Forever in Wonderland: Road Trip Days 2 and 3

Day 2: Day two we had a long day of driving ahead of us, especially since we had decided to make a short detour and see the Grand Canyon. So we got out of bed, hit up Panera for some breakfast, and set out again on the open road.

That is until we got stuck in a traffic jam that left us in a stand still for two hours. Thank goodness we had some R. Kelly and Three Loco to listen to. After we eventually made it out of traffic, we had another long five hours of driving to the canyon. By the time we made it to national park, we were both more than a little stir crazy.

Quick tangent: I’m so fidgety and hyper and spastic—can you imagine spending two days worth of driving in a car with me? Poor Linus. He had to listen to me make weird noises, and snap my ankles, and do really awkward dance moves for over 22 hours. I like to think he was entertained by my antics.

So, we were both totally tired of being in the car and we were beginning to question whether we really wanted to see a hole in the ground.

But as soon as we walked to the edge of the Grand Canyon any doubt and fatigue disappeared (<--peace, love, and the Grand Canyon). Neither of us had ever been to the canyon (unless you count the time my Mum went with me in her womb), and we were astounded. It was mesmerizing. We wandered back and forth along the rim and ended up finding the most incredible place to watch the sun set. Sitting on an outcropping of stone, a seemingly infinite drop beneath me, watching the sky melt into gold and the canyon bruise the most beautiful shades of blue and purple, I felt more serene than I have in a long, long time. I closed my eyes, the rocks warm under my skin, and let the last waves of daylight tumble over me. I’m not a religious person, but the experience felt almost baptismal. Not so much a cleansing, but a renewing. It seemed especially fitting considering how, in that moment, I was beginning this journey into a brand new chapter of my life. It was truly magical and I can’t imagine having been at there at a more appropriate time or under any other circumstances.

Stunning--pictures don't even do it justice

This is what happens when we try to take photos together

Feeling refreshed and inspired, Linus and I hopped back in the car, had a delicious dinner, then made the spontaneous decision to drive to Vegas. The Grand Canyon and Vegas in ONE DAY?! We were feeling invincible and badass. By this time it was already like nine o’clock at night. But what the hell, we figured, Vegas is the city that never sleeps. We’ll roll into town at 1 AM, get drunk, sleep all day Sunday, and then cruise the last five hours back to LA. It all sounded good in theory.

In reality, the night didn't work out quite like we had hoped.

Apparently there was a huge event taking place in Vegas this particular weekend. The Electronic Daisy Convention something or other? Some sort of electronic dance party from what I could gather. Sadly, I didn't see any electronic anything--all I know is that every.single.hotel. in Vegas had upped its price by several hundred dollars. Even on the old strip hotels were upwards of $350.

Since selling our bodies on the streets of Los Vegas to pay for a hotel room was out of the question, we headed out of Sin City in an attempt to find another hotel. Unfortunately the prices were just as outrageous even an hour outside of Vegas. By the time we reached a set of hotels/casinos on the border of California, it was almost three AM. Zombie-like from lack of sleep we stumbled in and requested a room (and prayed Daryl Dixon wouldn't be there to mistake us for the walking dead). And guess what? The hotel systems were down for an hour and we were unable to get a room.

At this point I considered crying, just a little bit (okay, a lot bit). Thankfully, Linus was all heroic and manly and had been driving all night long and decided that it might be best to just go ahead and power through to LA.

We fueled up on some Starbucks coffee and a giant chocolate chip cookie (Starbucks near Vegas are open all night long!) and once again climbed back into the car.

In an effort to show some sort of solidarity and support for my boo, I stayed awake while he continued to drive. I'm pretty sure anything I said made zero amount of sense. We'd been awake for over 24 hours and I was definitely not handling it well. My whole head had gone fuzzy and my entire body hurt. Blah.

THEN, just when we thought things couldn't get any weirder, this car in front of us started driving like a nut job. Every time a vehicle went past him, this guy would tailgate them, swerve close to them, flash his headlights on and off, and do all sorts of freaky things. I'm pretty sure I almost had a panic attack. I seriously thought we might get murdered right then and there on the highway.

But we cruised past him and about 30 minutes later decided to stop at the next hotel we came across.

So at 5 AM we pulled into a Ramada, stumbled our way inside, and slept until noon the next morning.

And now, for the sake of keeping this post from turning into a novel, I'll just go ahead and fast forward to our arrival in Hollywood!

We spent the rest of day unpacking stuff, drinking delicious California smoothies, taking a hike in Runyon Canyon, and going out for an incredible sushi dinner.