Might Tony Hsieh champion a group pushing for LA to Vegas? I imagine SF-Vegas might have a roundabout route.

That could definitely make sense. Vegas might even put up some capital to make it easier for people to visit and put their hard earned dollars to good use.

I can also imagine that from an infrastructure standpoint building across desert you'd run into fewer obstacles, although that might be wishful / oversimplified thinking.

And 30 minutes would mean that you could go to Vegas on a Friday or Saturday night and return to crash in your own place.

Probably, though the thermal shock might be a lot more exaggerated (hot-ass days, cold-ass nights).

But the solar power mechanism would definitely be more viable in the desert.