A week after returning from Oriental, Em and I headed west to southern California, the land of sunshine, palm trees, and six-foot tall blonde women. Well, the palm trees were there, but instead of sun we had torrential rain, floods, and mudslides and instead of six-foot tall blonde women, we had the bespectacled 5' 6" men of the American Astronomical Society. I was presenting some results on molecular hydrogen, while Em managed to find safety from the rain in the Spa. Following our 5 days in San Diego, we rented a HOT 5-door MaXXX and drove to El Paso, hitting Saguaro National Park, Tombstone AZ, White Sands National Monument, and Las Cruces NM on the way.

Astrophysics on 3! One, Two, Three...	Em and whales don't mix	Conquering her fears	Point Loma and the Pacific
Why I decided to rent the MaXX	Ortega's in Ocean Beach	Take it to the MaXX!	We are Cactus, hear us...be still
This scat is AMAZING!	Mr. Nice's Cousin	Ahhhhhh	WWWWWeeeeeeeiiiiii!!!!!!
White Sands National Monument	At rest on the sand	Pictures of Pictures	Santa plays cactus too
"I'm on a dune!"	"I'm on a dude...I mean dune!"	Climbing a dune	Shameless plug