I’ve had a lovely 10 or so days in Los Angeles, mainly enjoying the kind hospitality of my university friend Lizzy and her American husband Steve. I can’t say their two cats, Tux and Harry, were quite as pleased to see me at first, but I did enjoy their company and funny antics! It’s been a real treat spending some time just hanging out with Lizzy and Steve and some of their family and friends, relaxing with Lizzy’s delicious home-cooked food, discovering interesting documentaries and playing board games.

Last weekend, I went on a retreat organised very ably by Lizzy. Her invitation to the retreat sparked the idea of ending my trip in California, and it was indeed a perfect end. A group of seven of us stayed in a lovely hotel in Redondo Beach, where we began with introductions and tarot card reading on Friday evening. On Saturday we enjoyed a full spa day at a fabulous hotel and spa called Terranea in the nearby area of Palos Verdes. I had a relaxing pedicure and also enjoyed using the jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. The retreat finished at Sunday lunchtime following an interesting reiki/hypnosis session in a park near the beach, on an extremely windy day. We also enjoyed fabulous food and a few drinks throughout, at healthy but delicious restaurants carefully selected by Lizzy.

I had a wonderful time on the retreat and took lots of ideas and inspiration away from it, which I’ll follow up on back at home. The best part though was the amazing people I met; everyone was so friendly and willing to share their own ideas and experiences. I hope to see them again and indeed have already met up with one of them, Monica, twice more before leaving LA.

I had a couple of free days after the retreat ended. I went shopping with Lizzy, during which I discovered healthy eating LA-style, fuelled my fabric obsession (to sew with when I get home), and discovered that my wine-damaged laptop makes more sense to replace than try to repair.

On Tuesday, I went to Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park with Monica from the retreat. It’s just over an hour’s drive from where Lizzy lives in LA. I’d heard that America has the best rollercoasters and Monica was keen to revisit some of the more extreme ones at Magic Mountain. We treated ourselves to “flash pass” upgrades which not only cut the queue time in half but also allow you to queue remotely for one ride at a time. This enabled us to go on nearly every large rollercoaster in the park – around a dozen of them – and I was not disappointed!

Monica and I agreed that our favourite rollercoasters came in a row towards the end of the day. These three were Tatsu (where you ride lying down, facing downwards), Full Throttle (which has several powered launches, both forwards and backwards) and the only rollercoaster that’s ever truly frightened me: X2. There are plenty of POV videos on YouTube if you’re keen to see it, but essentially, its seats rotate 360 degrees head over heels at designated points on the track. This meant that we went up the first hill on our backs, admiring the stars, and were then flipped backwards to plunge down the first 200ft drop face first… It was unbelievably intense but also great fun. Apparently the construction of X2 bankrupted the company that made it, but I’d say that was well worth it!

The following day, I began a brief road trip of sorts. I started with a visit to San Diego Zoo, which deserves its reputation as one of the best zoos in the world. It covers a huge area, so I made use of the cable car to access the far corner of the park. I then meandered my way back on foot through the big cat, birds of prey and monkey areas before exploring the regions focusing on African and Australian wildlife. My personal highlights were the Komodo dragons (as usual!), the enormous California condor and the beautiful big cats. I could have done with fewer overpriced gift and food shops, but I can’t fault the zoo overall and would recommend it if you’re in the general area.

From San Diego Zoo, I drove directly to the desert region of Joshua Tree – bypassing the old town of San Diego due to lack of time, which I’ll have to visit with Lizzy the next time I visit here. I’d been craving a few days in the desert, after so long by the sea, and I’d chosen a small AirBnB about 20 minutes’ drive from one of the entrances to the National Park itself. It was beautiful, well equipped and remote. I enjoyed using the fire pit and the hot tub while I wasn’t out and about exploring. The desert was so quiet, especially at night, and there was plenty of star-gazing to be done.

I spent a day and a half exploring Joshua Tree National Park with the help of a fantastic audio/driving guide which told me a lot about the park and gave me tips about where to go and what to see. There are lots of trails and hikes in the desert, some of which are extremely challenging. The most I did was a one-mile round walk to the ruins of a house once occupied by two brothers who were gold prospectors and then cattle ranchers. A mile doesn’t seem very far, but it was quite enough in the heat of the desert and walking on sand trails at best! I loved the slightly eerie landscape of Joshua trees and incredible rock formations, which are mostly made from granite. It’s a popular destination for rock-climbers and I could see why. As I descended to a lower-lying desert on the second day, the landscape changed to cactus and acacia trees within just a few minutes’ drive. Overall, Joshua Tree was stunning and wonderfully unspoilt. Highly recommended!

On my way back to LA, I stopped briefly in Palm Springs at Sunnylands, a huge country estate which has hosted many presidents and royals since the 1960s. These days, it’s still used for retreats and has a new visitor centre and garden which are free to visit. A tour of the main house and gardens would have been possible if I’d had more time.

I had a lovely final day in LA today with Steve’s parents in law, decorating Easter cakes and eggs with Lizzy. It was fun and relaxing. I’m only sorry I won’t still be around for the main event on Easter Sunday tomorrow!

That’s all from me for now, though I plan to do a summary post in a few days’ time. Thanks for reading this far and I hope you’ve enjoyed it.

Cross-stitch progress update (all finished apart from the title!)