San Diego to Las Vegas

The long haul from San Diego to Vegas was relatively pain free..

The traffic was never bad and we just went up the freeway, Thibault enjoyed his last day in sports car by getting up to his highest speed, 89mph. Certainly a powerful enough car although Thibault was getting worryingly attached to it. Apparently it's now called Susan....

The only blot on the landscape was the heat, and that we had never worked out how to use the air-conditioning. Well necessity is the mother of invention they say and even with the windows down and doing 70 it was hot. I think I gave Thibault the final incentive he needed by threatening to go shirtless after lunch.

The air-conditioning was a real lifesaver as we were hitting a heatwave in a really hot place. The temperature was above 110F for a fair while. When we stopped for gas or lunch you could feel your skin burning. Any breeze was not cooling but felt like the opening of an oven door.

We stopped at Barstow for lunch, a town which seemed to serve no purpose beyond a stop between distant places. Our first choice for lunch was full and our second was a not unattractive and spacious Mexican diner. Only catch was the food. Heavy dollops of cheese, just yuk.

So back on the freeway to Vegas which we hit about 5pm. Dropped off the hire car easily enough and then taxi to the Mirage.

First impressions were not great. Checking in was like at  airport security - long queues. The endless casino floor was not at all glamorous, dimly lit with loads of bright slot machines and little gambling tables with miserable looking people at them staring through dead eyes. And a rather unpleasant smell, like those Christmas tree air fresheners you get in taxis.

 My room was big but had a musty smell and no coffee maker. Everything is extra here. Including a 30 dollar resort fee.

In a desperate attempt to get some value for it, I headed to the pool while Thibault went to karate. Pool would have been good if a lot emptier. Full of frat boy types. My flabby torso fitted in quite well here, which is not a good sign.

At this point we were joined by Thibault's mate Joe. We were determined to do the Vegas thing and went to neighbouring Caesar's Palace for their buffet. And regretted it. Lots of food and it wasn't bad, but one could have enjoyed a served meal for the same price and not felt as bloated. When its there you feel obligated to make use of it all to get your money's worth. Human nature. We chose to have wine but when we asked our server what wines were on offer it was red or white. He had no idea what we were getting beyond that. And you couldn't tell by the taste either.