In some ways, the third day of my visit with Katie was a very fitting end.

When I woke up on Tuesday morning I was looking immensely forward to what we had planned today. Long before I even arrived, Katie concocted a plan in which my parents would arrive that night and we would all have dinner together. This was a very good plan. In the meantime, I had to get dressed and get something to eat. That's when my parents took me to the cafe at the hotel and we got breakfast. I ordered chicken fried steak, eggs, and hash browns for my meal.

I've tended to stay away from ordering chicken fried steak for health reasons, but on those occasions where temptation overwhelms me I've never regretted it. I love to add LOTS of sauce to my food, and chicken fried steak is no exception. Aside from the gravy they already lathered it with, I wasn't satisfied until I layered it with A1 steak sauce and some tabasco. It was absolutely fantastic!

The only thing that made it more fantastic was getting to see Katie again.

The drive on the way, however, was not at all what I expected. It turned out that my trip was going to be cut short by a day. My mom's off days from work had been messed up, and in order to keep a later and much desired day off, she had no other option but to return to work a day early than anticipated. Hearing this news crushed me, and I had no idea what I was going to tell Katie.

So it was actually with a heavy heart that I managed to walk up to the front door and see Katie there, greeting me with that beautiful smile of hers. I couldn't help myself; the moment we were in each other's arms again it was back to kissing and cuddling. But soon, I broke the news to Katie. It was by far one of the worst moments in a period of three days that should have been pure bliss. 

But that didn't stop us. We were bound determined to make this day memorable. First, we had to make a trip to the store for the night's dinner. The second trip to the store was pretty much the same; lots of kissing at the traffic lights.

After getting back home, we realized that in the entire time I had been here we had been so focused on cuddling, kissing, cooking, and playing Mario Bros. that we forgot to take pictures! Silly us!

We took a lot of pictures that day, many of which I'm not posting simply because there are so many. We took them everywhere we went -- the park down the street, an underpass just before the main road, her bedroom. There were so many places! One of my favorite pictures was of us drinking our butterbeer, which we finally finished making that morning.

Yes, we are that cheesy. But it was awesome.

Before long, we had to get started on making dinner. I had never made home-made lasagna before. Any previous experience with the dish was the result of store-bought products, which often led to overcooked cheese. This was going to be a most intriguing and interesting experience.

I felt special. It turns out this recipe is one that has been in Katie's family for years. I felt flattered to be a part of knowing this. What I found the most interesting was that the recipe called for cottage cheese. I HATE cottage cheese, normally. But my God, it was amazing on this lasagna! I was easily converted! The rest of the meal consisted of a salad Katie's sister made. I love cilantro, it makes a lot of food just taste incredible. Strangely enough, I never thought of putting it in a salad. Alyson opened my eyes to it.

And the final dish was garlic bread. Once again, this was made according to a family recipe. All in all, it all smelled so good! Soon enough, my parents arrived.

I worried at first that having dinner with both Katie and my parents would be awkward. To me, it was anything but. We shared hilarious stories together -- Alyson reminiscing about a younger Katie, and my parents going into great detail about my two year old self. Dinner, as I knew it would be, was utterly fantastic, and we rounded it off with some butterbeer.

Soon we were out the door and headed back to the strip. First, my parents took Katie and I to Fremont, otherwise known as "Old" Las Vegas. Most of our visit consisted of walking, but it was worth it. There were interesting light shows and entertainment, and my parents and I played a few rounds of black jack while Katie cheered us on. We still lost.

We then made our way to the strip itself, where we visited some of the more elegant hotels such as the Venetian, the Palazzo, and the Wynn. I can now cross out these hotels on my list of those I've walked through. The architecture within these buildings was simply outstanding. One can easily walk the strip of Vegas just for the pleasure of sightseeing because the hotels have that much to offer.

It wasn't too long after that I dropped my parents back off at the hotel, and Katie and I continued to walk the strip ourselves. We went through Planet Hollywood and took a very brief stroll into Paris before deciding to go back. My parents allowed me to spend my final night at Katie's house.

The three days I spent with Katie were the best of my life. But they were also short. As much as I wanted to spend more time with her, there's something in the way that our final day and night together was spent that actually made it the most perfect way to end my visit.

I'm already planning for my next visit. And when I leave, this time it will be longer.