Escaping Los Angeles to the Joshua Tree

alicia_d — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 08:17:00 GMT

One of the best things about living in LA is the number of fabulous places you can escape to on weekends. And boy I need to escape regularly - the longer I stay without a break the more I believe I should do an hour of cardio a day, that carbs after 3pm are a disaster and $10 for a sandwich is the going rate.

Last weekend we went to the desert and stayed in Josuha Tree (’Josh’ to the locals) . I can throughly recommend Spin and Margie’s hideaway for easy pleasant accommodation near the National Park. On Saturday we took a guided walk though the park with local guide Cal. The guided walk was one of my SoCal highlights.

Take the ancient ink blot test - a porpoise?

I see a tortoise here…

Hollywood Forever Cemetery- Day of the Dead

alicia_d — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 08:36:00 GMT

Last year I wanted to go but was overwhelmed by the thought of the drive. This happens a lot to me in LA, I think about driving downtown or to Pasadena and then I think about facing the traffic - will it be worth it?

But this year I was determined brave the journey to experience this annual event. I roped in six others and with military planning and hand drawn maps we headed to the Day of the Dead celebrations in Hollywood - and it was most definitely worth the effort.

The Day of the Dead is a Mexican festival to honour and celebrate of the lives of the deceased. The celebration in Los Angeles is one of the bigger ones outside of Mexico. It was one of the most original and vibrant events I have ever seen. I loved the Mexican iconography and I was very moved to see the beautiful altars that had been created to celebrate heroes and family members.

The main stage

Two family members created an altar of all the things their lost ones had loved.

one of the altars

Living in LA

Escaping Los Angeles to the Joshua Tree

Hollywood Forever Cemetery- Day of the Dead