LA to Vegas Road Trip

At Monster Park, your kids can ride a dolphin, slay (then slide down) a dragon, wrestle an octopus and escape from the belly of a whale all before nap time.

The West Coast has its own Lady Liberty and she stands proudly in front of El Monte City Hall, highly visibly on a street corner. She's much smaller than her Liberty Island counterpart, but no less imposing or eye-catching. The other difference is the material - the El Monte statue is made of fiberglass while the one in New York is made of copper. She's also much more accessible to take a picture with! I...

Baldwin Park was the birthplace of California's famed In-N-Out Burger, where the first stand was opened in 1948. It was demolished to make way for the I-10, but a replica was built to pay homage to this long-standing West Coast tradition. While it is only a replica and not an actual operating restaurant, you can easily grab a burger from the In-N-Out on the other side of the freeway.

Established 1915 this former Richfield gas station in the Inland Empire is remarkably maintained. The city of Cucamonga has preserved the station well and restored it to its original appearance from a century ago. The museum and gift shop hours are Thursday through Sunday from 10 AM to 3 PM.

Embedded within the Cajon Pass is a striking rock formation named for a group of Mormon travelers making their way through in 1851. The rocks are visible via a one-mile trail loop. They are home to a variety of wildlife including lizards and pack rats as well as several birds of prey. As a precaution, take plenty of water with you and watch out for rattlesnakes!

Roy Roger's horse was upgraded to this 24-foot tall statue. Trigger was a movie star in his own right, appearing in dozens of Hollywood films. The anatomically correct fiberglass Golden Palomino once stood guard at Sunset Hills Memorial Park and Mortuary, but now greets guests visiting the Spirit River Center.

Fire departments around the nation stood together when their FDNY brethren and sistren died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Barstow FD paid its own tribute by commissioning a giant fiberglass statue of a firefighter's helmet. Emblazoned on the helmet is the number "343" which isn't the company number but the number of FDNY lives lost on that pivotal day in American history.

Peggy Sue's 50's Diner opened in 1954 just 5 years before Buddy Holly tragically died in a plane crash. True to its origins, the diner is a step back into an era of bobby socks and red jukeboxes. The menu is also reminiscent of the '50s - comfort food at its best. Deep fried pickles, strawberry milkshakes, and meatloaf are some of the tasty fare served here.

Unfortunately, these funky looking cars are locked behind a chain link fence. But you can still see these patched-together hunks of metal from the road which made appearances in the first two "Mad Max" movies. Even the land they're parked on and the surrounding area look like a world straight out of a post-apocalyptic dystopian film.

Even though the locale is a true Old West town, many of the buildings have either been rebuilt or restored with not-so-genuine facades. Calico Ghost Town may not have any residents but it is peopled with visitors aplenty, operating as an amusement park of sorts. Mine tours, gunfight shows, and restaurants are part of its offerings. And even though the silver and gold rush is long gone, you can still pan ...

The 65-foot-ice cream sundae (a nicely disguised water tower) is a large, colorful shout-out to dusty travelers driving through the Mojave Desert. Located in the middle of nowhere on a lonely stretch of road between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, Eddie World is the Four Seasons of gas stations. The gigantic building looks like a cross between a Spanish villa and a Roman pavilion. Top-tier gas is sold alongsi...

Word is that this thermometer was built to be 134 feet high to commemorate the record-breaking Death Valley summer of 1913 when temps reached a scorching 134 degrees. (Photo by Martha Brenes)

Owners Luis and Susana Ramallo have found the perfect way to combine two of their interests - aliens and jerky. Housed in a futuristic building you have your choice of dozens of flavors of jerky as well as other goodies. If you don't eat meat, you can choose from a variety of snacks, trail mix, BBQ marinades, little UFO tchotchkes, or simply get your fortune told by an extraterrestrial in a fortune telle...

The Nevada landscape is known for its neutral color palette. Swiss artist, Ugo Rondinone, wanted to break up a monotonous desert plain in Las Vegas. He gathered boulders and positioned them on top of one another, until he had seven totem-like structures about 35 feet high. Each boulder is painted a radiant color. Since these structures were made to be enjoyed by everyone, feel free to walk between them. ...

This popularized sign is a Las Vegas landmark that was constructed in 1959 and erected by Western Neon. The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign was funded and designed by Betty Willis at Ted Rogich's request (a local salesman) who sold it to Clark County, Nevada. The sign is actually located roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Las Vegas' city limits.

This iconic sign was made famous when singer/songwriter, Sheryl Crow, used it as the back cover art on her debut album "Tuesday Night Music Club" way back in 1993. Clearly visible from the 15, this is a fun pitstop on your way to or from Vegas. (Submitted by Ashleigh Bullard)