So there I was, hanging upside down on the stripper pole.....

[sixgun]

No, seriously. Too bad the rest of the story isn't quite as entertaining as the teaser. Day three of the road trip, mixed so far. Got to Vegas Ok, met George the Klingon Blood Worm in Quark's Bar. Strange fish swimming in a liquer bottle. Had some dinner, then went to see Ka. It was a good show, but not the best Cirque I have seen, O still takes that honor. Ka was a good martial arts wire-fu movie, but despite some awesome martial arts work, the show seemed more about the machines than the performers. So I was slightly underwhelmed. But then I wound up off the strip at a Karaoke bar with Crash Helmet and some of his friends. I warned them about my lack of karaoke ability, and they listened, thank god for all of us. Anyway, several rounds later, we notice the small, portable stripper pole in the corner of the club. Why? Who knows and who cares. So various people in the group try it out. One guy does this upside down handstand thing, no one else can do it, so I give it a shot. I have new respect for dancers who do good pole tricks, I didn't expect that damn things to be quite so slippery. Anyway, after a bit of coaching from the guy, I got it on the second try. Pretty soon realized I had a decent buzz on, it was 1am, and I had an 8 hour drive to look forward to, so I called it a night early. Still, it was fun to see an old friend, if only briefly.
Stayed overnight in nowhereville, then did a few hours into Denver this afternoon. Got a hotel, went for a run, ran past the convention center and found out I missed the last day of the Great American beer festival by a few hours :( Oh well, would have wrecked tomorrow's drive... not to mention me. I will say through, that the drive through the Rockies is beyond spectacular. I can't really describe it, hope the pics will convey some of it when I pull them off the camera later.
Now it's off to find some dinner and get a bit of sleep.