Sorry again for the long delay! As you can imagine, I’ve been keeping very busy here between research at JPL and exploring California in my downtime. Two weekends ago I went to Joshua Tree National Park with my usual group of friends. It was a very intriguing place, quite different from California City, although Joshua Tree is also partly in the Mojave Desert and partly in the Colorado Desert. On Saturday we hiked to an old dam, and an oasis called 49 Palms. The hike to the oasis was only 1.5 miles, although it was through a canyon, and we went during the hottest part of the day, when the temperature was over 110 degrees. For those of you have read or watched The Lord of the Rings, think of Mordor. . . it was just like that! On Sunday we drove to Keys View, from which we could see to the Salton Sea, and on a clear day, all the way to Signal Mountain, which is in Mexico. We also saw the San Andreas Fault, and learned that the place on which we were standing would move 10 feet in the next 60 years. After that, we drove through the Mojave Desert and into the Colorado Desert, where the vegetation is surprisingly different. Then on our way home we stopped in Indio, the “Date Capital of the World”, and we of course had to try the famous Shields’ date milkshakes.
Last weekend my two best friends from high school visited me for one of my three-day weekends. They arrived late on Thursday after a cancelled flight, problems renting a car, and getting lost while trying to find Caltech. We met up with my new friends for dinner at the only restaurant that was still open at 10:30, The Cheesecake Factory. Then on Friday we went beach-hopping to Point Dume, Venice, and Dockweiler beaches in our lovely rental car, a red 2010 Ford Mustang, and on Saturday we went to Sequoia National Park. At Sequoia we drove the Mustang under a tree, saw General Sherman, the world’s largest tree by volume, and took a tour of Crystal Cave, which was a refreshing 50 degrees after the rest of the park was 88 to 100 degrees. We watched the sun set behind the mountains and drove down in the dark, listening to my iPod, which took us back to our middle and high school days. We were all singing at the tops of our lungs to songs by Vertical Horizon, Lifehouse, Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, and a host of others. The setting reminded us of all the cliché horror films: four college students in a nice car, driving down a deserted road in the dark, loving life and oblivious to the danger that could befall us, the perfect prey for a psycho-axe murderer or the like. We made sure that the doors were locked and all the windows were up at the thought of this, but made it out of the park unscathed. On Sunday we went to Los Angeles to see Spamalot, a musical based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I had tried and failed to watch the movie once before, and was therefore not looking forward to the musical version. I didn’t find the first half too amusing, but laughed the whole way through the second half and would say that I am glad we went to see it after all. Furthermore, I was excited to have recognized the main character, King Arthur, as John O’Hurley, who among other things hosts Family Feud.
Last week I saw Star Trek with my usual group of friends. I thought it was a great movie, and was very excited to have recognized the music of Michael Giacchino, who creates the music for one of my favorite TV shows, LOST. We also went to a concert in Los Angeles on Wednesday night, where we saw Mellowdrone and a British rock band called Elbow, two bands whom I had never heard of before one of my friends told me about them. Elbow put on the greatest live show I have ever and probably will ever attend. I was skeptical of liking them at first, but can say with confidence now that I am a fan! On Friday night we ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant called El Portal. All the dining is outdoors and at night it spills out into the neighboring shopping plaza. A mariachi band was playing when we arrived and I was called señorita by the waiter, who brought us an unlimited amount of tortilla chips and salsa (our criteria for a good Mexican restaurant). It was an awesome place and a great evening.
This weekend was the first that I did not have plans to go somewhere. On Saturday I ended up taking the Metro rail into Los Angeles to find a famous taco truck called Kogi that one of my friends had been raving about. Today I again took the Metro rail into LA, this time to accompany a different friend on his quest for a new pair of flip-flops. Somehow, every time I go to the city, I end up in the not-so-great parts. Seeing as I have only four weeks left here, I really hope I get the chance to see the classy parts of LA and Hollywood. I know I am just past halfway through my time here, but I am beginning to feel the urgency to see and do as much as I can. As much as I miss all of you back home, I am going to miss this state and this summer and will be sad to leave!
Tonight’s shout-out goes to Shaddi, whom I did not know read this blog. But now that I do know, I must say thank you! And as always, thank you to all of you who have been following me!