San Diego/Bakersfield

I arrived in San Diego late Friday afternoon (9/25/09) and was picked up from the airport by high school friend Spencer Jensen, who attends San Diego State University. The minute I walked out of the terminal I was greeted by sunny skies, 80+ degrees, and a row of palm trees along the San Diego Bay. While staying with Spencer we were able to tour the campus, head to the beach area, go to a San Diego Chargers football game against the Miami Dolphins, and walk around downtown before my train left for Los Angeles on Monday afternoon (9/28/09). It was great spending time with Spencer as we became pretty close while on the golf team at Portage Central before he moved out to California.
It was a very scenic train ride up the coast from San Diego to Los Angeles, and I made sure to get a seat on the west side of the train to look out over the Pacific Ocean which was visable for more then half of the train ride. From Los Angeles I got on a bus, for the rest of the trip to Bakersfield where some of my best friends from college now live. Mark Howson, and Dave "Toaster" Healey picked me up from the bus stop. The next day the three of us drove up to Sequioa National Park and drove through the park, and hiked around a little bit to look at the GIGANTIC trees. It was a cold and cloudy day, so the pictures didn't always turn out the best, but it was amazing to see these trees that are thousands of years old...pictures don't do the size of the trees justice anyway. Tomorrow morning (10/1/09) I'll be leaving by train again to head to San Francisco where our flight leaves for Australia on Sunday, October 4th.