I wrote this on the plane to Shanghai last Thursday, but due to internet limitations I’m am just now able to post.

We finished out our United States tour with a great visit to Las Angeles. We were able to spend time with our niece and took her to a 90 year old carousel. She didn’t enjoy the ride too much, but she really liked dancing to the old timey music. We then took a trip out into the desert to surprise our uncle for his birthday. Walking into his house we were surrounded with hundreds of hummingbirds! I couldn’t believe how many there were and how they were not timid – If you stood still you could be within inches of the feeding hummingbirds.

The next day we took a road trip up to Mammoth Lakes to visit family friends – what a wonderful town! On previous visits we only skied, but neither Sara or I wanted to risk getting hurt since the snow conditions were poor. Instead, we explored the area including “Mono Lake”. It’s one of the few lakes that doesn’t drain to the ocean. Because of this unique topography it is very salty and has large petrified springs rising out of the lake bed. Mono Lake and the surrounding Mammoth Lakes scenery was breathtaking!

The next day our mission was to find one of the local hot springs. After getting vague directions such as “turn down a dirt road and it is near a sandy hill” we set off on the hunt. After 45 minutes of trying different dirt roads near sandy hills (there were a lot!) we finally a suitable spring where we could soak and relax.