The Nicknames

So, I don't remember exactly when we came up with this brilliant idea, but it was sometime after we decided to get two-way radios so the convoy could keep in touch on the road without having to deal with cellphones.
The rule was that it had to be an animal name and you couldn't assign yourself a name.
The Badger became The Badger simply because he had already been referring to himself as such.
The GOAT came about after listening to Five Hundy By Midnight podcast No. 542: Enter the GOAT. There was discussion on this episode of the VIP boxes to be offered at Jewel, each with a different theme. One of these rooms was to be known as the GOAT — or Greatest Of All Time. This moniker was assigned to yours truly by The Badger.
And Sugar Bear? Well, his name comes from the Elton John song "Someone Saved My Life Tonight." I am not really sure at this point why that was chosen, but here we are.
Thanks to The Badger for commemorating our move using his mad cartooning skillz.

The Invitation

One of the things that had always given us pause about moving to Vegas was the simple fact that we didn't know anyone there.
We know one other couple who lives there part time, and we have a longtime friend who lives in L.A. But we'd be leaving behind most of the people we had known and grown up with.
After our fateful September trip, we contemplated asking Sugar Bear if he would come with us. He had been considering other locales, and we thought maybe, just maybe, the transition would be a bit easier if we had another person with us.
So, on our way back from a trip across Missouri in mid-October, we popped the question: "Do you want to come to Vegas?"
Now, while he was on board immediately, Sugar Bear had never even visited the desert, and I insisted we go during the summer so he could really see what he'd be getting into. (More on that trip later.) We slowly started to become adjusted to thinking in terms of "when we move" rather than "if we move."
That New Year's Eve, The Badger, Sugar Bear, and I toasted to #FirstNight, the celebration we have planned for the night our little convoy rolls into Vegas. And I promised myself that would be the last time I'd ring in a new year in Missouri.

The Decision

During our trip to Vegas in September, a few things came into sharp relief.

1. It's just too much. There, I said it. There's too much to do in Vegas. We have many things we love doing so much that we feel like we HAVE to do them every time we're in town. But we also want to try all the new things that invariably spring up in the city. On this trip it was apparent that we'd reached capacity on our average 6-to-8-night stays. 

2. The Badger was tired of vacationing in Vegas, largely for the reasons mentioned above. This sentiment had reared its ugly head on a couple of previous trips, but usually it followed a hangover or bout with dehydration. But this time was ... different. 

We've always ventured past the strip, but this time we found ourselves driving through neighborhoods and developments. One of us (I don't remember who) saw a sign for open model homes and said, half-jokingly, that we should go check it out. When neither of us could come up with a better way to kill time until whatever plans we had later that afternoon, we parked and went in. 

It was super fancy and really beautiful and WAY out of our imaginary price range. We took their floor plans and walked out fantasizing about the cookouts we could have on the patio with the giant outdoor fireplace.

Then we went to another model home. This one was still out of our price range, but it was closer. The joking manner of the afternoon changed.

3. I really... really.... REALLY did not want to come home. I haven't told many people this, but I had a panic attack on our last night. It was my birthday, and we had had a really great day. But the tiniest detail was out of place at dinner, and out of nowhere, the anxiety hit.

We got back to the room and talked some things out. It wasn't a pleasant conversation, overall. But it was one of those that needs to take place. 

It was during that talk, and another the following morning, that the discussion of moving became real.

"Don't mess with me on this one," I told the Badger. "If you don't really mean this, we need to stop this right now."

Decision made.

We weren't going to be in that $500,000, six-bedroom house in Summerlin, but we were going. And it was going to be amazing.

The Intro

Badger and I (The GOAT) have been traveling to Las Vegas since our first anniversary trip in 2004.
"Let's go to Vegas!" we said.
"Just to say we've seen it," we said.
Well.
Twelve years later, here we sit with two Chihuahuas, twelve more Vegas trips under our belt, and a half-emptied house, which is about to go on the market.
This story has a bit of a delayed start - - we didn't want to count our chickens before they hatched - -  but we've privately been documenting all the baby steps up to this point.
So. Let's make some egg salad.