Southern Californiacation (San Diego, Los Angeles, Joshua Tree National Park)

As always, I am not excited about my trip until I actually got there. This trip was plan in such a rush; I literally bought the ticket 3 weeks ago. And I changed my itenary at the last minute. Anyway, I flew from dc to Philly to San Diego. The morning flight in DC was frustrating because the one of the flight attendant did not show up and therefore the flight was delayed. Because of that, I missed my almost missed my connection flight in Philly. I got into the plane but not my luggage. When I landed in San Diego, I wasted almost 1 hr dealing with my lost baggage. Anyway, I took a taxi to the hostel. The taxi driver was an asshole and weird. When I told him where I wanted to go, he turned up his radio so loud a couple of times. I had to scream at him. Anyway, I checked in at the hostel but couldn’t take a shower cause I didn’t have my bag with me. My room was freaking awesome. It had its own bathroom and the mattress is tempur pedic !!! later I had lunch with Mark. Mark (my boss) had checked in to the hostel (he’s doin an eastern seaboard hostel tour and ironically we are staying the same hostel at the same time). We went to this authentic Mexican restaurant just a couple of blocked away. I had salmon with beans with corona beer. It was good.. and relaxing. Later we walked around downtown. At night, I went to this Japanese restaurant a couple of blocks away from the hostel. Wasn’t that good but I was glad after dinner because my bag arrived!!! Took a shower and went to bed.

The next morning, I woke up at 4.15am. Took the Amtrak to LA to meet with Connie. Connie is an ex college friend of mine whom I haven’t seen for almost 5 years!! The ride was scenic. The first half of the ride was by the Californian coast (orange county). It was pretty. Also, I saw orange trees for the first time on the train. That was cool. I got to LA downtown around 9. then we headed to get some breakfast. Went to this dim sum take out place. So cheap!!! 99 cents dim sum. Cant beat that. Also, went to Mcdonalds café (they don’t have it in dc) to get some mocha blended. Then we headed to Joshua tree national park. The first sign of approaching Palm Springs is seeing power windmill. That was an awesome sight. The weather was perfect. A bit chilly but sunny. The park loks exactly like what I though would look like. It was beautiful. I bet it would be more beautiful during spring time. We spent like 2 hrs driving around the park. On the way out the park, we passed by this cholla cactus garden. They look weird and beautiful. Anyway, I got stung by a cactus when I was posing to get my pic taken from Connie. That was funny. On the way out, we went to see the fan palm tree. It’s one of the only native palm trees in the US. It was cool to see them face to face. On the way back, we tried to go see the date tree plantation but it was getting dark. So we drove back to LA and had Chinese food. We had lobster and goeduck. It was good but not cheap tho. The meal was 100 but it was worth it, at least I think. Then connie drove me to santa monica. The hostel was awesome as they gave me a private room with a balcony!!! I was tired and I just wanted to crash.

Next morning, woke up walk around the santa monica beach. weather was perfect. It felt so laidback. I could just sat there looking at the ocean pacific enjoying the view, later connie came and we had lunch at this Cambodian restaurant. After that she drove me to Huntington beach, san clemente beach. on the way we stopped by the orange county fair to see vegetable farms. That was the first time I was celery and asparagus. Neat. Then she drove me back to San Diego . thanks connie,. I didn’t go out that evening, just stay in the room and rest. The next morning, I checked out and out my luggage at the hostel. It was raining cats and dogs. And my flight was not until 11pm. I didn’t know what to do. So I went to BORDERS bookstore that’s located a block away from the hostel. At around 1pm, the rained stopped!! I catch a bus to go to the zoo. I knew I wont have a lot of time so I literally ran around the zoo. I didn’t get to see the Galapagos tortoise which was kind of disappointing. But I did get to see the polar bear. Also I didn’t get to see the Mongolian wild horse. It costs 32 dollars to get in but I think it was worth it. at around 4, I walk in to the Bolboa park area. Man, I was glad I went, it was a pretty as shown in my travel guide books. I feel like I am in mexico/spain. It gets dark quick, at around 5.30, it started to get dark, I took the bus back to the city. Went to the Mexican restaurant one more time. Bought some san diego t shirts and then went tto the airport. This trip was a rush one. Saw so many things in 4 days and I love every second of it!!!