It’s been a long week here in Vegas. The VMAs are over, and I am sitting here, at gate D16, waiting to board a plane for New York — and I couldn’t be happier to be heading home.

One of the many colorful (see: creepy) cabbies I met during my time in Sin City told me Vegas is a three-day metropolis: after three days, you feel an overwhelming need to leave. And he was right.

While I won’t miss Vegas — at all — I did have a blast covering the VMAs. But the highlight for me came on Saturday, when I got to sit in on the Foo Fighters’ rehearsal. Not only do I love the Foos, I’m a big fan of the Queens of the Stone Age, the Eagles of Death Metal, Mastodon and, of course, anything Serj Tankian has a hand in (that cover of “Holiday in Cambodia” is by far my all-time favorite VMA moment).

But nothing topped meeting Motörhead’s Lemmy Kilmister. The thrash-metal icon’s an imposing dude in person, yet totally laid back. And dude’s got a healthy freakin’ handshake too. Big mitts on that Lemmy, a man who’s probably bedded more ladies than Wilt Chamberlain.

Sure, I’ve only had about 20 hours of sleep since Wednesday, and am so tired I can hear myself blink, but it was all worth it to meet Lemmy and be present for the Foos’ intimate rehearsal. I’m one of only a handful of people who can say they were there and experienced what was essentially a jam session between some of today’s most important bands. And you can’t. Nanny, nanny, poo, poo!