Thirteen Dreams That Came True On Our 25th Anniversary Trip

Last October Hubby and I reached a milestone: our 25th wedding anniversary. We didn't celebrate then, since two of our sons were sick, recovering from mono, and our daughter was on a missions trip. Besides, we'd had a hard summer, and hadn't really planned anything. But late winter, when the sons were better, and the daughter was home from Thailand, we started getting ideas. To make a very long story fairly short, we decided to buy a car on ebay, fly to Las Vegas to pick it up, drive it to Phoenix to spend a week, and then drive home. In the process, we got to do a lot of things that I had always wanted to do, and a few things I would have always wanted to do if I had known how much fun they'd be. 1. I got to fly. (from Omaha to Las Vegas) It just felt so grown-up and sophisticated (yes, at my age) to do the whole airport thing. Waiting in the airport, changing planes in Phoenix, getting off the plane, finding our luggage, etc., etc. By the way, the Las Vegas airport is like the Disney Land of airports. You get off the plane and run catch a cute trolley ride to the baggage claim area. There were even moving sidewalks! Or was that the Phoenix airport? (sorry the picture is sideways.) 2. We rode in a taxi from the airport to our hotel. (I know-- what's the big deal? But I thought it was cool...) We ended up standing in line at a taxi stand for over an hour at eleven o'clock at night at the Las Vegas airport. At first I was upset at the delay. But then I decided it was part of the adventure-- standing outside in balmy weather, with a hundred other people, in the glow of the lights of the city, watching the incredible efficiency and precision of the taxi force-- ten at a time-- coming in, picking up fares, taking off. Later I asked our taxi driver how many taxis serviced the airport, and he thought a thousand. Four thousand in the entire city. Our home town boasts a population of 1000. 3. We bought a cute little convertible. Our dream car. (If your husband asks you, it's a BMW Z3 automanual with the 3.0 engine, electric everything, including the soft top, and it makes 0-60 in 4.6 seconds. Read it and drool.) 4. We got to see the Grand Canyon. It wasn't the rush I thought it would be. It's so huge that I couldn't really take it in. (The Black Canyon was more breath-taking, probably because its grandeur was unexpected.) What was really interesting was seeing all the people. I guess the Grand Canyon is one of the wonders of the world, along with the Great Wall of China and Disney World. We hardly heard any English being spoken. If you want to see the world, just stand next to the Grand Canyon and the world will come to you. 5. We stayed at a Bed and Breakfast-- for five whole nights! (Bedlam B&B in Fountain Hills, AZ. Great place, lovely hosts. If you go, say hi to Pam and Tom for me.) 6. We attended a wonderful conference with great worship music and exciting speakers, at a really fancy, impressive resort. (at least, I thought it was impressive.) 7. I sat in a hot tub OUTSIDE (in a beautiful yard on a gorgeous Arizona evening in May.) 8. We drove through the mountains in a convertible with the top down. Also, at night under the stars- with the top down, of course. 9. On our way home from Arizona to Nebraska, we stayed in a hotel EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. This is notable, because normally, we are camping people. We love to travel in our full-size van with a mattress on the floor. Or take a tent. Or sleep in our trailer. So staying in hotels was very luxurious (and expensive-- we probably won't do it again; that is, stay EVERY SINGLE NIGHT in a hotel.) We also stayed at a campground/resort that had scope for imagination. I loved playing house in our tiny cabin overlooking the river. I'd love to go back, and take the whole family, but it's a 12-hour drive from here. Aargh. 10. This was not exactly a dream come true, but it was cool nonetheless: we took pictures and emailed them home to our kids, and got to audio chat with them via internet. Pretty heady stuff, technologically speaking. Five years ago, our family had nothing, technologically speaking: no computers, no cell phone, no digital camera, no internet (what was that?)-- not even a tv. We still don't have a tv, but we have everything else; and not just one computer, but six! 11. We got to drive old Route 66. Which would have meant nothing to me if one of our sons had not received the movie "Cars" last Christmas. But since he did, and we watched it, it seemed, somehow, warm and fuzzy to actually drive that highway. Okay. I can't think of any more. How about two dreams that DIDN'T come true on our trip: 12. We didn't order room service. I wanted to, very much, one day, when we had a lazy morning and it was raining gently outside the balcony. It would have felt so-- so rich and decadent. But they wanted to charge us how much?! to bring it to us, when we could just walk downstairs to the restaurant ourselves. Petty money interests deflated this dream. We didn't feel that rich and decadent. 13. We didn't lose our luggage. Okay, nobody dreams this, except maybe as a nightmare. So it's a good thing it didn't happen, even though there was a tense half hour or so where we thought it had. All in all it was a great trip, and I'm looking forward to the next 25 years. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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