You might want to rent a car before you go to save mileage and wear on your car (you will be driving through the desert). If you're going on a weekend, know that there will almost always be traffic. However, even with traffic, one can drive to Las Vegas from Los Angeles in about 5 hours. It is about the same drive time from San Diego. Most visitors leave L.A. between Friday morning and very late Friday night, but everyone heads back to L.A. between noon and 8 p.m. on Sunday. The trip to L.A. is almost always slower than the trip to Vegas. If you can take Monday off and travel then, you'll be traffic free. It is advisable to take some breaks every hour or so during the drive to make the trip easier. There are places to visit, such as a stop in Baker (try the Mad Greek for some of their strawberry and date shakes) or stop by the Calico silver mining town in Barstow. There are also some outlet shopping malls on the way to Las Vegas.

Maps and Driving Directions to Las Vegas From:

• S. California

• N. California

• Arizona

• Utah

• Reno