Early Morning Hike

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As agreed the previous night, Jan woke me up at 6.30 am so we could go on a nice hike before it got too hot! However just because I agreed doesnt mean I was happy about it and lay in my bed for another 10 min before Jan returned and shouted "Get you big British ass out of bed!"

We arrived at the base of the mountains by 7.15 and even by then it was hot in the sun! Luckily the path wound its way up the slope mostly in the shade so we were kept cool enough. We climbed up Echo Mountain up to the end of the old Mount Lowe Railway line which was built in the late 1800s. At the top there is the ruins of White City which was a group of hotels and lodges where the rich of Pasadena would come to vacation. However it burnt down several times and was eventually abandoned in the 1930s but is now a national heritage site. The view was spectaular over the valley and down to downtown LA. There was also a point where you could shout through a funnel and it would echo all around the mountains fully, hence the name Echo Mountain!

We wondered back down discussing the education system in USA and how extortionate the Uni fees were. Once down at around 10.30 am we headed to Einsteins Bros Bagels to meet Steve for some brunch. I had a Lox bagel (smoked salmon and creme cheese), which was amazing after the hike, along with some ice tea. I was still hungry so Jan allowed me to have another bagel, this time bacon and creme cheese! Whilst we were there I noticed lots of people wearing college football stash and Steve informed me that people wear their stash to support their college during the football season, and as it was the first weekend it was a big deal.

We went home and I chilled out for the afternoon watching college football whilst Jan and Steve did work for school. At around 3 Steve had to go to Pasadena Old Town to get his car cleaned so I went along and we went to Jake's Pool House to have a beer and shoot some pool. I was taken by supprise and Steve went up 3-0! However after he pocketed the black I managed to pull it back to 3-3 before we had to leave to head off to a party at Jan's colleagues house.

There was lots of food here and Steve brought along his famous baked beans with bacon! They were delcious and we joked around saying out loud "have you tried the beans?" and "the chef must be a genious!". I also had a chat with the husband of Jan's colleague who works at Cal Tech about the work he does there for NASA, a bit like what Howard does in the Big Bang Theory!

We then got home and relaxed some more before Steve decided that we should go for ice cream, and of course I didnt turn it down. I had a milkshake made out of three different ice creams! Exhausted from the day I hit the hay!

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