Emily and Mitchell in the USA

This week was our biggest adventure yet! Mitchell got the day off for Thanksgiving and the Friday after, so we had a really long weekend to make the most of and decided to go and visit Joshua Tree National Park. Unlike our other trips, this was in the desert rather than the mountains and we stayed in a little caravan rather than a tent. Joshua Tree, like most places, is only a little over an hour away from us, so we could definitely go for a day trip if we wanted to visit again. Even though it's so close, we still made a stop on the way. About half an hour away by the town of Cabazon, there's a roadside attraction called the Cabazon Dinosaurs! These are two giant dinosaur statues which are repainted regularly with the seasons. We saw the Santa Claus T-rex and a diplodicous with a necktie. There was also a whole visitor centre, but we didn't stop inside to see the extra bits.  Spot the Emily! It was fun, but it was so windy that day! It was very cold and we didn't stay l...

 This weekend we went on a trip with some of Mitchell's work pals to the art museum The Getty Center (there's also the Getty Villa, but we'll visit that another day). Andrea picked us up and after a quick stop at a drive-thru starbucks we were on our way! It took about an hour and twenty minutes which wasn't so bad considering the traffic in LA. The parking structure is at the bottom of the hill, and the museum right at the top, so they have trams which shuttle people up and down! It gave some pretty cool views of LA, although it was a pretty smoggy day. Side note: the pollution was really bad, the sky was clear above us, but there was a haze going all across the city and it really irritated our eyes throughout the day.  Hazy over the city The Museum had a lot of renaissance art from 17th century Europe and some sculptures and gilded furniture from similar times. They also had beautiful gardens where we spent some time getting some fun group shots for our various instag...

 This weekend I had the best time visiting my friend in San Francisco.  Mitchell dropped me off at the airport on Friday night (and then went home to play videogames). The flight only took an hour and I arrived in San Francisco just after 10pm. I met all the roommates and Corine's little dog Aristotle.  On Saturday morning we headed out for our first tourist adventure. On the way, we passed Lombard Street which is the iconic uphill road which zig zags all the way down.  We went to Fisherman's Wharf which is by the sea and has a lot of small shops and cafes. To one side is Umbrella Alley which is a random alley which local artists have decorated with really colourful murals and art.  We then went to Pier 39 which has a load of eccentric tourist shops selling souvenirs. It sits over the sea and we actually saw a sealion pop up out of the water! It disappeared too quickly to get a photo, but it was so close. From the pier you can also see the rock prison Alcatraz a...