4th July and BBQ part 3

Summer is officially in full swing, and to start the week off, we hosted a barbeque in our apartment. We tried to use the grill by the pool, but being 4th July and a hot day, it was already full of families and kids, so we set up a disposable barbeque on our balcony and invited everyone over. We'd made some sides and bought some veggie sausages, and other people brought meat, drinks and desserts. We started about 4pm when it was starting to get a bit cooler and we could spend time on the balcony and not melt in the sun. It was lots of fun and very busy!

Once the sun started to go down, we drove over to mount Rubidoux to watch the 4th July fireworks! It was very hectic driving and luckily we were able to park in a friend's driveway, I'm not sure we would have been able to find a space otherwise! 

They were fun, but not as impressive as the ones we'd seen at the baseball game last week. It was only here we remembered we'd not taken any pictures of the day, so we took a dark one in the park (and drew Bruno in because he'd had to leave early). 



After the fireworks, we went back to Caroline's for a little bit where she set up a karaoke station in her back garden! We each sang a song, but then it was time to go, as it was a Tuesday night and people had work the next day. 


On Thursday I drove Mitchell to his orthopedic doctor's appointment, and he found out he will be having surgery on his knee. We don't know exactly when yet, but hopefully some time in the next few weeks and then he'll be able to walk again! I'm already planning on lots of adventures to catch up for lost time. 

On Friday I'd been planning on taking myself on a hike again, but this time Stephie, a new J2 spouse, had been asking me about the work visa and then asked if I was going on a hike this week, so I brought her along.

I drove up to the San Jacinto Wildnerness and we hiked along the Devil's slide trail to Tahquitz Peak. I'd done this with Mitchell in October 2021, but it was still just as beautiful in the summer. In fact there was still water running in small streams, and when we got close to the top there were a couple of patches of snow! 



It was a warm day, but not too hot and we walked through the forest, along rocky paths near the peak and ate lunch at the firewatch tower. From here you can see all across the forest to the hills the other side of the city, and lakes in between. From the other side you can see across to the desert through a swathe of burnt trees. 



We took a slightly different route back and walked through a meadow and a huge field of ferns which was also so pretty. 


It took all day, but we made it back in time for dinner, and after I'd showered away the dust and sweat I got ready for Jaz's going away party. That was fun but both Jaz and Klaudia (who both came with us to Catalina Island) are leaving this weekend which is really sad. The silver lining is that Klaudia might be coming back to UCLA next year and Jaz is from the UK so we'll hopefully see them both again. 

We stopped crying just long enough to take one last photo

At the weekend, me and Mitchell had some errands to run, and then went on a little lunch date. We went to the "subs and spuds" cafe which I think is the last place in the Canyon Crest area that we hadn't been to yet. I got a sub and Mitchell a spud, and then we went for tayaki ice-cream for afters (I tried the new Thai tea flavour). 


On Sunday we had a little beach day at a new beach. We went to Bolsa Chica which is near Huntington Beach. It's right next to a preserve so there were lots of birds flying about and we could see the large lake on the other side of the road. The beach itself was busy, it seems the closer to LA you get, the busier and less wild the beaches are. But the sand was still warm and soft, and the sea still very blue, and we ate our picnic in the sun. We both got a little burnt in weird areas again, but I did finish my book and Mitchell had a little nap. 



It's awesome being able to hike in the mountains and go to the beach in the same week!

Lots of love,
Emily and Mitchell
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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