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We got up at 4:40 am to disembark and fly to Cairns. Once there, we met up with our Cairns tour guide and checked into the hotel. We had free time in the afternoon, so Mom, Aunt Pat and I walked down the Esplanade, got gelato (it’s ungodly hot and humid up here in the tropics), checked out the Lagoon (big outdoor public pool and entertainment area) and picked up a few souvenirs.
We reunited with the smaller Cairns tour group and went to Hartley’s crocodile farm via a highway through the Barron River’s flood plain and acres of sugar cane (sugar cane is the #1 industry in the area aside from tourism). We cruised around the marsh and saw a lot of crocodiless and saw the up-close feeding of three or four. We had yummy canapés and I held an olive python and a baby estuarine crocodile. We saw a croc show and learned more about them, then had a great bbq complete with a ton of desserts.
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November 2–7
Mom flew into LAX Tuesday night, so I picked her up after class. The next day we went to brunch at Bea Bea’s, hung out for awhile at Maria and Clayton’s, then went to Warner Brothers to wait in line for the Ellen Show. The show was so much fun and we got Portia de Rossi’s book (her segment was pre-taped but we got to see it) and a 3M Shoot ‘n Share—a little digital camcorder and projector in one! We also got to be there for the pre-taping of Mario Lopez’s segment. Dinner at Gindi Thai with Maria, Clayton, and Megan.
Went directly from class to Maria and Clayton’s so I could hang out with Mom. Took her to Sweetsalt for lunch and hung out in the afternoon.
Friday morning class was cancelled, so picked up mom and drove to the Huntington. Had the English tea buffet by the Rose Garden and it was completely delightful. Finger sandwiches, scones, pastries, salads, cheeses, fruits, teas! Wpent the next three hours wandering the grounds—the Japanese and Chinese gardens were gorgeous and the Desert Garden was shockingly vast. There were so many hidden little places, complete with a little bench to read/nap on. Hit the gift shop, then drove to the Griffith Observatory for sunset. I showed Mom the highlights of the observatory (seismograph, vapor chamber, Foucault pendulum, periodic table, Tesla coil) and we got to see the city lit up at night. I have her a quick tour of my apartment, then we met Maria and Clayton at Malbec in Toluca Lake for Argentinian steaks! Back to their apartment and tried to watch a movie, but U-verse died a slow terrible death before our eyes. Probably should’ve been a boring, disappointing night, but between the AT&T customer service guy and Clayton and Mom’s jokes, it was actually really fun and entertaining.
Saturday Mom and I took a quick day trip to Santa Barbara. We ate on the wharf, saw the Old Mission, and walked along State Street. Mom had her first Yogurtland! Back to Burbank for Diwali dinner at Sid and Deepti’s. Deepti’s parents are in town, and Deepti and her mom made a CRAZY DELICIOUS feast for us. Afterwards, we looked at some photos of Deepti when she was little, and photos and videos of Sid and Deepti’s wedding…and they announced that Deepti is pregnant! A lovely evening.
On Sunday Mom and I had breakfast, then before I took her to the airport, went to Trader Joe’s so she could smuggle some contraband back to the QC.
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Lots of iPhone toy camera shots this year, as I have an insane backlog of ‘real’ photos to go through and didn’t want to add to the queue.
Flew into Chicago and hung out with Cecile for the night at her new condo. Had breakfast with Mark the next day, then Mom and Dad picked me up and we hung out with my cousins in the almost-suburbs for a few hours.
Home, Moline Boys’ Choir, lots of snow, too thick clouds to see the lunar eclipse. More snow before Christmas! Christmas with my dad’s side of the family, then my cousin came through on his way back to Colorado.
tomorrow I leave for illinois, and I’m staying with cecile for one night. sadly, I won’t see this little cutie, but I WILL get some irazu, so I suppose that will have to do.
