5/7/19:
Sean made and decorated a giant birthday cookie for me! No one's ever given me a giant cookie before, let alone made it himself. :') So freakin awesome. THANK YOU, HUSBAND!!
To help me celebrate my birthday, my sister Liz flew into Vegas tonight! Sean and I picked her up from the airport but it was kinda late when she arrived so we headed for home, only stopping to pick up a few free tacos (courtesy of the T-Mobile Tuesdays) at Taco Bell.
We watched Red Dwarf at home and all got in bed to spoon and sleep..for about 5 hours.
5/8/19 (Grand Canyon's Bright Angel Trail on my 31st!):
We were awake again at a 6:22am, half by choice and half because we'd promised ourselves plenty of time to hike the Grand Canyon from the south rim today and we still had a 4 to 4.5 hour drive ahead of us just to get there. Time to get a move on!
Sean and Liz wouldn't let me start a birthday without my gifts so we did pause a moment to do some present unwrapping. Good thing too because Julie Murphy, Sean, Sean's mom, Liz, and Sean's dad had hooked me up with some really badass gifts, some of which our trip wouldn't have been the same without. Thanks so much, you guys! I SO didn't need all of that but I did get some really neat things and feel so loved thanks to you all as well as other friends and family who thought of me today. <3
Food, quick showers, and a little last minute preparation and we were on the road before 9am. We opted to take our Saturn Vue for this trip. It's roomier than the Mustang. :)
We desperately needed caffeine but we had it covered once we got to Kingman! First, we used a free drink birthday coupon and free credit we'd gotten ages ago to get a few delicious Starbucks drinks, technically without coming out of pocket at all! Then, we went to Flying J, filled up on gas, got a free energy drink each using a Pilot/Flying J app deal, dined in Denny's there, and got my free birthday Grand Slam as well as a couple of other small things to eat!
We stopped again to use restrooms at a gas station in Ash Fork and had a little look around the many souvenirs they had for sale there. Liz bought a couple of bits and we continued on.
A bit later, we reached the Grand Canyon! There, we got geared up and set off on the Bright Angel Trail. We chose this destination in celebration of the Grand Canyon's centennial anniversary of becoming a national park. Also, we had an annual pass we'd gotten when we did Zion last month (it's also Zion's centennial this year) and what better excuse to use it?
We hiked out in the late afternoon so we came back in the dark. We did 2/3 of the beastly, ridiculous, gorgeous trail and got back to the car a little after 10pm. Crazy views all the way down the canyon and of the huge, starry sky coming back. We saw a double rainbow, rain, blue skies, so many mule deer, so much other life... Best of all, I got to spend the day with two of my favorite people in the whole world! I'm so proud of and grateful to Liz, who flew to Vegas to visit us and didn't get any warning before we kidnapped her and brought her out here for this. (Pretty sure this was her longest and hardest hike, as well as possibly the furthest she's traveled on foot in one go, to date. Also, she just did leg day two days prior and was already crazy sore.) Such an epic way to spend the day!
As for our day's physical feat on the trail, we conquered 4,069ft of elevation gain, 4.5 hours moving time (~6 hours total time), and over 13.5 miles (~2/3 of the total hike distance). We had some snacks and alcohol to keep us going on the way. I surprisingly didn't struggle with breathing at all but we all felt some dizziness and/or mild nausea from the elevation change.
We were so relieved when we finally found ourselves back at the trailhead again. Omg..On the way back to the car, we saw many mule deer sleeping in field! It was pitch black then but we spotted their reflective eyes using the light from our phones as flashlights as we accidentally approached them in the dark.
Once we'd recovered enough, we hit the road and drove as far as Love's Travel Center in Williams, AZ. There, we got gas before parking up for the night. Sean and I got a footlong to share and used a birthday coupon I had for a free cookie in the adjacent Subway. Liz wasn't hungry and was passed out in the car but Sean and I ate while watching Red Dwarf and then rearranged the car and cuddled up with Liz in the back of the car to sleep!
5/9/19:
We woke up pretty early to try and squeeze some sights in along the way back to Vegas.
Liz got some food at the Carl's Jr there at Love's. Sean and I had car food on hand but weren't too hungry thanks to last night's sandwich consumption so we were back on the road before long.
We drove on to Seligman, which was actually really busy with tourists and tour buses when we arrived! It was pretty cold out and we were still kinda sleepy so we got a tea and a couple of coffees in the cafe at the near edge of town to thaw out and caffeinate and they gave me a tiny ice cream for free when my sister mentioned my birthday. We drank our hot drinks while we walked around and looked at the quirky Route 66-themed decor and other props and sights. We did some souvenir shopping in the various stores there and chatted with the locals a little. Sean and I had been to and explored Seligman several times before but it was still fun exploring again and showing Liz the cute, little town. Also, we came across a big thrift store there which we'd never been to before! We had a good, long look around the store and picked up some good deals on useful stuff, both for ourselves and to resell online! Before leaving town, we had a quick peek in the Roadkill Cafe but we didn't eat there because it seemed too commercial and the meat was really just your standard cafe stuff like beef and chicken.
Back in Kingman, we stopped at Flying J again, filled up the gas tank and can, and got a free drink Liz had on her account as well as a birthday meal (drink and food item) I had on mine to share.
We pulled off at the Last Stop 76 gas station a little later to take funny pics with the props and various photo ops they had set up there. Sean and I had stopped to take pics there a couple of times but Liz had never been and none of us had actually been inside the building before. We went in this time and found much more than anticipated including a highly themed and uniquely decorated gift shop convenience store and a restaurant with bar.
Back at the Arizona/Nevada border, we pulled off at Hoover Dam to take Liz for a look!
We made a quick stop at the Hoover Dam Lodge for restrooms and to take advantage of the free Coke they have there.
Since it was just off the road, we decided to use our annual pass to visit the marina at Lake Mead. We wanted to feed some popcorn we had with us to the ducks and fish there. (If any park officials are reading this though, we totally didn't do that. :p)
We needed some groceries and wanted other snacks and things so we did a big, speedy shop at the 99 Cent Store in Boulder City on the way home.
Once home, we took things inside and showered. No rest for the wicked though! As soon as we were dressed, it was time to head back out, this time towards the Vegas strip!
We started at Bellagio, drank a bit of booze we'd brought with us, and were away! We looked around the conservatory and botanical gardens at Bellagio first, started toward Bally's to go to Wahlburgers, saw the Bellagio fountain show..At Wahlburgers, I mega nerded out again over my favorite band, NKOTB. XD Seriously, I freakin love them so much. I even got Liz and me both wearing New Kids shirts for the occasion! We actually had dinner plans already but I had to show my sister the place so the three of us snapped some pics there, grabbed some seats at the bar, and shared an extremely delicious Fiesta Burger (since Sean and I hadn't tried it yet) and onion strings! Then we took a stroll through Bally's to try and walk off the food before exploring more of the strip and eventually meandering back to Bellagio.
Since we'd been out of town yesterday, we'd planned a belated birthday dinner for tonight for any friends who wanted to take the excuse to come hang out. Apparently, I only had two such friends who were free tonight but that didn't stop us from having an incredible time! In fact, it was probably for the best because the five of us were able to get a lot more personal and those who didn't yet know each other were able to get better acquainted than if more people had turned up.
Anyway, the details!: Sean, Liz, and I got to Sapporo Revolving Sushi - 10pm (happy hour!). Sean, Liz, and I turned on some jams and drank and partied in the parking lot while waiting for friends. Our arcade friend Jason Yoddumnern arrived first and joined our parking lot party for a few minutes. Jewel messaged us to say she was running a little late then so the rest of us went in to get started at the bar. Sake was cheap then so we shared a couple orders of that and shared! When Jewel arrived, she showed up with wine and a couple of other adorable, incredibly thoughtful gifts for me! Omg.. <3 <3 <3 So freakin sweet!! We got a table and got settled then, taking full advantage of happy hour by eating tons without spending too much and while laughing and chatting with friends til it got so late and we got so full that Liz went into a food coma and started falling asleep on me. Haha
Finally, it was time to call it a night. A few last hugs later, we were all headed home to sleep off the excessive calories.
5/10/19:
Today was kinda sad. We woke up and had to instantly get ready to take Liz to the airport to fly back to Atlanta :( That's okay though; I'd had an epic birthday celebration and I knew my little sis would be using her new flight attendant perks to come back to me very soon!
As far as freebies I picked up for my birthday (not including non-birthday freebies or any of the dozens of birthday deals I forgot to list or didn't get around to using), some of the many I claimed and shared with Sean this year were:
Weinerschnitzel: Corn dog
Qdoba: Cookie
Jason's Deli: sandwich & chips (paid $1)
Del Taco; milk shake
Starbucks: any drink
Denny's: grand slam
Subway: free cookie
Pilot: free meal (drink and food item)
Circle K: $2 store credit
Wingstop: large fries
CVS: nail polish
Baskin Robbins: ice cream scoop
El Pollo Loco: tostada
Sweet Tomatoes: buffet
Firehouse Subs: medium sub
Panera Bread: pastry
Cinnabon: mochalotta chill
Wetzel's Pretzel's: pretzel
Dunkin Donuts: medium beverage
Habit Burger: burger
Jamba Juice: smoothie
Jersey Mike's: sandwich and drink
Ruby Tuesday: burger and fries
Red Robin: burger and fries
