[ba-poker] RE: (OT) SF to LV

["John R. Grout" <j.grout(deleted the rest)>]

E.Dieter.Martin(deleted the rest) wrote:

>About 9 hours drive, give or take.
>Route from SFO is I-80,880,680,580,I-5,
>head east toward Bakersfield.
>From there into the Mojave toward Barstow
>and then Las Vegas

There are multiple places to cross over between
I-5 and Highway 99.  I prefer 7th Standard Road
(I-5 Exit 263), which is more rural than the
rapidly developing Highway 58 corridor (I-5 Exit
257) but is not that much longer.  Coming back,
take Highway 99 north from Bakersfield to the 7th
Standard Road exit (the exit number isn't posted
yet) and go west.  Note... there's a mile of
well-signed frontage road between I-5 Exit 263
and the west end of 7th Standard Road.

East of Highway 99, Highway 58 is a freeway until
the new Mojave bypass, then a divided highway until
the outskirts of Barstow, then a freeway again.
Someday Caltrans will eliminate the horrid
four-way stop at Highway 58's intersection with
US 395.

If you plan to take two days along this route,
consider a visit to Bakersfield's remaining
cardroom, the Golden West Casino, which is
at 1001 S. Union Street, a few blocks south of
Highway 58 (use the South Union Street exit).

>One possible [scenic] route would be to head
>toward Yosemite Park, leave on the eastern exit
>and head toward US-95 past Lake Mono, with Death
>Valley within reach as well. But that's probably
>a 2 day trip.

That's _certainly_ a two-day trip... and one has
to find an open Sierra Nevada pass.  The two
farthest south passes (Tioga Pass through Yosemite
and Sonora Pass north of there) might not be open
until May... this has been a very snowy winter.
If one doesn't mind a long two-day trip, one can
cross nearer Lake Tahoe and go down US 395.
John R. Grout
j.grout(deleted the rest)