Thirty, Nerdy and Driving Day 1

To celebrate my 30th Birthday {in October}, I went on a road trip with two of my best friends:

eight states in six days. The photos were spread across three phones and two cameras, so the organization was a daunting task that I'm just now getting around to. And so, a full month later, here is the story of my rad birthday road trip.

I had made a list of 30 Things to Do Before I Turned 30 and in an attempt to complete as many as possible, we drove a rental car 3,323 miles to see the four sites included on my list: Las Vegas, Old Faithful, Mount Rushmore and the Grand Canyon. {I had been to the Grand Canyon before, but Sara had not, so we included it on the trip!}

The first stop was Las Vegas.

{Bonus story: The last time I had been to Vegas was for my dad's 40th birthday. I was 13. The music that was playing as we sat by the pool three days in a row {because what else can you do in Vegas at 13-years-old?} was Waterfalls by TLC and You Outta Know by Alanis Morrissette.}

We stopped at the Vegas sign before checking in to our hotel.

As his birthday gift to me, my dad paid for our hotel rooms in each city. We pulled in to the valet of the Cosmopolitan and really fought to hold in our squeals of excitement as they unloaded our luggage {and a few Trader Joe's bags filled with snacks...classy, I know} in to a beautiful hotel room with an amazing view.

We visited the hotel pool. And listened to Claire De Lune while we watched the Bellagio Fountain show as we got ready for dinner.

Sara surprised me with this Happy Birthday banner that she proudly displayed in five of our six hotel rooms {we forgot to hang it up in Salt Lake City.}

We had a delicious dinner at Top of the World at the Stratosphere Hotel. It's Sara's family tradition to cover the birthday dinner table with confetti. {She did this nearly every night at dinner, which resulted in a free dessert at most of the restaurants.}

On the way back to our room, {we had a early start the next morning} we stopped to take a look at the Chandelier Bar in the hotel.

{It took about six tries to get a non-creep to take this photo.}

At that point, I don't think we knew what to expect from the next five days, but we enjoyed our brief visit to Las Vegas so much that we couldn't believe it was only the start of our adventure. 

Next stop Salt Lake City.