We crammed in to the sedan and set out for Las Vegas. As was custom for our Vegas adventures, we started the trip by putting on a poppy, dancey, party anthem to get us all in the appropriate state of mind – even though we were four hours (at best) from the Vegas lights.

The song was blaring out the windows. We sang the parts of the song we knew. We were on the road. We yelled at each other all of the things we were definitely going to do this time. We danced in our seats. We laughed at each other. We yelled at each other our plans for all the money we were definitely going to win this time. And we were going to party, non-stop, for three days. But first we needed to get some food.

Not wanting to derail the adventure and the mental preparations that were underway, we decided a drive through was the best food option. Still blasting the music we pulled up to the speaker and placed our order in the most obnoxious, dysfunctional way possible – not because we meant to but because we were going to Vegas and we were getting ready and we were excited and we always had trouble making up our minds.

As we approached the window we turned the music down and our yells became whispers. We sat still and calm while we politely paid our bill and collected our food. As the window went up the music volume increased and the whispers turned back to yells.

We were back on the road.