The last day is always the saddest. We met in the lobby for one final breakfast buffet and, after eating, spent a few quiet minutes on the patio soaking in the view one last time.

I took the opportunity to log all the new birds I had spotted into Merlin Bird ID so my life list was officially up to date. This trip added quite a few:

• Black-and-white Warbler
• Peregrine Falcon
• Red-breasted Sapsucker
• Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay
• Townsend’s Solitaire
• American Dipper

Once my list was updated, we went back upstairs to pack up the rest of our things. Unfortunately, Caroline realized she had mixed up the due dates for a grad school assignment so she set up in the lobby to finish it. After loading the car, Tyson, Jordan, and I decided to head back into the park for one last outing while she worked.

That plan hit a snag when we arrived at the visitor center and found every single parking spot full. We circled for a while, but the park was incredibly busy and we had no luck. Instead, we drove back to the hotel, since we still had parking for the day, and walked over to the bus stop right in front.

I really love Springdale and all of its amenities. Having the bus line into the park is such a nice perk. Before heading in, we stopped at the gift shop one last time and picked up Nalgene crossbody bags, because I hate holding things, along with a few final souvenirs.

From there, we rode the park bus to stop 8 at Big Bend, the same stop where we saw California condors for the first time during our 2021 trip. Even though we did not spot any condors this time, the views were still incredible. It felt sad knowing this was likely our last look at the canyon for a while. We walked down a short trail toward the river, where Tyson took a small spill but somehow managed to keep his Mountain Dew upright, which honestly felt like an achievement.

We searched hard for condors but eventually accepted defeat and decided it just meant we would need to plan another trip.

Around lunchtime, we headed to the lodge to get some cell service and check in with Caroline. She was still working, so we grabbed a table for three and enjoyed our final lunch on the patio.

We all ordered grilled cheese with tomato soup, and it absolutely hit the spot. For dessert, I went with the chocolate cake topped with ice cream and a cup of coffee, which was the perfect pairing.

After lunch, we headed back to Springdale, where Caroline had just finished her assignment. We were all sad to leave but loaded up the car and started the drive to Vegas, where we had one night to experience the city.

We had a 7:00 p.m. reservation at a Thai restaurant Caroline had found that came highly recommended, so once we arrived at the hotel, we had about fifteen minutes to get ready. What little we saw of the room looked nice. The Horseshoe is an older hotel, but it worked perfectly for a one-night stay, and the view of the Sphere was a fun bonus.

I am so glad Caroline found Lotus of Siam because the menu was incredible. No one wanted to be stuck with just one dish, so we ended up ordering a few dishes to share family style. We shared the Nau Prik Ong (ground pork, served with vegetables and pork rinds), garlic prawns, Nua Nom Tok (sliced steak with green onions, red onions, mint, cilantro, and dried chilies), Khao Soi Crispy Duck, and panang curry.

Every dish was amazing, but the duck was the clear favorite. I completely understand why that dish is so well known.

After dinner, we headed to the Bellagio Fountains because we were essentially speed-running Vegas in one night, and that felt mandatory. After watching a show and taking photos as proof we were there, we made our way toward Caesar’s Palace, which we decided would be our casino of choice.

Because of street and sidewalk closures for upcoming F1 construction, we tried to walk through the Bellagio to get there. That turned out to be a mistake, because navigating those hotels is wildly confusing. After several wrong turns and plenty of photo stops, we finally made it to Caesar’s Palace.

None of us are big gamblers, so we each took out twenty dollars and headed to the slot machines. They are not nearly as intuitive as movies make them seem. On my first machine, I did not realize it had an automatic ten-times multiplier, and I lost half my money immediately. After that, we all paid much closer attention.

I took my remaining ten dollars to a blackjack machine and promptly lost that too. It was still fun, though. Jordan, being the great husband he is, gave me the rest of his money so I had twelve more dollars to work with.

Caroline and I wandered around looking for the cutest slot machines, and somehow I managed to turn that twelve dollars into sixty. A little luck and some well-timed advice from Jordan helped, but we decided not to push it. Around 10:15 p.m., we called it a night, especially with a 7:00 a.m. flight waiting for us in the morning.

We had the best time on this trip and soaked up every moment. It was the perfect mix of adventure, good food, and time together, and we’re already looking forward to wherever we go next!