LA & The Desert

Our stay in California is about to come to an end in the morning. I'm feeling a little bit sad about it for numerous reasons. It's going to be really weird following highway signs that say East since we were going West for so long! I'm not looking forward to heading back east and facing the humidity again, yuck!

While in LA we spent some time in Hollywood and Santa Monica. In Hollywood we visited the church of Scientology and took a tour. It was rather interesting. I think that they have some valid points, but overall think it's strange that L Ron Hubbard wrote science fiction before creating a religion. We had lunch at In N Out Burger; I feel like it's something you're obligated to do when visiting CA. We also visited the Hollywood sign to take pictures and walked along the walk of fame looking at stars. The next day we just hung around Santa Monica and picked up copies of Harry Potter. For dinner that night we tried fish tacos, and they weren't half bad. I love the weather in LA a lot.

After leaving LA we traveled 2 hours south east to the Palm Springs area and visited my other cousin, Andi, and her girlfriend, Julie. We went to eat at the restaurant where Julie is the chef, and that was fun. I was impressed because the bartender remembered who I was from when I visited in December. I got so excited because I got to eat white chocolate ravioli for dessert! After dinner we spent a little time playing the slot machines. I managed to leave with $16 more than I walked in with. I was very excited about that! This evening we went out to the Palm Springs Airtram. You take a rotating tram car 8,000 or so feet up the side of the mountain. I loved the view going up and down the mountain in the car.

I'm getting sick of packing and unpacking the car on a daily basis. Tomorrow we're going to start our trip towards Austin. We'll be stopping about half way, but I'm not exactly sure where yet. I'm really looking forward to Austin to visit with a few old friends!