The next day I woke feeling fantastic. Minimal pain in my gums, and my swelling had dramatically decreased. A large bruise had developed on my jaw like I had been punched hard the night before, but my feelings of constant irritability seemed to also have disappeared. I felt like a different person – vibrant and alive instead of cranky and sore. Still too swollen to chew, I had an egg white omelette for breakfast before we headed out to Muir Woods National Monument.

It is a magical place. Adrian and I spent two and a half hours hiking through the treetops of coastal redwoods, watching the chickadees, and spotting a chipmunk and a squirrel. We took the ocean view trail, heeding the disclaimer that the trees are now so high, the water is no longer visible. We only met one other person on the trail, and it was so still and peaceful, among these giant living beings that are centuries old. We have had such a busy month preparing for the move, that this day of peace was exactly what we needed. We even spotted a loveliness of ladybirds, clambering together to preserve warmth in the cool air.

To farewell the USA, we are spending three nights in San Francisco. We spent the first evening relaxing quietly, as I was still feeling quite sore. I had chicken noodle soup at a downtown diner, and then we went to see “Role Models” because of a cranky looking clip on The Daily Show. We laughed and enjoyed ourselves, and then headed back to our hotel at Union Square.

The next morning I woke up at 5:30 to find some oatmeal from Starbucks, and then we were picked up at 6:30 for our day trip to Yosemite National Park. Designated a World Heritage site in 1984, it is full of grand vistas. The sheer granite cliffs form huge valleys, laced with waterfalls above snow-dusted forests. We saw Bridalveil Falls, El Capitan, a 3 593 foot high granite monolith, and Half Dome, which was never a full dome.

After lunch (I had soup again), we went for an atmospheric walk through Tuolumne sequoia grove. As we were 6 000 feet up, the ground was lightly dusted with snow, and a thick fog enveloped us. The sequoias, the world’s largest living organism, emerged from the mist and towered above us. One fallen giant rested on its side, slowly returning to the soil. We watched a silver belly squirrel carefully pack its nuts into the ground, and spotted a parcel of deer scamper through the long grass.

For dinner I had mashed potatoes with gravy and yogurt. Returning to San Francisco, we stopped beside the Bay Bridge and admired its strings of light leading the way back into the city.

Pasadena
I had my second post-doc interviews at the California Institute of Technology. The campus was less technical that I had expected – apart from the very tall library tower at the centre of the campus, the rest of the buildings were a Spanish colonial style, and the arches and white walls reminded me of Merida. The campus pond was full of sunbaking turtles, and tiny emerald hummingbirds drank from purple flowers. The Principal Investigator was very enthusiastic, responded to my seminar with interest and intelligence, and offered me a job if I chose to return there for a post-doc.

Stanford
I had always wanted to study at Stanford, and now I finally had the opportunity. Later on in the course, they even gave me an umbrella for coming the furthest to attend. My dorm-room was a very freshman experience, but the Advanced Course in Immunology was great. All the other students were really friendly, and didn’t form the impenetrable cliques that sometimes form at conferences. The good lecturers usually spent an hour or so going over the classic experiments in the field, and then the next couple of hours encouraging us to explore the unanswered questions that they were leaving to the next generation of researchers.

I had my post-doc interview at Stanford, and met some of the leading researchers there and heard about their unpublished work. Their offices are decorated with their own images on the covers of Cell and Nature, the department is full of exciting discoveries and inventions, however the working environment is very focussed on the individual.

I went on a walking tour of the university, and saw the Stanford Church and the main quad, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted who also planned NY Central Park. I also saw the large Rodin outdoor sculpture gallery, and the first Google computer in the basement of the William Gates Computer Science building. Mr and Mrs Stanford had created the university in honour of their son, Leland Stanford Junior. One of the conditions of the original founding grant was that tuition be free for all students. Obviously, this last condition no longer holds, and now undergraduates pay $38,000 a year to attend. The weather was amazing, and the ground squirrels very cute, but with San Francisco so far away and no on-campus housing for post-docs, I was told a car was almost compulsory.

Seattle
One final weekend in Seattle before returning to Australia. As I had caught a cold at my immunology course, Adrian and I had a relaxing weekend filled with naps and gentle activities. He took care of me, even walking to the store to buy me three different types of Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream to soothe my throat. We saw the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition, found a bright apartment in Fremont with a stunning vista to rent, went to the movies, and treasured all the shared joys that we could squeeze in before I had to fly back to Australia.

Adrian very wisely persuaded me to spend two days in Disneyland, California, rather than just one morning. On the first afternoon we first visited Disney’s California Adventure, an engaging and very enjoyable theme park. We were greeted by glittering giant letters spelling C-A-L-I-F-O-R-N-I-A, and a tiny version of the golden gate bridge. I didn’t want to go on any scary rides, but I had promised Adrian that we could go on one, so we went on California ‘Screaming, a terrifying steel coaster that takes up 10 acres and is based upon the traditional wooden coasters of old. I was so scared in parts that I started screaming well in advance of any actual drops, which Adrian found very endearing. The photos of the end show me wild eyed and terrified, and him calm, smiling and laughing. We could have been on different rides. We watched Aladdin – the musical, which was really beautiful, and their version of A whole new world made me cry.

That evening we watched Fantasmic! – a pyrotechnic and theatre show on the water, and then experienced the new Pirates of the Caribbean that now features several animatronic Johnny Depps. I had gone to Disneyland thirteen years ago to see the Haunted Mansion, only to find it closed for renovations, but this time it was open and I could experience its 999 happy haunts. Sleeping Beauty’s castle was very beautiful in the night, lit up in pink and blue from below.

The next morning we saw Disneyland in the daylight. Adrian was disappointed at the entrance – he was expecting something imposing and intimidating, rather than some flowers and a small plaque. I was feeling brave, having survived California ‘Screaming, so we headed towards Space Mountain. The first time I was so scared I could barely keep my eyes open, but I enjoyed it so much we repeated the experience straight away, and felt like a true astronaut, streaming through star fields and exploring the universe.

We also soared over London in a pirate ship on Peter Pan’s Flight – one of the original Disneyland rides from 50 years ago. We had fun picking the countries represented in It’s a Small World, and I saw Yetis when I rode the Matterhorn Bobsleds. We then wandered though Downtown Disney to watch Pirates of the Caribbean 2 in the excellent movie theatre with ultra-comfortable seating, crisp audio-visual, and, exclusively for me, perfect company. By this time I was feeling super-brave in my Tinkerbell mouse ears, and we experienced the Tower of Terror, which now makes me feel very nervous every time I catch an elevator. We both loved Disneyland so much, we are planning to visit again soon, so we can experience the other attractions and revisit our favourites.