The Best Birthday Present Ever

Forget Disneyland. Even forget Hawaii (no, scratch that, not Hawaii – why would we ever forget Hawaii?). Tyler took me on one of the best trips ever last weekend to celebrate my birthday – the not-so-big 26 on its way tomorrow.

The first stop was the great outdoors on a surprise camping trip – I swear every tree was a different color. We shot guns, we played catch, Tyler figured out that I may never get the Frisbee thing down – I think the realization came when he was knee-deep in the river while chasing my bad toss downstream. Oops. We hiked to these cool hot springs, took to our suits and lived it up in the bathtub-like water (rumor has it some people don’t even bother with clothes at all in a place like this. We did. It was kinda slimy, after all.). Back at camp Tyler’s fire and tinfoil dinners were totally perfect. Then we slept. Next to boy scouts. Who I threatened to throw rocks at in my head.

Early and we broke camp and headed for the super sunny, always awesome St. George, Utah. The goal: the redrock backdrop and wicked vocals at Tuacahn Amphitheatre. Outdoor plays and concerts are totally my thing, and this one was maybe the best I’ve seen. It was so cool. We headed back to the sweet hotel, sweet and cheap, just the way we like it. The whole things was like an awesome dream.

The trip was quick. No low notes at all. And you know what I liked more than anything? Tyler and I spent hours just talking. We didn’t try to plan out the next 40 years or anything at all like that, we just talked. About when we were dating. About Obama and the coolest cars. About all sorts of things that probably wouldn’t matter to anyone at all. We laughed a lot and we learned some more about each other. I wish every day could be so great.