Travel Essays Archives • Page 15 of 69 • Andrew Crusoe

Often when I travel, events work out so well (and so elegantly) that they would have been impossible to plan that way. And to say my visit to Las Vegas was like that would be an understatement.

As per usual, I caught a ride out of San Jose using Craiglist Rideshare (I outline in detail how I leverage Craiglist to travel safely in this article). I was quite excited to be moving onward once again, especially since I would get to explore a city that I’d never had a chance to explore in depth before: Las Vegas.

Believe it or not, I actually looked forward to the long drive down. A day earlier, I’d called my carpool partner and learned that he too was a member of Couchsurfing.org, and overall I got a good vibe from him. From the conversation, I suspected that the drive down would go very well.

It did. We had some great conversations and blasted Flight of the Conchords music as we drove through the afternoon and into the night (passing a small “fake” Vegas along the way). And when he dropped me off at my host’s place that night, we made plans to meet up the following day. Turns out, he’d never explored Las Vegas, either.

The following day, we met up again after breakfast and started exploring. As I said before, neither of us had explored The Strip before, and we had the movie-equivalent of an entire montage of fun (which is why I’ve formatted this article as a photo essay). And although I’m not a fan of gambling, I did try some video poker (purely for the cultural experience, I assure you), and I only ended up netting a $2 loss over a few rounds. Not bad for a gambling newbie, I’d say. My friend however, lost a bit more than that, but not as much as he would have if he hadn’t asked me to be his poker chip holder. That day, I became his willpower. It was interesting.

We also stumbled across an ancient tusk carving, a tiny Venice (complete with gondolas), beautiful stained-glass flowers, a free roulette lesson, an animatronic tree, and an amazing fountain show at the Bellagio that evening. And did I mention all of that is completely free? While Vegas can be expensive, it really depends on what you decide to do. There are many cheap and free activities to choose from, too.

Overall, my first day in Las Vegas turned out to be a great overview of the city. At the very least, I highly recommend you explore The Venetian and catch the Bellagio fountain show which happens each evening at the top of the hour. Unmissable!

Photos

— Bonus —

Marco the Spacefarer appears in all 15 photos in the accompanying photo gallery. If you’re new to the “Where’s Marco” game, it’s similar to “Where’s Waldo” or “I Spy”, and it’s totally fun!

Learn how to play →
Then find him in the photos! →

Coming up Next:

I stumble across the most beautiful desert flowers I have ever seen. Have you ever seen a Red Bird of Paradise? You will. The next article includes these stunning desert blooms, as well as those of the Orange Jubilee:

See what happened next →

All accompanying photos are in the Las Vegas Strip photo gallery. With so much free, high-quality content, why not tell a friend and share this article?

What happens when you combine 4,000 cyclists, over 30 miles of road, and free donuts?

Bike Party.

If you haven’t heard of it yet, Bike Party is a BLAST. Every month, the San Jose Bike Party volunteers plan a route leading out of San Jose, through the surrounding area, and back again. Their mission? To build community through cycling.

Despite it’s modest beginnings, Bike Party now attracts thousands of cyclists each month, many of whom decorate their bikes in outrageous ways. And while it’s difficult to completely describe the excitement and sheer adrenaline of biking with such a large group of people, my story (which happens to be a tale of tragedy and triumph) should give you a taste of what it’s like.

The Triumph

Oddly enough, the triumph came first. It all began when the friend who told me about Bike Party also happened to have a spare bike that I could use. (He’s one of those delightful characters who happens to love tinkering with fixed-gear bikes, yet somehow isn’t a hipster.) Unfortunately though, on our way to the Bike Party he realized that a part was missing from the front of his bike. And he wasn’t even sure if he had the part back at home.

Yet, as we walked down a San Jose street, I got the strangest feeling that the solution to our problem was nearby. I noticed that there was a bike shop farther up which happened to be open, but my friend was skeptical about whether or not they’d have the right sized part for his decidedly-unique fixie bike. I told him to ask anyway. “What’s the downside?”

Sure enough, after looking around for a few minutes, they were able to find the right part. (Some kind of nut, I think, which was ironic because I was about to see a LOT of nuts that night.) 😉

When we finally arrived at one of the starting points, I was surprised to see how elaborately some of the bikes had been decorated. Many of them had colorful LED lights, and a few were even towing small carts with speakers on them!

Energy Drinks & Free Donuts

Soon we were among waves of hundreds of bikes following a preset path through San Jose’s streets, stopping at break points along the way, eventually reaching Cupertino, and heading back to San Jose again. Even big sponsors like Red Bull showed up in a branded car. And although I don’t normally have energy drinks, I chose that night to have my first Red Bull. It helped, given the circumstances. 🙂

Later on, during another break point along the way, I ended up talking to a software engineer who I was surprised to learn worked for Apple! Apparently, he was part of the team that worked on OS X’s Disk Utility, a program that I use just about weekly. Very cool.

In fact, everything went extremely smoothly. (At least, until the end.) And along the way, spontaneous chanting would break out. Usually, one person would yell “BIKE PARTY!” followed by ten people echoing it back to them. There was a real sense of camaraderie. I even came across a large cart, moving with the flow of the group, that was handing out free donuts! And soon it seemed like everyone had a donut amidst the spinning neon lights of the night.

The Tragedy

Perhaps fueled by this extra sugar, I began passing a few people. Actually, a lot of people. After a while, I was certain that I was near the front of the entire party. Yes, I knew it wasn’t a race, but I wanted to reach the endpoint at San Jose City Hall early so I could watch everyone come in and perhaps take a few photos of it, as well.

Then, I ran over a small piece of unidentifiable junk in the road. At first, I thought the bike was alright, and then everything felt wrong. My front tire was totally flat. After a few minutes, a concerned biker stopped and even pumped up my front tire with a small bike pump, but to no avail. There was a definitely a hole, and neither of us had a patching kit. I thanked him profusely, and he offered to lead me down a shortcut to the endpoint so I could wait for my friend. Soon, I was following him down side streets, cringing every time I hit a bump.

The Bigger Triumph

When I arrived at San Jose City Hall, over a hundred people were already there. And as I watched some of the wilder ones jump and balance on the City Hall plaque, I realized that even though the last 10% of my experience had been a bit of a bummer, that didn’t diminish how great the first 90% of Bike Party had been. Despite the setback, it was certainly some of the most fun I had during my entire time in California. So amidst the still-glowing cyclists around me, I decided to focus on that 90%, to focus on gratitude.

I’d already learned that by consistently focusing on what I’m grateful for, it opens the door for more positive experiences, and I wanted to keep that door open.

After all, I hadn’t even known Bike Party existed a mere week before, and what was to come was just as equally unpredictable and amazing.