LA - Where the Sun Always Shines

I arrived in LAX to see Meredith and Meredith's Mom waiting to give me a massive hug. It was amazing to see Meredith after such a long time. After a minor crisis of a missing bag (which was found after some searching), we drove back to Meredith's house. I must say, I know LA is known for its vastness but it hits you when driving around and flying over. Everywhere there seemed to be some sort of commercial business and advertisements/billboards (also interesting that many signs were in Korean so I got the sense that I was already in Korea). The city also felt different from most big cities I have been to because nothing is built up. You could see the open blue sky from anywhere you were. It was also a surprise to see mountains from behind the smog, which serves as an elegant back-drop to the city

We began our adventures that night as Meredith successfully drove through LA traffic to get us to a place to eat. I forget the name of the place we went but it essentially it was Greek fast food. The next day we headed out to the beach where we walked along the pier and I swam a little in the ocean. I forgot how much I enjoyed just wading in the waves, there is something invigorating about it. However the highlight of the trip was seeing a big group of dolphins out in the water. They jumped, flipped, and generally entertained the rather large group of beach goers whose attention they grabbed. Also they were quite close to the beach, enough so that when they jumped you could see the distinct white underside.

After the beach I went out to dinner with Meredith's family. Everyone seems to be doing fine and even though they are in the new environment nothing has changed a huge amount. I spent a fairly quite evening with Meredith awaiting the twelve hour plane ride to Korea. Overall a relaxing downtime before the beginning of the next adventure.