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You clearly would prefer to take I-40, both because it would let you show your son one of the last great remaining stretches of old US-66, and because it should save you some time in navigating the L.A. basin. Well, I'm going to concur with you 100%. I have driven both I-10 and I-40 to the coast from Tucson. In fact, for a while my job required that I occasionally commute between Tucson and Pasadena. What I came to learn from experience was that "L.A." started at Redlands and didn't end until Ventura, nearly 130 miles later. As one last enticement to take I-40 and CA-58 to the coast, you can arrange a tour of Edwards Air Force Base, home of the "Right Stuff" and, if you're very, very lucky, a Space Shuttle landing.

AZBuck