It Can Be a Long Day’s Journey Into the Nightlife of Vegas

Timmy Nguyen breathed a sigh of relief when he got out of his minivan with his family at a gas station five miles north of the intersection of Interstates 15 and 215 near Devore.

It had been 2 1/2 hours since he left his home in Garden Grove, and his family was in desperate need of a pit stop with 220 miles remaining on their 270-mile drive to Las Vegas.

Nguyen, 30, said the family’s first stop is usually Barstow, about 60 miles farther down the road. But this time the car-choked freeway slowed their progress.

“We didn’t know if we were going to make it” to Barstow, said Nguyen, who was taking his family to the Paris Hotel and Casino.

On most trips to Las Vegas, 2 1/2 hours of driving would have put them in Barstow. But this was Friday -- getaway day before a three-day Fourth of July weekend, when more than 75,000 vehicles from Southern California were estimated to be on the highway to Sin City.

The 270-mile or more journey on Interstate 15 from Los Angeles, Orange or San Diego counties to Las Vegas can take as little as four hours or, in heavy traffic, up to eight hours.

It doesn’t help that Las Vegas was the No. 1 destination -- ahead of San Diego and Mexico -- for American tourists this weekend, according to the Automobile Assn. of America. Or that last year alone, 27% of Las Vegas’ 37.4 million visitors were from Southern California, the majority of whom made this same drive, said Erika Yowell, a spokeswoman for the Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority.

“People have got to be really excited about coming here if they’re willing to make that drive,” Yowell said.

Devore, in western San Bernardino County, presents a particularly nasty bottleneck as motorists pouring in from the 10 and 210 freeways bumper-to-bumper reach the I-15 and head for the Cajon Pass.

Northeast through San Bernardino County and the Mojave Desert is a dusty trek that tests the patience and nerves of drivers while they’re stuck in congestion early in the drive and even when they are sometimes able to barrel down stretches at 70 mph during the last half of the trip.

“The traffic is difficult enough, and I’m driving a stick,” said Andrew Carrillo, a recent UC Irvine graduate who was heading to Las Vegas for a rock concert in a Toyota pickup truck. “I usually expect mad traffic on the way back, not on the way there.”

But those who operate rest stops along the way see things a bit differently. For them the congestion means more customers than usual.

Gas station employee Danise Von Seggen leaned against the wall of a Food Mart near where Nguyen’s family had parked. She was pulling on a cigarette like it was her last.

“It’s really stressful in there,” she said. “We’re short of staff. It’s going to be jamming this weekend. I’m going to be working 10-hour shifts.” The 45-year-old Victorville resident said she often has to console cranky commuters at the checkout line.

“I can understand,” she said. “If you were stuck in traffic for hours, how would you feel? I think most of them are just glad to get to this point.” As for getting trapped on the freeway herself, Von Seggen said, “I’m too smart for that. I know all the back roads.”

After the Devore bottleneck, the congestion eased a bit Friday and speeds picked up from a paltry 20 mph to 70 mph. As if liberated by the open road, many motorists sped along at 10 to 20 mph over the speed limit.

Some passed in the right lanes. Others weaved in and out undetected by the California Highway Patrol, which increased deployment for the holiday weekend.

Although the congestion usually reduces the number of speeding violations, holiday weekends bring a greater number of drunk and reckless drivers, authorities said.

“People tend to drive more aggressive after being stuck in slow traffic,” said Officer Ron Burch of the CHP’s Southern Division. “It’s the holiday getaway, they’re likely to be more frustrated when they have to sit in their cars for a long time.”

The next town of any size on the I-15 after Devore is Victorville, 85 miles from Los Angeles. The route is dotted with $39-a-night motels, RV lots, mobile homes and highway exits with fitting names like Roy Rogers Drive.

Senior citizens chugged along the wide lanes in Cadillac cars, college students zipped by bopping their heads to music and boyfriends drove as their girlfriends sat back with their bare feet raised on the dashboard.

All signs of commerce disappeared after Victorville. The I-15 turns into a barren roadway for long stretches where wooden signs displaying the Ten Commandments and billboards advertising gentlemen’s clubs compete for the attention of motorists.

Manuel Zetino and a group of friends from UC Irvine stopped in Baker, Calif., a small roadside town 60 miles northeast of Barstow on the I-15. Zetino, 21, said he and his friends were drawn by something far more curious than a chain restaurant -- a 134-foot-high thermometer.

“Oh my God, it’s so hot,” said Zetino, looking at the digital readout that hit 106, as in degrees. He had just endured four hours in the backseat of a pickup truck, which offered what felt like half the leg room of a sedan, he said.

Baker is known as the Gateway to Death Valley. It’s where the heat sizzles off the desert floor even after the sun goes down and restaurant door handles have to be covered in wood so they don’t singe customers.

Zetino and his friends crowded into a booth at the Mad Greek, a restaurant that proclaims its cultural heritage with Grecian statues, flags and even blue straws.

There they argued over the correct way to pronounce “Zzyzx,” the name of a road several miles south (Do you call it Zi-six or Zy-six, they pondered). Some spoke about hitting the slots. All of them were excited about seeing rock bands the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Weezer on Saturday.

“I’m slowly learning to love Vegas,” said Lisa Sanchez, who met up with Zetino’s group at Baker. “This is my third trip since I turned 21 in September. I was really intimidated the first time to get up on the blackjack tables.”

To pass the time in the car, Sanchez and friends had played the “Out of State” game. The rules are simple enough: The first person to see a license plate not from California slaps their fellow passengers.

“My friend is sore,” Sanchez said.

Across the street, Dennis Gleason had just finished a greasy Philly cheesesteak at Bun Boy after a four-hour drive from Hollywood in his friend’s Volvo. Things got off to a rocky start when the pair made it to the 10 Freeway before realizing Gleason had left his wallet at home.

“You know, the first time I stopped here, I thought the thermometer would be a huge tube of mercury,” the 23-year-old said. “But it’s just a big digital readout. It’s kind of disappointing.” Then a friend called on a cellphone and demanded that Gleason and his cohort get back on the road, pronto. They were waiting in Las Vegas.

It would be 50 miles before they reached the state line -- a milestone for drivers amped up with anticipation because it represents the final stretch before the destination.

“It means we’re almost there,” said Stacy Johnson, who stopped at the border town of Primm, Nev., to get coffee at a gas station and slide a $5 bill into a “Triple Diamond” slot machine.

“I’ve never come to Vegas and lost money,” said Johnson, finishing her sentence just seconds before the final spin took her last dollar. “And I come three or four times a year.”

The 24-year-old from Newport Beach said the drive was smooth and hours quicker than a Memorial Day weekend drive two years ago.

On Friday, Johnson was headed for her uncle’s wedding at Caesars Palace with her friend, Kris Bounds, 40.

As the pair left the gas station, Bounds hollered to no one in particular, knowing that the glow of Vegas was only minutes away.

“Once you get over that hill,” Bounds said, “you see the lights and I just get so excited.”