Vegas,Nevada to Boulder, Colorado.

My last night with the car was interesting to say the least. As usual I woke up in the night and needed the bathroom. What made it an unusual night was my inability to get back into the car! I must have knocked against the car door as I went to get back in and because the front driver's door was locked, it automatically locked. Of course I spent the first few minutes frantically tugging on the door as it hadn't fully closed, but to no avail. I was locked out of the car with only my night clothes on, luckily I don't sleep naked! I looked around trying to think what to do next, I obviously needed help. How best to secure it? I saw a petrol station on the other side of the intestate junction and walked down there. The station itself was closed but luckily for me there was a 24 hour restaurant, I went in and told them my tale of woe. They let me use the phone to call the car rental company, after going through several automated responses, including one for "car lock outs" I was connected to a real person. Unfortunately they couldn't locate me in the computer through my name alone and needed the car registration number, I couldn't remember it. The lady was unable to help me and it was at this point that I started to lose it a little, i said would walk back to the car and get it. It took me a few minutes to explain this to the restaurant staff as I was busy trying not to cry. When I had first spoken with the company they had asked me if I was in a safe location and now they were sending me back out into the night. I didn't feel like a very nice thing to do.
I walked back to car, got the registration number. Was frustrated to realise that I had it wrong by only one letter and went back to the restaurant. I got through again, much quicker this time as I didn't have to listen to all of the options and they agreed to send someone out to get back into the car. We then had another fun few minutes while I tried to explain where the car was. I eventually came up with a compromise we were both happy with and got off the phone. The operator didn't realise how much of a compromise it was, but it was the only way that they would send someone out. I spoke to the restaurant staff and explained where I was and could they speak to whoever called for further directions to find. I knew that whoever came would need more directions than the restaurant address. The staff were just lovely and I don't know what I would have done without them.
I walked back to the car and sat down to wait for the locksmith. He turned up earlier than I had expected and confirmed that he had called the restaurant for directions and driven to the car auction place just up the road from where I was parked. He said that he was lucky to find me, I agreed. It was the work of a few minutes to get the car opened. I crawled back onto the back seat of the car,with the keys tucked in my clothes and waited for the dawn which was just starting to peep over the hills. What a night.
I dosed a little and then started to get my things together. Where I had been basically living out of the car my stuff was spread across the back seat and boot. I had to repack my rucksack, and not everything wanted to go back in. I managed to get it closed and figured that it would do, I wasn't in the best of moods. I went into Las Vegas and couldn't find a public library so headed to my next favourite internet spot, the Apple store. I checked my email, but more importantly booked a flight for that day to Denver, Colorado. I was going to see some friends. I dropped off the car, no extra charges, they obviously hadn't heard from the locksmith company and caught the shuttle bus to my terminal.
I had a bit of time before my flight, I just sat back and relaxed. I was still not in a good mood and hoped that the flight wouldn't be a bad one. At least it wasn't going to be very long. I got onto the plane and managed to get an aisle seat. Then just before they closed the doors I saw this big guy walking towards me, I hoped that he would sit in the middle seat in the row in front of mine. Of course he didn't, I stood up and let him sit down. The steward offered to try and sort something out for me but the flight was full and there wasn't a lot she could do really. She knew immediately that my problem wasn't sitting next to someone but that this guy was spreading over into my seat. If it had been a trans Atlantic flight I would have complained and demanded another seat. This flight was only going to be a couple of hours, I felt sure that I could survive a little discomfort for that length of time. At least I was on the plane and on my way out of Vegas. The flight in fact wasn't too bad despite a lot of turbulence and a problem with one of the engines as we prepared to depart Vegas. We arrived about ten minutes late and when I got to the baggage carousel my bag was waiting for me. I grabbed it and headed to the bus station and caught the bus to Boulder.
The bus ride actually seemed to take longer than the flight from Vegas had done and Boulder is only 44 miles from the airport. I got onto the bus around 5pm and didn't got off until around 7pm. Needless to say the bus ride hadn't improved my mood and I was feeling pretty shitty. I walked to the hostel from the bus stop, the directions were good and checked in. The hostel was not my first choice of accommodation in Boulder, unfortunately it was my only choice. There were no other hostels in Boulder and the hotels were all a bit pricey. This hostel is a throw back to the '80's, you have to pay extra for bed linen, there is no 24 hours staff and no computers. It was a long way from the HI hostel I had stayed in in Seattle.
I went into my dorm and started talking to a British girl, Sally, who was also going to be staying there. She wasn't terribly impressed by the hostel either. She invited me to go out and have a drink with her, I declined and explained that I already had plans to meet up with a friend. I had spoken with Kate and we had arranged to meet at the bus station, we would get some wine and then head back to hers and drink. I wasn't in the mood to sit in a bar and possibly have to be polite to people. I think I got to the bus station a little quicker than Kate had expected and I had to wait a few minutes. It was o.k., there was a security guard and not too many crazy people. Kate arrived and she gave me a big hug, I think she realised that I had had a shit day. We ran to the liquor store, which is huge, picked up a box of wine and caught the bus to her house. We just sat,chatted and drank for a couple of hours before i had to catch the bus back to town. In the course of the evening I got to meet Jay, her landlady/roommate type person. Jay invited me to stay at the house and it was agreed that I would come over on Sunday morning and go to church with her. Kate has just started a PHD course and is still settling in. Her workload sounds crazy, so it would be good if I could do things with jay and then chill with Kate when she wasn't so busy.
I was able to use my transfer ticket on the bus and rolled into bed. I was glad the day was over and that it had finished on a much more positive note then it had started on. I was on my way east.