After getting picked up at the airport by my best friend and broadcast partner Tom “Maverick” Cruz, we headed to the Enterprise Rent A Car to pick up our ride for the week. Pretty fitting wouldn’t you say since we were in town for a Star Trek Convention.

I was given a Chevy Cruze which was a little small but I wasn’t planning on doing much driving any way. Once I had the car Tom and I separated so he could continue setting up the TrekRadio booth while I got settled in.

My first stop after picking up the car was In N Out. The absolute best burger joint on the planet. I had a Double Double, cheeseburger both animal style, fries and a Dr. Pepper. A slight variation of this meal (minus the cheeseburger), would be my staple for the entire Las Vegas trip. I picked up a meal for Tom as well.

I spent the rest of the day helping Tom setup the booth. Around 9:00pm they closed up the dealers room and we headed out to our rooms.

Originally we were supposed to stay at a hotel called the D in downtown Vegas. I usually stay downtown, because it is cheaper. Besides you only need a room to sleep for a few hours before you are back on the strip until the wee hours of the morning. However Tom ended up meeting with someone he knew from his STOked Radio show and fellow Star Trek Online gamer.

This guy knew how to play the system in Vegas and got a great deal on not one but two suites at the Rio. So we ditched our room at the D thank goodness they refunded my deposit.

When we got to the room I met Ben for the first time. It didn’t take long to figure out that the three of us were like minded beyond just the Star Trek connection and were going to get a long just fine.

After a quick change of clothes it was back down to the Masquerade bar for the welcome party. It was sometime around 2am when we made it back up to the room to catch a few hours rest before hitting the convention floor for day 1 of Khan!