My friend Swetlana came to visit me and since I also needed a break from DC, we went to San Diego together to see my sister and explore the west coast. After a weekend in San Diego, we went to Las Vegas for a day and drove via the Hoover Dam to the Grand Canyon, really impressive. On the way back we visited the Joshua Tree National Park and once back in San Diego, took a day trip to the Anza Borrego desert together with Kristina, Philipp and some of Kristina's friends. It was a nice vaction and I have to say that San Diego seems to be good place to live, too bad the World Bank has its office in Washington.... (thanks Swetta, for some of the pictures!)