A few months ago, I mentioned that I'm turning 50 this year. I had four roommates my freshman year in college and we have remained close all these years. The first of us to turn the big 5 - 0 goes this month. Her husband threw her a mega surprise party in Kansas City and invited us all to come. The other two roomies are in Atlanta, Georgia and have Delta flying privileges. They can fly anywhere for free so I knew they'd go. When I looked up airplane tickets for me (after all Kansas City is just a short hop away from Denver) they were over $300 EACH way. I knew this wasn't going to happen...
So I invited my Delta flying roomies to fly to Denver instead of KC and drive the 8 hours with me. Sounds like a great idea, yes?
They didn’t go for it. One said she’d be in Arizona for spring break and the other just didn’t say anything.
Surprised?
A week before the party, I was feeling pretty sad about missing the party when “in Arizona” texts me and announces, “Change of plans - we’ll be in Denver next week. Can we come have dinner one night?”
So of course, we had the whole family over. She told me she was flying home Friday to which I replied, "Why fly home to GA then back to KC when you can spend the weekend with me and drive out to the party?" And she decided it was a good idea! We let the other roommate know because FOMO is a powerful thing.
Next thing you know, we’re picking her up at the DIA airport and driving to the party! All of us on Palm Sunday morning. We stopped at Love’s truck stops and at the Kansas border to snap a quick picture. We even found the road to Oz! Kansas is as flat as they tell you. The wind turbines are the only interesting feature between Denver and KC. It was so windy but we didn’t get blown off the road and didn’t see any tornados or wicked witches.
It was worth the surprise we saw on the birthday girl’s face. The party was at a beautiful Vrbo in a carriage house. They served dinner and drinks. They even made milkshakes in honor of her dad who passed during Covid. It was her family's Sunday night tradition. “Arizona” and I got to spend the night in the two bedroom getaway before heading back to Denver for her to catch her flight back to GA.
Unfortunately, the bed was stiff and exhausted as I was, I did not sleep. After a fitful night, I finally woke her up to head out. We left at 7am and thank goodness she drove almost the entire way.
By the time I got home, my whole body ached and I developed a cough. I took NyQuil and went to bed. I slept a glorious 8 hours (from 7:30pm) and woke up with the aches again.
No school for me today.
Even though I had friends warn me not to go exploring and take on such a quick trip, I still think it was worth it. I’ll have the memory and pictures far longer than I’ll have the fever.