Peace Out California!

Well, it's been real Cali. I've gotten tan, stocked up on Lululemon and Nike (post to come) and just relaxed. Not bad for 4 days. 
Time to head back to the real world full of work, projects, lacrosse games and just things to do....but not before a little reflection on how great this trip has been
   
Well, let's first talk about the Palm Springs airport. It's outside. All outside. Like all outside. For this Jersey girl, that's just plain weird. Here's a second pic

The view from the hotel? To die for. Every morning I would wake up and see those beautiful mountains...sometimes covered in snow!


Just some pretty cool sights I saw at Joshua Tree!
 
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Lessons From the Hiking Trail


Greetings from Palms Spring! Wow. What an amazing place it is here! From the beautiful pools to the gorgeous mountains, this place is unreal. 
My parents and I went up to Joshua Tree National Park the other day to see the rocks, experience the sun and just take in the immense desert beauty. Through hiking on trails and driving through the park I began to realize how much better off we'd all be if we could act like we were on hiking trails. 

Hiking trails are such a microcosm of a semi-perfect world. People are polite, don't litter and enjoy nature for what it is without ruining it. All in one little (or not so little) space. After thinking it over, here are some lessons I think we can take off the trail and into the city

1. Smile more.
On hiking trails, everyone smiles at each other. People say hello, like you're old friends. At first it was weird, like "What the hell?" but after a while I got used to it. It's important to remember to do this in the real world, to say hello and to even talk to people you wouldn't normally talk to. We all are walking through life--why not do it together?

2. Keep it clean.
National parks are spotless (it's a federal offense to litter)...like Disney World clean. Everywhere else could be just as clean, we just have to try. Seriously, like who litters? I hope none of y'all.

3. Stop. Breathe. Take it all in.
Only at National Parks do we really stop to take in all the wonder that is around us. To absorb how amazing nature is. Why don't we do it elsewhere? Life is beautiful if you stop to look around every once and a while, plus that deep breathing is good for you!

Well, that was certainly sappy. But still, extremely true. Life on a hiking trail is easy, and we can take some things back to civilization to make our busy days a little easier too.
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