Across the World

The sky from the plane on the way to LA was spectacular. Pink-tinted puffs rolling to the horizon with glimpses of stark snow-dusted mountaintops.

I ate all sorts of awesome foods in LA - my daughter is an excellent foodie/partner in crime. Duck fat fries at Beer Belly, sushi with warm rice at Sugarfish, the biggest pancakes in the entire world (there simply cannot be anything bigger) at The Griddle Cafe - and then we hiked it off!

Somewhere in the Valley, one of the trails we hit was the Mesa Trail although we were aiming for Paradise Falls.

The next day we hit Runyon Canyon Park with its stunning views over the city. The accessibility of the outdoors reminds me of Cape Town where you could drive ten minutes to walk in Newlands Forest or twenty to get to any beach at all - the beauty of a long skinny peninsula.

The flight to Australia was surprisingly uneventful. Blissfully so. We didn't miss any flights, none were cancelled, the food was perfectly edible and we took the taxi to my mom's apartment with all of our luggage.

Her view is pretty stunning, right?

And her balcony floor makes a decent backdrop for pictures of beaded stuff.

Only slightly jet lagged and the weather is perfect for time outdoors, not too hot or humid.

Good start to a vacation.