St. George, AZ, Vegas

Sooooo I recently went on a road-trip with one of my very best friends, Alyx Beck. And when I tell you this road-trip opened our eyes to so much...it's not an understatement. Now, Alyx was just going to go all by her lonesome, but she invited me last minute! And I'm so happy she did. It was exactly what I needed to end such a hard week for me. Now let me tell you allll about it heheheh

Let me just start out by saying we didn't even have a plan. The only thing we were sure of, was we were going to Sedona, Arizona, and doing the Devils Bridge hike. That's about it. We packed our bags, took Frankie (alyx's cat), filled up on gas and we were on our merry way. We wanted to make things as cheap as possible so we were just planning on sleeping in our car for two nights and splitting the cost of gas. So this wasn't anything we really needed to save up for.

November 13th, 2020

We left to St. George on Friday afternoon because we both had stuff to do, as one college student does, and we spent about 3 hours telling each other our deepest darkest secrets HA not really but we did have some good conversations. We also annoyed about every single gas station employee because we were being too loud in the stalls ?? I don't know what that was about. Then we arrived!

Fortunately, we had multiple plans to meet up with some people in St. George so we would have something to do, but until then, what else is there to do in St. George other than the super secret, underground, hidden spot known as Dixie Rock!? Fun fact is I've actually never been, so of course we had to stop there. No, we didn't spend 15 minutes trying to figure out how to get to the top... but when we did make it, we managed to steer everyone away from our loud singing and gymnastics skills. They weren't a fan.

Then we were on our way to a birthday party to stop by and say hi! Then we ended up staying for hours because we were having so much fun. Alyx knew the people and I was just there, but I made so many new friends! Shoutout to Abree for letting us crash the party. They even offered for us to stay the night so we didn't have to sleep in her car which was sooo nice of them. We almost did but realized we had other people to see before we left for AZ the next day!

So it's 1:30 in the morning and we are driving to a hotel to meet another one of Alyx's friends. Now, when I tell you we thought we were stuck in an alternate universe... WE WENT THROUGH THE SAME ROUNDABOUT 11 TIMES BECAUSE MAPS WAS TAKING US IN A CIRCLE. Okay, now to be fair, Alyx and I are not the most functional when it comes to directions. We figured out we were taking the wrong exit the whole time. We finally made it and honestly, I'm not really even sure of the details between that whole incident and me crashing on the couch of the hotel. We were just happy we didn't have to sleep in the car!

November 14th, 2020

Arizona here we come! We kinda got a late start to the day because we were both so tired, but we got dressed, finessed some hotel breakfast, and we were on the road again! If I knew the name of the Hotel I would definitely recommend. Pull out couch?? 10/10. Pumpkin spice waffles?? 10/10. Did all of this seem luxurious to me because I was sleep deprived?? Probably. It was about a 4-5 hour drive to Sedona and if we are being honest I'm not really sure what happened during that drive. We both slept a little, took many bathroom breaks, stopped at a viewpoint, and had our daily "When are we moving to New York" conversation.

Then we arrived!

Time to hike! It was not a very hard hike at all, and we started it at the perfect time! We got there around 4:00 ish and got to the top right when the sun was going down. It was also perfect weather. We couldn't stop talking about how pretty it was, especially on the actual bridge. Alyx got hella gasps from everyone when I was taking pictures of her because she looked like she was about to just casually jump to her death. Then we headed back down as it slowly got darker, and colder.

Here's where things get interesting. You may be wondering, now what?? You've got the whole rest of the night and no plans! So naturally, we drove to Las Vegas. Why, you may ask?? Well of course we did it purely for the fact we wanted a crazy shake from Black Tap! So another 4 hour drive and our dreams would come true. The drive started to mellow out a little bit since we were both so tired, so we were counting on this shake to give us the sugar rush we needed to drive back to St. George that night.

So after stress driving through the strip, and getting lost in the casino, we finally made it. We ordered mozzarella sticks and the birthday cake crazy shake, but what else do you expect from us. That was gone in a matter of minutes and then we were out the door.

My personal favorite part of the trip was the drive back to St. George. Boring right? Why that out of literally everything we did. Well this is why. The music was BLASTING out of Alyx's mini cooper driving through the strip. The vibes.... were indescribable. This was head out the window, life is good, I can do anything I want vibes. In that moment it felt like the both of us could accomplish anything we wanted, and that this life was our own. We just went on a road-trip with barely any money, no plan, no final destination, no expectations, and it ended up being so fun. We went to Vegas for a shake for crying out loud. Who does that ???

Then we blasted some throwbacks to keep us awake. Everything from Life is a highway, cooler than me, 7 things, and unwritten. We arrived back at St. George and slept safe and sound in none other than the cozy Harmons parking lot ;)

Basically what this trip has done for me is made me realize there are so many memories to make and so. little. time. I have always wanted to travel and see the world but there are so many things that get in the way. Once you realize you can literally do anything you want, it's a game changer. What I'm trying to say is, we literally drove, slept in the car, brought snacks so we didn't have to spend a lot of money on food, and I wouldn't want it any other way. You can make travelling so easy for you if you just sacrifice having a luxurious place to stay, or fancy food (disregarding the shake haha), and other things that aren't as important as you think they are. We wouldn't have had the experiences we did if we put money into all that jazz. It's so simple and I didn't even realize it! And I am so so lucky to have made this friend that wants share these moments with me! (Love you alyx hehe).

Okay you have probably heard enough but it was SUCH a fun trip. It was only like two days but it felt like a week with how much we did. Now go and plan a trip...or plan one with me hehe. MWAH