning drive will probably be a little slow in spots, and definitely heavy traffic, but nothing like the parking-lot traffic jams that you can encounter on a weekday in L.A.

Thanks, tracys2cents! I feel better knowing that the traffic won't be like the 405 all the way. Slow in spots I can handle..