My dad and I started taking trips together after I finished college. On one trip I woke up early in the morning to text this guy I liked. I squealed when he invited me to a movie with him once I got back in town. Dad looked over and asked, “This is the last trip we’ll take together isn’t it?” I said no, of course not. Dad said, “I’m going to stand up at the wedding reception and say ‘I knew it was real when I heard her go oooooeeeee!'” Wouldn’t dad know it, a year later I married that guy.

This rainy spring, my dad and I went to Vegas for some sunshine. I had never been there before. My entire idea of what Vegas is like is from watching movies like Oceans 11. And yes, we totally stood in front of the Bellagio fountains and yes, they were magical at night!

On the ride from the airport I stared out the window at all the lights. When we got to the hotel there was a casino just inside the door. The casino ceiling was painted like a blue sky with clouds and the lighting made everything look like daylight even though it was 10 pm. I touched my face to confirm that yes, my jaw really was hanging open.

The hotel room had the tv on when we entered the room which temporarily made me think I was in the wrong room (it’s happened before). But when I noticed it was left on intentionally I realized aloud that there isn’t such a thing as silence in Vegas.

(*Side Note* We did actually find one quiet corner of Vegas by accident while wandering back to the hotel after wandering through Caesar’s Palace. All of the sudden we were in a mini-park with a water fountain and trees that had branches hanging over a bench for a little shade. We sat for a bit and enjoyed being just off the strip. With the fountain so loud we couldn’t hear the noise from the nearby street- it was one of my favorite parts of the trip.)

Dad and I enjoyed the sunshine, the pool, a field trip to Zappos (nerd alert), Container Park where we ate some ridiculously good tacos, and we saw a Cirque show, Zarkana that was absolutely amazing. It had been on my bucket list for a long time and I loved it. My childhood dream of being on the flying trapeze was reignited. We also read books, ate some really good food (Burgr that Justin would have loved), walked around the city, but my favorite part was our conversation. We talked for hours on just about every topic possible. I loved that time together with my dad.

Dad was almost right when he asked if we were on our last trip together back in 2005. But eleven years later, we took another one.

Next time we won’t wait so long.