Joshua Tree National Park

Last night I was woken up by Gavin whilst I was in my deepest sleep to say he had almost sliced his finger off (typical male exaggeration….) He had got up to go to the bathroom and got his finger caught in the sliding door to the bathroom when opening it - a design fault - and shaved off a bit of his finger. As he is still on post-surgery anti-coagulants it did bleed a fair bit but we managed to stem the blood flow, apply a dressing (were able to use his surgery wound dressings) and then we tried to go back to sleep again!

This morning we were up early and left at 7.30am to go have breakfast at a nearby diner. It was the equivalent of a British greasy spoon but the food wasn’t bad, I had scrambled eggs and herb polenta while the others tucked into delicious looking French toast with lashings of maple syrup. Gavin is definitely managing to regain his hospital stay weight loss here, the food is very calorific with large portion sizes. We then set off back to San Diego. It was a wonderful short visit to the Joshua Tree National Park, and also as surreal as it was, we really enjoyed visiting Palm Springs too. On the way we stopped so I could photograph some Joshua Trees as seen here, and also to take some family photos (see extra).

We got back to La Jolla (San Diego) by lunchtime, where we had a quick lunch at Mendocino Farms - I enjoyed a delicious quinoa and avocado superfood salad - and then Adam rushed off to work as he had a meeting. It is much cooler here, in fact this entire trip so far I wished I had packed warmer clothing as it has been cool all the time. More jumpers needed and my summer dresses could have stayed at home! I was expecting the weather to be much hotter here but I think it is warmer back at home.

Tonight Luke had booked tickets for all of us to attend to a baseball match at Petco Park in San Diego, it's the local Padres team vs Miami Marlins. I don't usually watch much sport but the boys were keen to see some baseball so I thought I would give it a go. It was the easiest option to get  the trolley (overland train) into the city, which was a very efficient and scenic journey and cost about $2 each way. The game was fun to watch - of course I don't understand baseball but I enjoyed watching the people around me and participating in all the big screen fun and actions. 

Tomorrow Adam is back at work, and Luke flies home as he is back at work on Friday.

It has been another fun day with the family today - the only bump back to reality was when Gavin had to phone Royal Marsden this morning to confirm his next CT scan which is in early August.