When Jess said I should come and visit while she was staying in HilDale UT, I said, why the hell not? She had another friend who was coming in the week she arrived and was flying into/out of Las Vegas. The plan was that they would drive to Vegas the night before. I would fly in the early morning of and we would hike before Carolina flew out that evening.

In order to make this happen, I took the 5 am flight from St Louis to Las Vegas. This meant a few things. 1. I had to be up no later than 3 am 2. JD would not be taking me due to the hour and 3. I would have to pay for parking. At least it was a direct flight and I would be landing with a full day to explore.

With early flights like these, I never sleep well because I’m afraid of sleeping through my alarm. Knowing this, I mentally prepared myself and did everything to set me up for success with peace of mind. I set my alarm for 2:45 am, had my luggage by the door along with my work bag and snacks packed. I headed to bed. I actually slept decently and woke right up when my alarm went off. I let the dogs out as I made coffee and fed the fish. When I let the dogs back in, they were very confused why we weren’t going back to bed.

The drive to the airport was uneventful though I noticed that parking prices had gone up- wonderful. Because I’m cheap, I headed to parking lot D. Entering, I assumed I would have to drive around and park at the very back as usual. To my pleasant surprise, I got front row parking! I will take that as a good omen.

That is the gate and both you see from my dash.

I got to the airport, through security, and to my gate without a hitch. I boarded the plane and headed all the way to the back as I normally do. You are closer to the bathroom, be served drinks first and are more likely to have an empty seat next to you. The flight attendant said that the flight was almost completely full. As I sat in my seat watching the plane fill, there were a group of three looking for seats together. You could see it in their body language and how they looked around. Since I was the only person in my row, I offered them my spot and moved to the row across the isle. There was a lady next to the window and I took the isle seat. They closed the plane and started making announcements. The two of us in that row were the lucky ones to have an empty seat in between. Another good omen? Maybe.

The flight was uneventful, as you want a flight to be, and even landed a bit early. As I approached baggage claim pretty tired, I was welcomed with the choice of getting my bag or getting liquor. Tempting but no Katie. I got my bags, called the shuttle and met Jess and Carolina at the hotel. We all gathered our things and headed to Red Rocks National Park for a hike.

We drove the scenic drive where you have pull offs to take pictures and hike in some places hike. We hiked the pine creek trail which was just shy of three miles. We did go off the beaten path a bit so it was a longer for us.

Pictures do not do justice to the beauty and awe that you see in person. The colors in the rocks and the flowering flora was just so pretty.

After the hike, we headed back to Las Vega for lunch and to drop Carolina off at the airport. We found a Thai place along the way and decided to stop there for lunch. The place is called Block 9 Thai Street Eats and what a great food find. The place was in a shopping center tucked away. The decor was very eclectic and was true to the culture. Not to mention the food was fantastic!

Jess and I both got the yellow curry which had chicken, coconut milk, onions, potatoes, and peanuts. It came with a side of rice and fried wontons. Carolina got the Chicken Pad Thai with fried wontons. If you are in the area and in the mood for Thai, check them out!

After lunch we drove Carolina to the airport to drop her off. On our way out, I needed to make a quick stop. As we parked, Carolina called saying she lost her wallet and thought it was in the car. While Jess was talking with her and searching her car, I went into the store. When I came back, Jess was still on the phone and searching her car. Carolina was going to head to TSA and let them know the situation. Mean while, Jess call the restaurant we stopped and they didn’t see it.

Remembering she had changed in the toilet after our hike, I called the park’s lost and found. It was a mail box and since she needed to fly out, I called the gift store. We had purchased drinks there and wanted to see if she had set it down. I told him the situation and he went over to lost and found to ask them. Low and behold, he said the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) found the wallet and it is in their safe. The unfortunate part is that they wouldn’t give him much more info so he took ours and passed along. Still bound and determined, I called the BLM South District (not the same location). Told the lady on the phone the situation and she reached out to her supervisor for advice. She advised to call the Park Ranger and talk with them about options on obtaining her wallet. Keep in mind, it was 3:40 pm, the park office closed at 4:30 pm, and it was a 40 minute drive. The Park Ranger let us know that they wouldn’t be able to give it to us due to federal regulations. They would contact Carolina to ship her wallet to her. I provided her with all the info and she got a hold of them. Crisis diverted or at least figured out.

With that behind us, Jess and I headed to HilDale, UT about 3 hours away.

This a video of us going through The Virgin River Gorge outside of Las Vegas. Sorry that the video quality is not the best but you get the idea.

We made it back to her place around 8 pm and got settled. We ate a little bit but nothing big as it was late. I jumped in the shower and laid down around 9:30ish. For having been up almost 22 hours, it was surprisingly hard to fall asleep. Alas it did. Until tomorrow!