Los Angeles, CA --> Calico Ghost town --> Barstow --> Las Vegas, NV

Left Los Angeles and headed for Las Vegas, NV. On our way we stopped at Calico Ghost town. Definitely not a must-go. Too expensive. To me it is a tourist trap.
Temperatures went up and up. When we stopped at a gas station in Baker the heat was unbearable. Well, Baker provides the World's tallest thermometer. What did it read? 118 degrees Fahrenheit!
We left this oven and drove on to Las Vegas. It was pretty "cool" there. Just 102 degrees fahrenheit. Took a room at the historic Stardust Resort & Casino (closed November 2006). We passed the whole evening wandering arround and visiting numerous Casinos along the Las Vegas Strip. Watched the volcano and the white tigers at the Mirage, visited the roman forum at Caesar's Palace and got excited by the pirate performance at Treasure Island. Our little tour included further Casinos like MGM Grand, Excalibur and the relatively new Luxor.
The permanent change between the hot dry air outside the casinos and the air conditioned areas inside was quite disagreeable. A thought struck me: Could be a wise idea to settle down as an ENT physican here!