Las Vegas is a city of individual beauty.

I was standing behind my wife, surrounded by BACA family, 500+ feet in the air, in a pod of the High Roller Observation Deck when that line popped in my head. I thought about it a bit in the few days since we got home, trying to coalesce my thoughts. I think I’ve got it narrowed down.

Any of the hotels or numerous other places in Las Vegas, taken as an individual entities, are visually enticing, sometimes even breathtaking. The waterfalls and ducks and pelicans at The Flamingo are amazing. Treasure Island, on its own, looks cool. And Diablo’s Cantina looks badass. Some of the various hotel architecture is an absolute feast for the eyes.

But taken together, in broad daylight, it’s downright ugly. Block after block of tourist traps: a pirate ship here, a fantasy castle over there, a pyramid, buildings with nice, flowing lines, surrounded by large rectangles. It’s like the playset of a bored child. As soon as one project is finished being built, they start on something completely different, more interested in keeping themselves entertained than in how any of it fits together.

On Sunday morning we were getting a ride back to the hotel from Las Vegas Harley Davidson and I was looking out the window, taking in this concrete mishmash of buildings and it was just so… disjointed, so unpleasing to my eyes.

And the city is constantly being torn down and rebuilt, a piece at a time, making it some kind of evolving concrete kaleidoscope. But at night, from a distance or high above, the dark conceals the hard lines, the right angles, the bizarre architecture that is the Las Vegas Strip. The town is lit up, drawing your eyes away from the mundane and pointed directly to the aesthetically pleasing. It holds a beauty that can’t be found during the day.

I hadn’t been to Las Vegas in 17-ish years. My memories of the first trip are fond and I don’t recall being anything but enthralled with the city. Now, being older, it’s not what I’m looking for in a vacation destination.

That said, I wasn’t there for vacation, but for BACA business. And I had a fantastic time. Meeting Brothers and Sisters from all over the world is exceptionally cool. Seeing old friends I had only met once or twice from other states was amazing. I sat in on some sessions and was pleasantly surprised by how much I learned while also being enthralled by the topics. My wife and I (but mostly me) dumped an obscene amount of money in the merch room and it was worth every penny.

I sat in on a session Saturday because I’d been hearing I needed to take this class ever since I found out that the International conference existed. By the time I sat down that morning I’d been hearing for multiple years how amazing it was. This was a several hour class and it did not disappoint, which was not surprising.

What did surprise me was about a 10 second period during the session where two sentences were spoken that changed my personal outlook on how I live my life in BACA and what BACA gives back to me.

Those few words, those powerful words, calmed a niggling concern that had begun to make its way into my mind. I hadn’t even finished forming my thoughts on this issue yet, hadn’t given it coherence or shape. And just like that, in the space of a few short moments, all was well.

I won’t tell you what was said. We are all unique individuals with different life experiences. Any words will have a unique, singular impact on each of us. But they were important. At International, I didn’t get a chance to tell him how much his words meant to me, so I’ll do it here:

Thank you, Brother Thor. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you.

I can’t wait to go again next year.