Penn and Teller

     The pool party turned out to be a bad idea for a few reasons. The first being that it was overcast, a lot of people didn't come out. Second being that I am not super good in social situations like that, people don't really come to Vegas to meet other people, so everybody is kind of clique-ish. Third being that these days I am kind of lonely, even meeting the other people in the hostel, I haven't made any real connections yet, so being around all those people having a lot of fun together and knowing each other makes me feel left out.

     After a packed van ride to the hotel we played some sand volleyball, I went around the wave pool a bit, and then I was just sitting there, thinking about those things I mentioned, and trying to figure out why I wasn't having a good time when I felt like I should have been. I was talking to one of the guys who works at the hostel, a German guy who I doubt I really had anything in common with, and he asked me how old I was when we were discussing clubs and such. I told him that I was 21 and he said "oh, so you can do anything". What he meant by that is that I am able to drink and gamble and go to strip clubs and such, but I took it a completely different way.
     I thought about how I could do anything, sticking with the whole philosophy of my trip, and how it was kind of stupid to be sitting around with people I mostly don't care about having a mostly not great time. So I left. I went and found the concierge, he told me where I could grab a tram and a bus to the Rio to see Penn and Teller, and told me some cheap fooderies around the area. I went and watched the Belagio water show, took the tram and the bus, ate some food at the Rio, and made a nice $110 at blackjack before the show. So my night improved dramatically.
    Waiting in my seat for the show to start, I talked to the people next to me who were interested in my trip, I was more interested in there escape from Soviet Russia, and we swapped stories until the show started. I was actually rather underwhelmed by the show, I think that this is because I have seen so many parts of it before on other things that Penn Jillette has done, and that I am used to his style. I still don't know how he did almost all of the tricks, but I just didn't find the show Super entertaining. Could have also been a factor that I was amazingly tired.
    After the show, I met Penn and Teller, I stayed to be the last one to talk to them, but they were kind of shurging me off, and ran out without talking much, still I got some fun pictures.

    After the show I grabbed a cab with some other from the Rio, and our driver ended up telling us the who, what, when, where, why, and how of buying prostitutes, both in Vegas and abroad. All of this was totally unsolicited. Anyways, the cab ride cost me about as much as the bus and was about 5 times faster so it worked out. After that I crashed straight out, I was having trouble standing up I was so tired.
    The next morning I got up and ate some pancakes with James and Franziska from my room. We chatted about our trips, and ended up getting a little candid about our feelings of travel and such, turned in to a good conversation. After I packed up, and we exchanged contact info, I checked out of the Hostel and headed to the bus stop. About an hour of bus rides, along with 20 or so minutes waiting at an empty transit station, landed me as far south and as close to the I-15 as I could get. A short walk got me to the interstate and I started fencing a ride.
    This is where my day turned rough, I was standing out in the sun, feeling the burn, for a few hours with no luck. This is when I made a bad decision, I decided to hoof it to the next on ramp, which looked WAY closer than it was. I ended up walking 5 miles in the heat, drank all my water, and earned myself a brag worthy sun burn. I splurged on some food at a small pub next to the next on ramp and died in the booth for a little bit, but I had to hit it out again before it got dark. I met another hitch hiker on the on ramp, and we chatted for a while, before he let out of there, which I was thankful for because he didn't share my "clean looking guys get rides" philosophy.  The only thing that followed this was more limbo. There was a low flow of traffic, and I think it was the wrong crowd for getting rides because I couldn't even get anybody to wave at me. I waited for a few more hours, evened out my sun burn, and just wallowed in the rejection.
    I was less than 10 minute from my set "call it quits" time, when I received some a gift from the hitch hiking gods. A ride. Rob was from New Zealand, drove a nice truck, and was as nice as they come. He saw me, stopped to late, then backed up 30 yards to pick me up. He said he would take me to Orange County, where I could go to LA from. We chatted about his new business, and he taught me about Nascar, and I caught some sleep. Then as we drove into Orange County Rob offered to let me sleep at his house for the night.
    So here I am, relaxing after a day of ups and downs, about to have a nice bed to sleep in tonight. I don't know what is in store for tomorrow.