Day 1 of road trip is complete and it was a great success!
We started out at about 9:15am. We knew we had 9-10 hours of driving ahead of us and wanted to get into Vegas at a reasonable hour. We got off to a rocky start when we missed the 152 turnoff completely. Luckily we were able to go across the state on 46 which added 30 minutes to the trip at the most. Our drive included beautiful snowy mountains with windmills on top, a gorgeous sunset that made purple mountains majesty, and 9 wonderful hours of catching up with a good friend. We’re hoping to take pictures with each of the “Welcome To” signs as we pass through each state (8 in total), so when we crossed the border we pulled off to the side and quickly took pictures with the sign. I must say, it was COLD outside!
We got into Vegas at about 6:15, checked into our hotel, I worked out (Lauren made phone calls and such) and then got ready for the evening. We were able to get last minute reservations at Mesa Grill – Bobby Flay’s restaurant in Caesar’s palace. It’s Mexican cuisine cooked by an iron Chef, and I must say it was INCREDIBLE. Our favorite part of the meal was the margarita though – one of the best drinks I’ve ever had. Period.
After dinner we went over to Lavo at the Palazzo for the evening. Since it was a random Wednesday in January and Lauren and I are 2 lovely ladies, we were able to get in without having to pay anything. Once inside we met some wonderful Canadian boys named Devon and Mike. They were fabulous company for the evening – totally nerdy and friendly and kept the creepers away, and weren’t angry when we had to leave them empty handed at the end of the night. Because one thing was for sure – Lauren and I were going back to our hotel alone. They were perfect gentleman though and a lot of fun to talk to (we bonded over hockey, of course. And they said “eh”).
So now we’re onto day 2 – another 10 hour drive to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Let’s hope it goes just as well!
Day 2 started out pretty easy with a quick work out, check out of the hotel, and then hitting the road. We were out of Nevada really quickly – so quickly in fact that we completely missed the “Welcome to Arizona” sign. Bummer. I’ll just have to photoshop one for our compilation. The scenery was beautiful as we drove though – snow everywhere. Lauren and I made a pit stop in Winslow, Arizona (about an hour outside of Flagstaff), grabbed pizza hut and gas and switched off driving.
We were now beginning the difficult part of our trip – the mountain pass in between Arizona and New Mexico. The roads were potentially icy and it was starting to get dark out. We’re champs though and made it through Gallup just fine (and ran out in the freezing cold to take a picture with the New Mexico sign too!) We made it to Albuquerque in about 8 and a half hours (maybe a little under) singing and chatting the whole way. We’re pretty proud we haven’t had to resort to car games or Harry Potter yet! Now I’m at the nice little Country Inn and Suites finishing up this blog entry and preparing to get ready for bed. Tomorrow is going to be the most brutal drive – 12 hours to Austin, Texas.
We’re going to start early so now I must say adieu…until next time!
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