Travel: Joshua Tree National Park

Itinerary:

• Day 1: E and H drove out to LA from SD to ride up with us to Joshua Tree National Park. My tango partner, F, drove up in a separate van with 4 other people and met up with us there. We stopped at an REI along the way to rent camping equipment. At the park, we drove around taking pictures of the trees, flowers (they were in full bloom!), and mountains. We couldn't find any camping grounds in the park (we didn't make any reservations), so we camped off the park grounds. We spent the night getting to know each other, dancing (E was our DJ!), drinking wine, and eating smores around the campfire we built. In reality, we had very little food and not even the correct cooking supplies, but we, amazingly, had a blast. We slept through the incredibly windy night.
• Day 2: Starving, we drove out to have breakfast at a diner at Chiriaco Summit. We were near the General Patton Memorial Museum, so we checked out the various tanks and military equipment on the grounds. After taking a long, wrong detour, we then regrouped to hike Ryan Mountain for a 360-degree view of the park. We all made it to the summit but we went with a girl who was dressed in inadequate boots and who slowed us down. To convince her to continue hiking, we told her there was a Starbucks at the top of the mountain (which there was not). Later that afternoon, we all drove home. Despite everything that could and did go wrong, we all had a really good time :).

Travel: Las Vegas - Hoover Dam & Red Rock Canyon

We did a hectic New Year's Eve meet up between 10 people!
Itinerary:

• Day 1: Drove F & H up with us to Las Vegas. We met up with E and her entourage at the Golden Nugget in Downtown Las Vegas where 6 of them shared one room. B and I had our own free room on the Strip. That night, we had the Fremont experience, ate at Firefly, and then went to a hookah lounge.
• Day 2: We found everyone at Golden Nugget's pool, despite the freezing outside temperatures. We toured the Strip (Bellagio, Caesar's, etc.). E and everyone else left to go to the Grand Canyon. B and I decided not to go because we'd already been a couple times.
• Day 3:  B and I, instead, decided do the tour of the Hoover Dam. We invited J and A to stay in our room because we had a spare bed.
• Day 4: B and I toured Red Rock Canyon. That night we attended a NYE banquet and had steak and lobster dinner for free! We met up with J and A to be on the Strip when midnight struck. They took us out for Korean BBQ afterward.

• Day 5: J and A left early the next morning. B and I toured the Wynn, Palazzo, and Venetian. E and her entourage returned from the Grand Canyon and we met up at the Luxor. We took F and H out for dinner at Canters in Treasure Island. Then, we left everyone and went home.

Travel: Montréal

I volunteered at a conference in Montréal that C was attending. Non-conference-y highlights include:

• Day 1: C and I toured Vieux Montréal/Old Montreal and had dinner at an overpriced, touristy restaurant on Place Jacques-Cartier (where I actually had the best French onion soup of my life). We shared a room in the Le Cantlie Suites Hotel which ended up being a bit of a walk from the convention center, but provided good exercise otherwise.
• Day 2: Met JF as well as a few others. Some of the guys took me out to Restaurant Basha for a quick Middle Eastern lunch. That evening, JF, C and I went out to Schwartz's Montreal Hebrew Delicatessen and stood in line in the cold for it's famous smoked meats. JF actually lives in Montreal and was able to show us around town that night (e.g, the Latin Quarter). 
• Day 3: I met E & F. That evening, E and I enjoyed complimentary wine at a conference event and had an in-depth discussion about women in computer science.
• Day 4: Lunch in Chinatown w/ C. Went to Dundees that evening and had poutine for the first time ever.
• Day 5: C and I had lunch in Chinatown again. The final night there was a Special Event that consisted of a provided dinner buffet and entertainment (a balloon clown, a live band, and caricature artist) at the Just for Laughs Museum. Of course there were complimentary drinks :D. E and I became good friends after that night ;).
• Day 6: JF took me to the roof of the convention center where I snapped a few panoramic shots. I got a free Google T-shirt! About midway through the final day of the conference, C and I left to have lunch before flying off to our respective countries.