(please excuse the glare, I didn't want to take it out of the frame)
created by me
This has always been J's favorite quote (one of our many similarities is having a strong case of wanderlust) so I thought I'd surprise him by making something special this Christmas. It was a lot of fun to make (not to mention it was super simple*) and has quickly become one of our favorite pieces.
*If you don't enjoy free form lettering it may not be super simple, but then again you could always just print out your favorite quote and trace.
Speaking of wandering, I realized I never wrote my final recap. I'll attempt to keep it short!
Welcome to Vegas via courtney khail
After Sequoia we drove to Las Vegas. I'd never been to Vegas before (J had) so he drove so I could stare out the window and navigate when necessary. Of course, it is exactly what I expected- bright, loud, busy, and over the top. We spent the majority of our days wandering around casinos, drinking out of absurdly large glasses, and people watching. Playing up our tourist cards, we wandered around the old Vegas strip, took photos in front of the "Welcome to Vegas" sign and may have even wandered into Gold and Silver Pawn (you know, as in Pawn Stars. Case you're curious it is really small inside.) Oh! And we went to a Cirque show. (J had never been and we both agreed that was unacceptable.) Probably the best part though was spending time with J's best friend who actually lives in Vegas. (It was like reuniting brothers p.s.) Plus, it was kind of cool to see what people do off the strip.
Grand Canyon via courtney khail
From Vegas we drove to Santa Fe- taking a detour to stop at the Grand Canyon. Thanks to a rain storm that had just passed through, we could see for miles. I feel like I'm lessening the experience trying to put it into words, so you'll just have to believe me when I say it was phenomenal. So pretty and so amazing to witness- we've already planned a future helicopter tour over it. From there we drove late into the night to get to Santa Fe (thanks Map Quest for the wrong estimated time) and dear God. Let me just say it gets REALLY dark in the desert. Like scary dark, but if you can take a second and look up, the stars are amazing.
After some much needed sleep, we wandered around Santa Fe for a day, drove along the Turquoise Trail, talked to some local artists and ended the say eating some amazing pizza (who would have guessed we'd find that in Santa Fe?) Now, given the "desert southwestern vibe" isn't really our thing and we were kind of ready to go home, I can't give an accurate review of the city. I will say it's for an older crowd though, which makes sense because a ton of people retire there.
After Santa Fe, we were going to stop in Oklahoma City to see Kelly, but unfortunately she caught a cold and was bedridden, so in a reckless youthful moment, we decided to just drive home.
Yep, drive home from Santa Fe to Atlanta in one day.
Well, MapQuest said it would take one full day, but we made it in 20 hours and 34 minutes.* And boy did it feel amazing to sleep in our own bed.
So there it is! The last recap of our trip. I still can't believe we were able to do it, but I can easily say it was one of the best times of our lives. If you're ever given the opportunity, promise me you'll take it.
After driving from Santa Fe we woke up the next morning and drove to Florida to pick up Bella and get in some beach time before coming back to the real world
*As for the 20 hr cross country drive- aside from some jerk in a U Haul who tried to crash us into a concrete guard rail at 3 am in Chattanooga, it was a decently easy ride. Plus, we now know every Chickfila there is from Santa Fe to Atlanta-you know, in case you guys ever need that info.