A couple of weeks ago I headed down to LA along with my parents to visit my sister, who moved down there not too long ago, and to see what's going on with the Tet, or Vietnamese New Year, scene down in southern California.  Along with it came a small amount of sight seeing, some neighborhood exploration, and spending time with my family. 

It's going to sound super corny, but as I've grown older I've really begun to appreciate the time I have with my family.  We've always been a close family but just being more available to talk, visit, and be together is something I've grown to do.  This was a good opportunity for me to also appreciate my culture as well.  My parents left a lot and worked hard to allow me to live the life I did.  I can tell my parents are worried that the family heritage will fade after my generation, but I know it's one of the most important things I need to pass onto my kids (whenever that may be), especially if they can't be there to do it.

Anyway, enough of my personal musings, here's a small handful of photos from the short trip.

In early November, Julie and I made a trip out to Zion National Park in Utah.  Along with the main attraction of Zion, we hung out in Vegas for a little bit and also made a day out in the Valley of Fire State Park. 

Zion was awesome.  The weather was great, temperatures were nicely chill in the morning and cool in the day, we got some rain, some clouds, and some sun! The foliage had just begin to turn for the fall at the time, so that gave a little extra pizzazz to the landscape.  We did a handful of hikes, but didn't tackle the end of Angels Landing or the Narrows (it was WAY too cold to do without the neoprene boots and pants, that we didn't rent).  We'll definitely be doing the Narrows during our next visit though.

We also spent some time in Vegas with a day detour over to the Valley of Fire State Park.  VoF is a cool spot about 30-45 minutes from Vegas that's worth checking out if you're out there and looking to get away from the hysteria of the strip.  Its alien-planet like landscape is certainly a sight to see.  The hikes are generally all pretty easy, but the terrain varies immensely from area to area.

Vegas was typical Vegas., though it was my first time being there not during the summer, so it was a refreshing to not walk outside to 100+ degree weather.  We spent some time over in downtown Las Vegas, a nice change of pace to The Strip.  Not as glamorous or wild, but it had a unique nostalgic charm to it.  Not to mention you could actually find a blackjack table with less than $20 minimum. 

I had a nice thing written about my trip to New Orleans I had taken during the summer, but it vanished in my site transition. So in short, I went to New Orleans for a conference in June, I ate WAY too much fried food, and here are some photos from it! Enjoy!