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October 20, 2016 - 1:04 a.m.
"debate day at unlv"

Hey Journal!

Wow! I don't even know what to say about today! It turned out even better than I had hoped for and was probably the best day of our trip so far! I can't tell you how random and unplanned everything was today and that's what made it so amazing.

We got up this morning at about 10:30 at the Hard Rock Hotel. Check-out time was at 11:00 and we didn't get quite enough sleep last night but we powered through and packed up our stuff and left.

Before we left the room we devised a timeline for the day's plans. All of that went out the window after the first stop which was breakfast. The plans fell apart but the day really came together!

We ate breakfast at Denny's a few blocks away from the strip. We wanted to get far away from the craziness. As we passed by the Thomas and Mack Center at UNLV, we could see that they already started closing down roads and there were so many police around. It was so different from just a hours earlier.

So, we got to Denny's ordered our breakfast and ate. It was a good meal and gave us the energy to get through the day! When we were done, we decided to stop at UNLV to check out the CNN and MSNBC setups today. Luckily, the parking lot we had found yesterday was pretty empty. We asked a campus security guard if they were enforcing the meters today and he said they weren't! That was really great.

We thought we were just going to be there for a short while before going to check in at our hotel for the night and then walking around the strip but we decided to stay at UNLV all day.

Oh, and our hotel....we found a great deal on Hotel Tonight for $79 at New York, New York! Bam!

So, we walked over to MSNBC and today things were a lot crazier over there. There were people with much bigger signs than yesterday and it was a lot harder to get on camera! We walked over to CNN and this was the biggest change -- there were less people there, but the people who were there had GIANT signs that blocked the whole front row and you couldn't even try to get on TV.

One other big difference between yesterday and today was that there were police EVERYWHERE. All different types of police, too. Yesterday there were none. There were also a lot of older people there today and a lot of really WEIRD Trump supporters.

We made our way back and forth a few times between MSNBC and CNN and, at one point we saw Anderson Cooper walking into the CNN staging building! If only we had been twenty seconds sooner we would have walked right into him! Ugh!

Back at MSNBC, we ran into Jordan and his friend Tessa. We talked to them for a bit but went our separate ways. We ran into them a few more times -- once while I was charging my phone in the CNN building, once over by MSNBC again, and again over by CNN.

I don't even know where the whole day went but we just kept bopping around between different areas of the campus. We got a lot of signs and free t-shirts today, too! It was great. The whole vibe around the campus was amazing. We saw one of the CNN commentators sitting at a little picnic table putting on his own makeup before going on air, we saw another CNN commentator sitting around talking on his cell phone, we saw Tom Brokaw up close, and we got a photo with Hillary's campaign manager!

The day was going so well.

At about 4:30, we decided to head to the car and put away our stuff and head into the debate party. As we were walking down a small sidewalk to the parking lot, we saw someone coming towards us. IT WAS KEN BONE! Dan immediately went up to him and said "SELFIE!" and got a photo with Ken Bone! It was unreal.

We got to the car, dropped off our stuff, and then headed to the Student Union for the party. There were two separate lines -- one for students and one for visitors who had gotten tickets (that was us.) We checked in and then headed upstairs for the event. It was so great.... they had this big room with two big screens to show the debate. They had snacks, food, and drinks in the back. They also gave us a lot of fun stuff -- a free debate t-shirt, wristband, buttons, stickers... it was great!

As we were heading inside, Dan got pulled aside by a producer from the BBC who asked if he would do an interview with the BBC World Service in London. Of course, Dan agreed, and he had to go over to this little table where they had the BBC setup. It was great and I got it all recorded using Dan and my phone.

Ken Bone came to the debate party and I saw him over in the corner. I went up to him and got a selfie and it was great. He was really really nice. We sent the picture to Jordan who was planning to watch the debate over at the CNN field but, after seeing Mr. Bone, decided to change his plans. He and his friend Tessa headed back to the Union and they were able to get in without having tickets since they're students. We saved them seats at our table and I'm happy to say that they were able to get photos with Ken Bone, too!

The debate was great. Watching it in such a big group was amazing. We had a fun time and everyone was SO into it! There were big cheers when they mentioned UNLV and I haven't felt like I was part of something in the way I did today.... maybe ever!

The experience as a whole, yesterday and today, was surreal. It was far better than I ever imagined and it was the highlight of our trip to Vegas! We got Britney tickets and this far overshadowed the entire Britney experience (though it was great, too, and I'll get to that soon!)

Who would have thought that, just a little over a week ago, when we were watching the second debate with Linda and Dan and we were first introduced to Ken Bone ....that we would be HERE at the next debate and we'd have met Ken Bone! Just so weird! I mean, Ken Bone is probably the least of the amazing things but alll together it was amazing.

After the debate was over, the BBC producer came back and said that they wanted to speak to Dan again. They wanted to get his reaction to the debate. He went outside again and went live on BBC Worldservice. Jordan, Tessa, and I hung out waiting for him to fiinihs. While we were waiting, Jordan decided to stock up on food/beverages! He collected AT LEAST ten cans of Monster and took a bunch of cookies, I think. He was out of control!

Once Dan was done with the interview, we said goodbye to Jordan and Tessa and then Dan and I made our way to the car and said farewell to UNLV.

We drove to the Planet Hollywood parking garage and then got changed for the Britney Spears concert! We headed inside and had about 30 minutes before the show started at 9. We got a quick drink at Fat Tuesday and then we got on line for the show.

Our tickets turned out to be really good. We were very close. The theater was nice and Britney came out at about 9:15! She was on stage for an hour and a half and she did some of her great songs -- Baby One More Time, Oops I did it Again, Stronger, Toxic, Till the World Ends..... It was a cool show and I'm glad we went! (On any other day this would have bee the main focus of my entry!)

I just feel like sometimes you don't know what's going to make such a big impact. I can't say enough how much fun this debate experience was. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and I loved it.

After the show, Dan and I walked down the strip, saw the fountains at The Bellagio, and then we went to get something to eat at Checkers.

Finally, we parked the car, and headed to New York, New York for our hotel for the night. They upgraded us so our $79 room now includes its own hot tub! So insane. We won't have enough time to use it though. We have to get to bed NOW because we have to be up at 7am to head back to Phoenix.

We're going to see Michelle Obama! I have no idea how this trip turned out to be a big political rally but it did and I wouldn't change it for anything!

Until tomorrow...

Goodnight. :)