Travel: San Francisco & Mountain View

Itinerary:

• Day 1: E, B, and I drove up to Mtn. View to meet up with C. That evening, we went out to Castro Street for a little nightlife. 
• Day 2: B, C, and I picked up E from her aunt's nearby place (where she was staying) and drove out to SF. We visited the Palace Hotel, Coit Tower (pictured above), Lombard Street, and Lincoln Park. We had lunch at some random place suggested in C's out-of-date guide book. Afterward, we grabbed coffee and pastries at some random Italian bakery we passed by. E left us at some point in the afternoon to meet up with her friends. So, B, C, and I had dinner at Plouf in the French Ghetto. It was fantastic food. We then drove back to Mountain View.
• Day 3: While E attended to other things, B, C, and I had breakfast with C's colleague at Hobee's. We then went to the expansive Shoreline Park and saw various lake activities (sailboats, paddle boats, etc.), joggers/walkers, and picnickers. We also went to the Rengstorff House, a Victorian house located within the park. We then wandered to the outskirts of the park, until the Shoreline Amphitheater and golf course. Afterward, we picked up E from a nearby train station, had a late lunch at Neto Cafe & Bakery, dropped off C, and then drove back to LA.

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: Hearst Castle

Itinerary:

• Day 1: M, A, B and I drove up to Hearst, stopping by San Luis Obispo for a Cajun lunch at Bon Temps Creole Cafe (it's actually in a Ramada Inn. lol). As we were driving up to the castle, we saw the zebras on the estate grounds (see below). After doing a sundown tour (tour 1) of the castle, we stayed overnight in Cambria.

• Day 2: We stopped to see an elephant seal colony at Piedras Blancas. We had coffee in Avila and strolled by the beach (it was cold!). Finally, before heading back, we had lunch and pastries in Solvang.

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.

Travel: Grand Canyon & Las Vegas

Itinerary:

• Day 1: B and I drove out to Las Vegas and picked up C from the Las Vegas airport. After dropping off our luggage, we toured the Strip at night (Venetian, Caesar's, Mirage). 
• Day 2: C, B, and I woke up early the next morning to take a plane to the Grand Canyon National Park. We were taken to three sites on the South Rim and had plenty of opportunities to take photos and video footage (I'm actually holding my video camera above). Our tour had an included lunch provided to us before we flew back. After trying to take a nap, we went to the Penn & Teller comedy/magic show. We then toured the Strip at night again (Luxor, Bellagio, Mandalay Bay).
• Day 3: We explored South Strip during the day, first having a brunch buffet at Paris and then stopping at MGM and New York-New York. Afterward, we dropped C off at the airport and B and I drove home.

Travel: London (& Stonehenge, Bath) & Zürich (& Luzern, Mt. Pilatus)

The shot above was taken with a digital video recorder (not a digital camera); hence, the sort of fuzziness. B was answering his work phone while we were at Stonehenge. It was actually pretty cool because we got to go right up to the stones. While I managed to walk on a stone and jump off it, B got in trouble for sitting on one. We think they never saw me.

Anyway, we met up with C in LA and gave him a tour of LA/SD/Tijuana, before leaving him to do his own tour of Central California. Then, B and I went to London. Afterward, the three of us met up again in Zurich where C gave us a tour of the city. B and I were supposed to continue our trip to LA but we actually missed our flight. We had to stay in London for an extra day before coming home.
Itinerary:

• LA/SD/Tijuana (3 days): Picked up C from LAX. LA: Hollywood Walk of Fame/Stars, Chinese Mann Theater, the Getty Center, Santa Monica Pier, Venice Boardwalk, Sunset Blvd., Comedy Store, UCLA. San Diego: Balboa Park, Downtown. Tijuana: Avenida Revolucion.
• London (3.5 days) : Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, Piccadilly Circus, pub crawling with B's friends, Westminster Cathedral, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, London Eye, Millennium Bridge, Tate Modern, St. Paul's Cathedral, City Hall, Tower Bridge, Tower of London, pub crawling with D in Covent Garden, Leicester Square. Stonehenge, Lacock, & Bath.
• Switzerland (4 days): Zurich, Bahnhofstrasse, Grossmunster, Fraumunster, Niederhof, Lake Promenade, fondue, beer garden, Lindenhof, Landesmuseum, Migros, Coop, Sprungli, Teuscher. Luzern: the Chapel Bridge, Mt. Pilatus.
• London (1.5 days): Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, Bond Street.
• LA: home.