Day 22 - All good things...

... Must come to an end. Sigh.

We've driven 6,300+ km's, 22 parks, walked a combined ~180,000 steps, covered 4 states, climbed countless hills/switchbacks, drunk dozens of litres of water, rafted 1 river and have been blessed with safety and health the entire time. So thankful for it all.

Cooking breakfast at Panamint Springs, we soaked in one last mountain view before setting out for Las Vegas. With errands to run, our morning and early afternoon was a picture of efficiency until we were able to relax at one of our all time favourite restaurants: Texas de Brazil.

Becky kindly shouted our meals here and what a treat this was. The salad bar was unbelievable (and I'd come for the lobster bisque alone) but then servers come around with skewers of scrumptious meats, carving pieces straight onto our plates. My favourite (and Cilla's!) was the leg of lamb and Becky's was lamb chops... seeing a theme? Lamb is expensive in Canada and the Aussies miss Mum's Sunday roast so much. As we were belatedly also celebrating my birthday, our server gave me a free dessert and we shared a Key Lime Pie (after the obligatory candles and singing). It was great, but not as good as Mum's! Suffice it to say, we rolled out of the restaurant and think we'll be full till lunch tomorrow!

We loved our car fridge so much we decided to bring it home! So we stuffed it full, wrapped it in cardboard and bubble wrap and will check it as Becky's luggage. Bring on car camping with no floating food in melted ice baths!

Cilla's flight left at 8.20 and ours at midnight. We decided to check all our luggage in at once, but belatedly found out we were leaving from different terminals. While we rushed over to check our luggage, Cilla's boarding time was swiftly approaching so Bek kindly volunteered to finish the process while I hurried back to Terminal 1. So thankful for Olaf, but giant airports and parking are never the easiest to negotiate, so by the time I arrived at Cilla's terminal it was 20 minutes till her boarding time. I've never run so hard through an airport, been so stressed (and empty handed) going through security, or been quite so relieved to see a lil chipmunk Cills waiting on the other side. Suffice it to say, our face masks turned into water boarding instruments.

Cross-border land travel is looking slightly more likely (but we've heard that story a dozen times before). God willing we will see each other again before another year passes (hopefully 10x less than that!).

Becky and I had a couple hours, so headed to 'The Strip' (a long street lined with brightly illuminated hotels, stores and the inevitable casinos) to see the Belaggio Fountain show. We were delighted when 'Singing in the Rain' came on, with jets of water dancing to the music. There's nothing like a timeless classic in a modern, glitz-filled city. We'd had quite enough after an hour and were quite happy to head back to the airport.

It's been such a blessing to spend this time together, exploring God's creation, making new memories, reliving old ones and just being. We're so thankful for this opportunity, and what an adventure it's been!Read more