"Oh My Gooooosh"

If we are being completely honest, this was probably one of my favorite weeks of my entire life. So just brace yourself for a long blog post. You deserve a pat on the back if you actually read everything and not just scan through the pictures.
So let's start this shindig off with my 20th birthday.

Wednesday November 18
The day itself really wasn't all that grand. I still had work from 8:30-4:30 with Project FOCUS, and then I had to shoot the ASUA Senate meeting from 4:30-6 for the Daily Wildcat. But I received lots of "happy birthdays" and hugs during the day to make working a little more tolerable.
After I was done working I went home and found fun things around my house from my super awesome roommate Steph:

She also got me a very beautiful necklace from Forever 21, she's da best.

Then shortly after I arrived home, Zach arrived in Tucson to join my dinner party at Native with Steph, Amanda, Dakota, Jared, Sam, Natalie, Taylor, Maddy, Ej and Rory. Wings are just the best birthday food in the world, and nothing goes better with wings than trivia. We played quite a few rounds, but I didn't win any of them, but it's okay because it was a grand old time with all my friends.

After the dinner I went back to my house and celebrated the end of my birthday with a miniature piñata filled with the delicious lindor chocolates. I "forgot" to wear my crown at dinner, so I made up for it by wearing the crown while I hit the piñata.

Then Zach and I took a picture with my birthday tree before it turned into a Christmas tree, and then he left me to go back to Mesa.

Thursday November 19

So I had school all the live long day as I usually do on a Thursday. But once school was I over I rushed home, gathered my things, hopped in a car with Steph, and picked up Rory to start the best birthday weekend the world has ever known. 

When we arrived at my house Zach, Sadie and Audrie were already there waiting to start my birthday dinner. My mom set up a super fancy table with some disco ball center pieces for the super classy meal that is chicken enchiladas. It was awesome. We quickly ate the enchiladas and the cake and then it was time for us to go to the movie theatre.

What movie were we seeing do you ask? Mockingjay part two of course. Trevor met us at the theatre because he was working, and then it really became a party. The movie was awesome, as they usually are. My only complaint is how freaking huge Katniss' baby was, and that girl definitely looked a little Asian....

Such a great birthday party in Mesa though, I was happy I could celebrate with my family and Sadie & Trev.

Friday November 20

Now this is when the fun REALLY begins. 

For my birthday I decided to forgo a party and instead do an epic road trip with friends to cross off some more cities for my goal. The road trip crew consisted of: Me, EJ, Rory, Steph, Zach and McKenzie (Sadie and Trev were invited but they weren't able to make it #crycrycry)

So we woke up dark and early in the morning and left around 6:30. 

Our first stop was in Williams, Arizona.

We were all pretty excited about the small patches of snow that was around the town. People made snowballs and threw them at one another, it was a grand old time. We ate some breakfast at McDonalds, and then explored the town a little bit. We also decided in Williams that we were going to "whip nae nae" in every city we got to, so look out for that in the video I will be making for this trip haha.

Our next stop was about 40 minutes north of Williams, the Grand Canyon's neighboring town: Tusayan. 

We decided to eat lunch there at this place called "We Cook Pizza and Pasta" it was very straightforward, but also very delicious. The man serving us was awesome, he gave us free sodas and a salad, and helped us with the pronunciation of the town. I though it was pronounced Too-say-an, but really it is Too-see-on (kind of similar to Tucson).

After we ate we found some nice rocks to take pictures on, and to whip nae nae on of course.

Our next stop was originally supposed to be Horseshoe bend in Page, AZ. But we realized that the way I mapped out to get there, you couldn't go through without paying the $30 to get into the Grand Canyon. The only other way to get there was back down through Williams and then through Flagstaff. Because we are so spontaneous and fun, I decided to pay the $30 to drive the way I originally planned, and we got to stop at the Grand Canyon along the way. Steph was really hoping to see some snow on the GC, unfortunately there was not as much as she dreamed of, but there still was a little bit, so that was satisfying.

THEN our next stop was up to Horseshoe bend. 

EJ had been driving the whole time, and his eyes started to get a little glazed because of how tired he was. But he's quite stubborn and didn't want anyone else to drive, so we stopped along the way to get gas and a red bull and he was good to go. To help keep him awake we played the classic "I'm going to Grandma's house" alphabet game. Rory also told a very complicated riddle, and we played 20 questions. And then we finally arrived to Horseshoe bend. It's about a mile hike in (not so bad coming in because it's downhill, but coming out was very difficult with the uphill and the high elevation) but it's all worth it once you get to the horseshoe. It's SO breath taking and so much bigger than I ever imagined. It's crazy to me that they don't put gates up because one wrong move and you have fallen down the horse shoe. Don't worry though, we all made it out alive.

Steph being very careful, but very determined to get a good picture

EJ whip nae nae-ing on a very large rock

McKenzie is always groping someone

Also do you see all those specks in the photo? Those are gnats, and they were everywhere.

After exploring the bend, we went into Page to check into our hotel. S/O to EJ for traveling so much and getting so many points that we got to stay FOR FREE #bestsibling. We freshened up and relaxed a little bit and then went to dinner at Slackers. Everyone got a burger there except for me, but I am kind of glad I didn't because the juice exploded from the burger all over EJ and Rory when they took their first bite. It was actually really hilarious. Afterward we wanted to get some ice cream so we walked to the store next door to get ice cream, just to realize it was the exact same store as Slackers, we felt a little foolish. But not foolish enough to buy their crazy expensive ice cream, so instead we went to wal mart. We then went back to the hotel, but didn't party too much because we were all exhausted and wanted to get lots of sleep for another crazy exciting day.

Saturday November 21

We woke up, ate our hotel breakfast and then drove over to Antelope Canyon. I have been doing a lot of research on antelope, and whether the upper or lower canyon is better. Upper is more popular, more safe and has the famous light beams, but it's also way more expensive. The lower canyon is preferred by non first-timers, it's less crowded, less spacious, there are steep stairs you have to walk down and much cheaper. So we decided to go to the lower canyon, but I am certainly glad we did. IT WAS BREATH TAKING. Every time we entered a new section one of us would say "Oh my gooooosh" (hence the title of the blog post) just because of how gorgeous it was. We had an amazing tour guide named Tim, who gave us lots of tips and tricks when it came to taking photos. He also joked around with us a lot. Lots of funny things were said down there, but I think my favorite was this:

McKenzie (to Tim): When was this made?

Tim: Thousands of years ago with lots of water

McKenzie: Yessssssss

I know this is one of those "you had to be there" moments, but I needed to write it down, so I can remember it in the future. 

Now for the picture overload:

This was an awesome panorama Tim took on my phone.

For all the Britney fans out there, "I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman" was filmed partially in Antelope Canyon and partially over lake Powell. 

After we climbed out of the canyon, we wanted to try and find where the lake Powell portion of the video was filmed, but we didn't want to pay to get into Lake Powell, so we just continued on our journey, but we did get to stop at a free overlook of Lake Powell, which was very nice, just not where Britney stood.

Our next stop was Kanab, Utah to check into our AirBnb before we headed to the remaining citied.

We obviously had to stop at the border of Utah/Arizona to do some whip nae nae-ing

We arrived in Kanab a little early before check in time, so we decided to eat some lunch at Rocking V's. The waitress handed us the specialty drinks menu and McKenzie said "oh no no no, we are LDS" and the waitress was like "haha me too, I just have to do that" #OnlyinUtah. But really our waitress was awesome. And the food was delicious!

Then we checked in at our AirBnb. Our Airbnb was the basement of this family's house, but it was sooooo nice, and the family was amazing, and of course mormon. 

After we settled in, we continued on our city journey to Fredonia (where the Tr of Traylssa is from). Holy crop that town is small. BUT they do have a tether ball at their gas station, so I was impressed. We got some treats at the gas station (like alligator and kangaroo jerky) and then we found a fun Arizona flag painting on a building.

Then we headed to the last official city of the trip, the one I think we were all the most excited and scared for.... Colorado City. Yes, it is in Arizona. And I think it's important that you all take a couple minutes out of your day to go read these two things about Colorado city: 19 Things You Didn't Know About FLDS Polygamists and Wiki Travel Colorado City

We were welcomed into the city with a man riding a horse that looked like it was trying to buck the man off.... strange city....

McKenzie kind of has an obsession and fascination with polygamists, so she was very excited. I was so scared that we were going to "disturb the peace" and get thrown in jail. But we did make it out alive. It was so surreal seeing all the unfinished homes and women in their 1800's attire. If there is one religion that makes the mormons look not crazy, it's the FLDS. But then again we were driving around in a red suburban with our cell phones trying to take pictures of these people like they were in a zoo or something.....

We didn't step outside of the car too many times out of fear, but we did at Mohave community college to take a quick picture

After circling through the town at least 4 times, we headed back to Kanab to party at the Airbnb.

EJ, McKenzie, Zach and I went on a quick hike on the mountain that was right next to the house. EJ is a little bit of an adrenaline junkie and just wants to keep going higher and higher... and I just thought he was going to die.

When we were done with the hike we met back up with Rory and Steph and went to dinner at Lotsa Motsa, a pizza joint in Kanab. We ate it at the AirBnb, played some games of pool, darts, and foosball, then we went upstairs for some ice cream and conversation with our hosts. They are seriously such an awesome family, it felt like I was staying with a family friend rather than a bed and breakfast. They have 7 kids, 6 boys and 1 girl, and the girl is right in the middle. We met their second oldest, and their two youngest that night.

Sunday November 22

We woke up early to join the Jensen's (our host family) for some waffles. We got to meet the third youngest son, Jacob, 12, in the morning. He is seriously so cool. He has aspbergers and always picks one things to obsess over, this time is was Star Wars. He is super psyched about this new movie and he even gave away some spoilers, but don't worry I won't spoil them to you guys. But one of them did involve the "p" word.... and that p word is pregnancy.... Jacob doesn't like to talk about the p word.

After breakfast, we cleaned up and packed up and then left the loving home of the Jensens. Julie (the mom) suggested that we go to see the toadstools on our way back to Page, and so we did! We probably did our best whip nae-naeing work at the toadstools.

Then we stopped in Page for lunch and then travelled all the way back to Mesa. We played the usual car games along the way home, listened to some jams, and eventually arrived back in Mesa. It felt like I was in the car forever, but then I realized my trip wasn't even over yet... I still had to go back to Tucson.

But seriously people, this was one of the weekends that I know I am going to be telling my kids about someday. I have the best siblings and the best roommate and the best boyfriend in the universe, and I am so happy we were able to spend the world's greatest weekend together.