Road trips, ah road trips, they sound so much fun when you plan them, but you end up driving miles and miles on long and winding roads, listening to so many different Spotify playlists. This time we had to bring a car from Portland to Phoenix. I decided last minute to join since Phoenix is not exactly my place to be.
The first stop was Boise, where I met the last members of the Brady Bunch. After a cup of tea and some catching up on family matters, we drove on to Utah and stayed the night at our usual horrible choice Hotel6 residence. This time in Ogden where they still had very old phones and very loud racing cars driving up and down the road next to our room. Yes, the mountains looked amazing the next morning but the scary presence of God through the people’s eyes made me shiver.
The next stop was in Las Vegas. I had been there before but only saw this city of lights while driving over the Strip. This time we actually parked the car and walked around. You can clearly see the heat dripping off my face. If you hadn’t noticed before, I don’t do well in hot weather. However, despite the hot weather, I had so much fun in Vegas. Maybe a little bit too much fun because when I saw the Chapel sign, I dragged my other half to the chapel. Not ín the chapel, but tó the chapel. Only to take our picture and place it, totally meant as a joke, on Facebook. Because everybody who really knows me, also knows my opinion about marrying in Vegas; only prostitutes and strippers marry in Vegas.
While my gang knows me too well and saw this absolutely as a funny joke, the Russian gang had no humor and blew up Facebook and beyond. I always thought it was the Germans who don’t make jokes. I learned the hard way that Russians don’t like jokes either. Don’t hurt poor little lost souls with our blunt Dutch humor. Point taken! From now on I will put a disclaimer underneath every post that my intention was not to heart poor little lost souls.
Thank God, we stayed another night in Vegas instead of heading towards Phoenix in the middle of the night. This time no Hotel6 but a very luxurious big room with two enormous beds in another hotel. I can tell you that I slept like an angel who had just won the jackpot.
Because we stayed the night in Vegas, we had to leave early morning, around 4.30 am, to be on time for the birthday party we, well to be honest, he was invited to, not me. Every cloud has its silver lining and this silver lining was a beautiful shot of the famous shrinking Lake Mead, just before the sun came up. Magical.
Only to arrive a few hours later in the hottest place ever, Phoenix, with enough time to freshen up, change into something decent and be on time for the very awkward birthday party. Luckily I wasn’t the only one who felt awkward and I had found a partner in crime, which again, unintendedly upset again this poor little lost soul. I just can not get it right here in Phoenix.
The car had been delivered, the party was a success and after two days it was time to fly back to my beloved Portland. After a quick pitstop in San Jose, I was so happy to see my amazing mountains (that are actually vulcanos) of Oregon again and feel the cold wind touching my face the moment we stepped out of the airport.
