The Read World Tour

We arrived in New York on Saturday night and headed straight down to Times Square. Our hotel (if you can call it that) was very close to all the action. Got to Times Square just as a huge storm hit, so took refuge in a pizza restaurant for dinner. It was unbelieveably hot so we didnt stay out too late, desperate to get back into the air con!

Sunday we went back to Times Square, checked out the wireless internet at Bryant Park and then walked to The Empire State Building. We saw very cool views of the city including the Chrysler building, Maddison Square Gardens (which is round) and a golf driving range where the Titanic was to dock. We could see the other NYC boroughs as well as New Jersey. It was pretty wierd to think that Karen had been up the World Trade Centre Towers in 96 looking in the opposite direction and now they arent there. We intend to visit ground zero, it's fascinating really. The skyline is massive but there's just this massive gap where the towers were.

We then took the Subway up to Central Park, got a hot dog and just wandered through the park. To be honest, it wasnt quite what we expected, a bit dingy and dirty really. It was some kind of Peurto Rico celebration and the park was full with Police everywhere and loads of paths shut making it difficult to get around. We walked passed the Trump Towers on our way back to the hotel and stopped in at the new CNN building which has a very posh mall attached. Our day ended with a little NYC excitiment as we got caught in the middle of some kind of Police bust in a cafe next to where we had our dinner!! We had no idea what was going on as we munched our gyros but when we got out there was a crowd and police everywhere.

Checked out of our scum hotel on Monday and arrived at a much nicer place in the East Village for the remainder of our stay. Not a hotel, but more like a posh hostel or Bed and Breakfast! The place was sepearated into floors with around 4 aircon enabled rooms on each floor along with a shared lounge, kitchen and bathroom. Each floor even had it's own PC and printer which was more than you could reasonably expect for a B&B in NYC I reckon. The afternoon was filled with a bus ride to the southern tip of Manhattan in the business district where we caught the Staten Island Ferry. The ferry gives good views of the Manhattan skyline as well as the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

Tuesday morning was spent walking around the East Village towards the nearest Subway station (five blocks north and 4 long city blocks west) which took about 20 minutes in the blazing heat. The East Village is a weird place, it looks really rough and is very lively. I'm not sure I felt 100% safe there but it was summer in the city and most people didn't even give us a second glance. We caught the subway to Times Square and jumped on a movie tour of the whole city! We covered all the bases here with a tour of all the Manhattan districts along with some movie history and locations such as the Ghostbusters HQ and the Cosby's house... The tour was fun in the end and we left the bus to eat in Ellens Stardust diner where we ate burgers and listened to the waiters sing show tunes on the counter tops! Our journey back to the Village was pretty easy going really and we had fun in a local chinese restaurant eating out of cardboard boxes like you see in the movies.

Wednesday was all about Letterman! We got tickets for a taping of the David Letterman show to see Dennis Leary and Alanis Morrisette!!!! We arrived (in a taxi) in time to get our briefing and impress the scouts enough to get on the front row. The waiting was a pain but the show itself was awesome. Karen's view was blocked by the cameraman most of the time but I saw everything... We smiled and laughed in all the right places and when we watched it that night we were in shot, full frontal for about 20 seconds. Cool....

We left New York the next day, sad to go really. Much better than I expected although accomodation is pot luck....

From Memphis we went to Washington DC, which was excellent. We arrived on a Saturday at our luxury hotel along with a load of Harley Davidson bikers who were in town for the Memorial weekend 'Rolling Thunder' rally to pay homage to the USA's POW's MIA's and war veterans. So Sunday we went downtown to see the 500,000 riders flying through the city which was very cool and very noisy! We went to see the White House, and as we were there a helicopter came in, presumably dropping off the boss! Saw lots of other famous sights, The Mall, Washington Monument etc. Went passed the West Wing, and then up to the Capitol Building which is a beautiful building. They were preparing for a big Memorial Day concert there that night.

Monday saw us at the Pentagon, which was a little dissapointing. You aren't allowed to take photos of the outside and there is very little to actually see. They dont do tours since 9/11.

From the Pentagon we went to Arlington Cemetary which was pretty cool. Saw the graves of the Kennedy's, the Unknown Soldier and just far too many graves of all the people killed in the different wars. Bush had been there in the morning, so just missed him again!!

Our last day was a frantic one, trying to cram in as much as possible! Went to the FBI building, but again no tours since 9/11 and they arent planning anymore until 2006 so couldnt wait that long!! Went up the tower of the Old Post Office Building which gave great views of the city.

Then we went to The National Archive Building, which holds The Constitution, The Declaration of Independance and The Bill of Rights. All pretty faded now, but well worth seeing. If you get the chance watch the movie National Treasure which has Nicholas Cage in. You'll see a lot of the places we went to!

Our next stop was the Lincoln Memorial, which is amazing. I've seen it on a load of movies and it excelled my expectations. He is just huge, sitting in his chair overlooking the washington monument and the Pool of Reflection. The War Memorials are all in the same area, so we walked through the Vietnam, Korean and WWI & WWII memorials. Again, frightening to see how many people the country has lost to war.

From DC we headed back to Chicago to spend more time with 'the family'. Had a great time, chilling out and supporting Joey in his baseball games. The weather was fab all week, if not a little too hot!! Went downtown again and got my ipod replaced!!! We stayed just long enough to visit Navy Pier again and have some shrimp at Bubba Gumps. I was a little shocked when the waitress' first words were "where was Forest Gump shot during the war? - In the Buttocks!" weird, but good food all the same.

Karen settled into Chicago life again and even found time to attend some Art classes with Mary! She made some pretty cool paintings, no doubt they'll find their way into which ever living room we occupy on our return...

One dissappointment in Chicago was that we were supposed to be seeing Joss Stone on the Monday night, as Tom was doing the sound for a TV recording, but she had to cancel as her grandparents took ill in England. Shame.

We took the Furlong boys to Six Flags on the Wednesday when they finished school for the summer! What a hoot! Joey dragged Karen onto the new Superman ride, which is a roller coaster that you ride lying on your front, head first!! She squealed like a pig the whole way round but I couldn't hear as I was on the Ragin' Cajun rollercoaster at the same time. Karen also went on the Batman ride, which has your feet dangling below the seat and again, screamed so hard that she lost her voice for a few days!!! We also went to the new water park aswell but that was a bit lame to be honest. There had been a thunder storm warning so a lot of the rides had been closed down. The boys had fun though so that was the main thing.

Friday night was a laugh. One of Tom and Marys neighbours was leaving to live in Dallas so they had a cowboy party in their honour. We both got a very funny cowboy hat for the night - wait for the pictures on the net!! Also did ' pin the teeth on the redneck', 'lasso the (saw)horse' and 'Canbush' (shooting empty cans with a water pistol!) The kids enjoyed it just as much as the adults (especially after all the drinks!!)

So then we had to say Goodbye again to our wonderful friends/family in Chicago. Very sad to do so, but really hopeful that we will see them next year in England.

On to the final two weeks of our trip... boo hiss!!

Since St Louis we have had a real tour. Firstly to Omaha Nebraska to see our friends Shannon and Angel and their kids Ella and Max. After a warm welcome we all headed north to Minnesota to visit Shannon's family where an overwhelming welcome greeted us. So much food, a world tour of beers and some fantastic stories made for a memorable weekend in St Cloud! After returning to Omaha for a days r 'n r we picked up a car and headed on yet another road trip to South Dakota. The main objectives being to see the Badlands National Park, Mount Rushmore and stay in Deadwood! Rapid City was our base for most of the time and some winter conditions made the trip all the more memorable if a little colder than expected. Mount Rushmore was awesome. A true national monument the likes of which could only exist in America! The Badlands were as beautiful as anything on our trek but it was far too cold for any serious hiking so we stuck to the tourist route. Deadwood was fun too, a real little gambling town full of cowboys and casinos where all the food is unlimited and the drinks are free! Great fun which required another couple of days rest in Omaha which was no trouble at all with such fine company...

We then proceeded to Chicago to see our second family and had a great time with Tom, Mary and the Boys, so much so that we have changed our plans slightly and are heading back there in a week or so. Our time there was very much a chill out. We went to see Joey play in his baseball games and also went to Mary's, Joey's and Will's school concerts which were cool, a true slice of American Pie!

We were having so much fun in Vernon Hills that we only went downtown one day to see some of the sights, especially the new Millenium Garden on Michigan Ave which was cool. We spent a day at the Museum of Science and Industry with Mary and the boys to see the 'Bodyworld' Exhibition, which is basically a load of real bodies which have been 'cut open' and preserved so that you can see how the different parts of the body work! It was a little too real to be honest and turned my stomach at times but very interesting all the same.

Tom very kindly got us free tickets through his friend to see the Blue Man Group. That was excellent! If you havent heard of them they are 3 guys, painted blue who do a load of different silent acts, based around drum percussion and paint!! Very cool! Karen managed to get my photo taken with one of them at the end which was funny.

So other than that we pretty much shopped and spent time with the 'family'! Plus plenty of wine drinking and 'happy hour' sessions with Mary's friends.

We left Chicago on the 19th and flew to Nashville. The hotel we were in was a bit ropey to say the least. Not much worked (the fitness room was a liability!) and it certainly wasnt somewhere that we would have been walking around at night!

Nashville itself was pretty cool though. Plenty of great bars with live country music. We spent an afternoon / evening on 2nd and Broadway in the Honky Tonk bars listening to some very good music. There were some pretty crazy looking people there too! Either very 'Cowboy' or very 'Redneck'! I guess Karen and I lie somewhere in between!!! Karen was very tempted to buy some cowboy boots and a hat, but no money or room in the bag for things like that!!!

We did the touristy things there - The Country Music Hall of Fame was very cool (bought the tee shirt), Tennessee Sate Museum (which was rubbish), RCA Studio B (where Elvis and many other greats such as Parton, Orbison etc have recorded) and The Grand Ole Oprey which is now located in Oprey Mills Mall out of town (which had a fantastic Gibson Custom Shop so I could leave Nashville with my musical whim was finally satisfied....)

On the 23rd we rented a car and drove to Memphis. It is a really nice city. Went in to Downtown today and just had a wander round and went to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch but Karen spent the whole time puking in the loo!!!! Lovely burger gone to waste!! We went to the Peasbody Hotel which is very swanky so obviously not staying there, but they have a fountain in the centre of the lobby and there are 5 famous ducks that splash around in it all day!!!

Memphis has a really cheap tram that goes round the downtown area so that was handy to use. Walked down Beale street which is where most of the cool shops bars and restaurants are. Due to Karen not feeling 100% we only hung around for the afternoon, so got the tram back to the car, riding past the Memphis Pyramid. A huge glass fronted pyramid which is used as an exhbition center. Really nice. It is on the riverfront which is also really nice. The Mississippi seperates Tennessee and Arkansas, it might have been an idea to cross the bridge before we left so that we could add another state to our list but we didn't because the next day was filled up with Graceland!!!

Elvis' home was great! There were some pretty crazy fans there, dressed up as 'The King'! They dont allow you to go upstairs in the house, as they say they want to respect Elvis's privacy, but Karne was wondering if was because he IS still alive and he's hiding out up there!!

We couldnt go to the Gibson Factory as we planned. The one time that our USA Rough Guide has let us down! We rang the number in the book to check the opening times, and got a recorded message to say the factory has relocated to
NASHVILLE!! And we werent driving all the way back there! Hey ho, I'd seen the custom shop so that was good enough for me....

So all in all, a pretty fascinating chapter in our trip. Just DC, Chicago (reprise), New York and Toronto left before we see blighty again....

We've arranged to come home a couple of weeks early for a couple of reasons.

1. I need to be available for a Univeristy Course Briefing on the 30th June.
2. Money is getting tight after 8 months on the road...
3. We need to find somewhere permanent to live and we are missing out on places we're interested in by not being home.

So... We will be in England on Friday 24th June instead of the 11th July. We land at Heathrow at 6am that day, so if we get some sleep on the plane we will be driving up to Newcastle then!!

I fully expect to be inundated with offers of 'catchup drinks' so maybe Friday the 24th is an option (Saturday 25th is booked up) but Sunday Drinkies in the afternoon on the Quayside seems pretty tempting. Anyone up for it should email me...

For anyone wth any interest in how we've wasted some time....

In Flight Entertainment -
iRobot (London - Hong Kong)
Anchorman - The Legend Of Ron Burgundy (London - Hong Kong)
Dodgeball (Hong Kong - Sydney)
Collateral (London - Hong Kong)
Garfield (Hong Kong - Sydney)
Shall We Dance (Sydney - Auckland)
The Last Samurai (Fiji - LA)

In House (Hotel) Movies -
Catwoman (Cairns, QLD, Australia)
Thunderbirds (Cairns, QLD, Australia)
Bourne Supremacy (Cairns, QLD, Australia)
Mean Girls (Cairns, QLD, Australia)
Before Sunset (Cairns, QLD, Australia)
Cellular (Octopus resort beach - Waya - Fiji)

Video -
Stepford Wives (Manly, NSW, Australia)
X-Men 2 (Manly, NSW, Australia)
Goodfellas (Manly, NSW, Australia)
Elf (Manly, NSW, Australia)
21 Grams (Manly, NSW, Australia)
Alamo (Manly, NSW, Australia)
Shaolin Soccer (Manly, NSW, Australia
Walking Tall (Manly, NSW, Australia
Van Helsing (Manly, NSW, Australia)
Sideways (Omaha, Nebraska, USA)
Sling Blade (Vernon Hills, Il, USA)
Napoleon Dynamite (Vernon Hills, USA)
Hitch (Washington DC, USA)

Cinema -
Team America (Melbourne, VIC, Australia - Great Union)
Oceans 12 (Canberra, ACT, Australia - Great Union)
The Incredibles (Manly, NSW, Australia - Twin)
Meet The Fockers (Warringah, NSW, Australia - Hoyts)
Lemony Snicketts A Series Of Unfortunate Events (Warringah, NSW, Australia - Hoyts)
Ladder 49 (Sydney, NSW, Australia - Fox Studios Hoyts)
Closer (Rockhampton, QLD, Australia - BG)
The Aviator (Nelson Bay, NSW, Australia - Nelson Bay Cinemas)
Million Dollar Baby (Auckland, New Zealand - Metro City Hoyts)
Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (Rapid City, South Dakota, USA - Rushmore Theatre)
Revenge of the Sith (Vernon Hills, Il, USA)

We managed to get to St Louis with all baggage intact and hopped on the Metro to
the suburb of Clayton where our hotel was located. At first the area seemed
intimitdating. It was dark, semi abandoned station with lots of people casting funny
looks our way as we were the only white people around and had huge backpacks on!
Our hotel sent their minibus to pck us up which was great and we proceeded to the
Cheshire Lodge, our home for 5 days.

The hotel was quite expensive and at first we thought being out of town would be a
problem and that we'd have to rely on the metro system. As it turns out though it
was a perfect base. The mock tudor hotel was like something from one of Englands
Oxbridge villages and had everything we needed, including a pool but more of that
later! The biggest benefit was the minibus which ran from 8am to 10.30pm and would
pick up and drop off anywhere within 11miles for the price of a tip!!! Once we
consulted the area maps and spoke to a few people we realised that there wasn't
much happening downtown and that we were pretty close to the heart of things.

Our first night was spent in the hotel relaxing. After all the walking in the rain in
Seattle it was pleasant to have some warmer weather and a pretty luxurious room.
The next day we shopped in a local mall, got our bearings and did laundry in the
middle of a really posh suburb. Laundromats are everywhere if you look hard
enough. Even in very nice surroundings. Our laundry was overlooking a park and
some restaurants which helped pass the time.

The next day was spent downtown at the Gateway Arch. This place is awesome, you
can see it from all around the city. It's a real landmark and it dominates the area
eventhough it's on the banks of the Mississippi!!! Our ride to the top was fun even
though the tram's are the smallest in the world. Like Mork's egg on Mork and Mindy!!!
Fun though it was I was glad to get to the top and see the views accross the city and
over the river to Illinois. Down the other side we went to St Louis' only real downtown
drinking area whcih is made of reclaimed dock buildings. Lacledes Landing looked
cool but we had more shopping to do so onward to St Louis' only real downton
shopping location - Union Station - which as the name suggests used to be the main
rail station for the area (once they managed to span the bloody big river accross the
way)....

Back at the hotel Karen managed to break her little toe on a poolside pipe, $785
dollars later and 3 hours in the ER wasn't fun but at it could have been much worse
eventhough it was painful enough. Some Tylenol (Ibuprofen) and rest would ensure
that the trip wasn't ruined but the next few days would have to be easy on the
walking. No problem really with the minibus.

The next day was taken up at the Worldwide headquarters of Budweiser where I
achieved the honour of Master Brewer on the FREE factory tour. The free tastings
were the best bit but you can't help be impressed by the Busch / Bud view of beer as
they think that they invented beer / fermentation / bottles / drinking!!! You name it
they have a version with a trademark like McDonalds.... The only scare of the day
came when we tried to get to downtown under our own steam on the public bus when
we missed our stop and ended up in the most horrible area. As we got off the bus
some school kids said "oh no, you ain't gettin off here?" and no sooner were we off
the bus then some druggie was making a beeline for us to become our new best
friend. We walked for 10 minutes and took shelter in McDonalds before making
another break for downtown. Eventually we made it to the Arch and took a
paddlesteamer up the Mississippi for an hour which was a fun way to end the day.

Our last full day in St Louis was also cool. We hit the Delmar Loop district where the
St Louis walk of fame is and was surprised to find the number of famous people who
came out of Missouri. Tina Turner and Ike Turners stars were on opposite sides of
the street which made sense! We had a good time looking around the record stores,
bars and in partiular the Fitz Root Beer factory where we had lunch. The Loop is kind
of a mixed area with musicians, artists, students and big business execs all hanging
out and looking beautiful. Needless to say Kaz and I fit right in. The afternoon was
spent in the very grand St Louis Cathederal Basiliica which was fantastic. There were
a few mentions of the Pope's visit in 1999 which was strange given John Paul II's
recent demise but on the whole the place was business as usual for a Catholic
Church.

St Louis was fun, despite the medical emergency. I'm not sure that there's much to
go back for (apart from a Cardinals or Rams game) but it would make a fantastic
place to live.

Seattle has been cool (both in substance and in weather)! We only made it by the hair of our teeth, due to the time of the flight from LA being changed since we booked! When we arrived at Seattle Kaz's bag didnt!!!! Luckily it got to the hotel the following morning so I didnt have to go out and replace everything!

We've done quite a bit whilst we've been here. Our Downtown motel has been a cool base and we've a fantastic view of the Space Needle.

The first day was a bit of orientation and some web time booking St Louis accomodation which was a chore. After that though we walked a lot of the cty, did some shopping, had some food and got a good nights sleep.

On the second day we went back downtown to Pike Place Market (where we'd end up visiting almost daily) and then onto Bill Speidels Underground Tour of Seattle which was very historical and not as visual as I expected. Basically Seattle is built on mud flats and had a number of fires and floods in it's early history. After a big fire the city decided to raise the streets by one story. This left the original 1st story of many buildings under street level. You can now walk around these underground streets which are formed by a succession of what are now basements. It's pretty cool to imagine but there aren't many clues in the basements to help you visualise how the streets once were!

Our third day was spent at the EMP (Experience Music Project) which is a modern museum dedicated to music. It has the history of Seattle music (incl Grunge) and loads of Jam rooms where you can play along with other people or backing tracks. The best bit is the Jimi Hendrix exhibit which was worth the entry fee alone. A really cool place. The rest of the day was spent in the space age Central Library and shopping in Downtown. Money was tight today so not a lot else was done. Watched some american TV and snacked until bed time!

Our fourth day was spent at the EMP's sister museum the SFM (Science Fiction Museum) whcih was amazing. Loads of exhibits from sci fi past and present including Vaders Helmet and Light Saber, R2-D2, Capt Kirk's chair and loads of interactive computer based stuff. right up my alley and Karen even enjoyed it (apart from the life sized Queen Alien model!). We again visited the Library for free internet and went to Pioneer Square (where Seattle started and where the underground is) for lunch and a look at 'The Central' where Seattles most famous bands all started out. The rest of the afternoon was at Pike Place Market where we visited the worlds 1st Starbucks and caught some awesome waterfront views of Puget Sound, Elliott Bay and Mt Ranier.

Our last day will be at the Seattle Museum of Flight where Boeing et al will no doubt be heavilly sold as one of the North West's shining sons....

Our trek was great, nice people and fantastic places (and a funny tour leader!). For anyone
interested in the details visit http://www.trekamerica.com/tours/w3w.html

We arrived in LA on the 20th March after a long and tiring flight from Fiji. Meeting our fellow
trekkers was a funny experience although everyone turned out to be cool! We left our LA hotel
early after meeting the group and toured through Beverly Hills, Hollywood and some of
downtown. We saw the Hollywood sign, the Chinese Theatre and walk of fame, Sunset Strip, the
Viper Lounge and all of the tacky stuff you'd expect. We even saw Jango Fett (Temuera Morrison)
being interviewed.

Next we went to Santa Barbara stopping off at Sant Maria to see the courtroom where Michael
Jackson is on trial! Santa Barbara was a nice town with glamorous shops and a beach and ended
up in our first campground for a cold nights sleep in the rain whilst Karen felt ill (good start!)

Next day we went onward to San Francisco, which is a fantastic town. We visited the worlds most
zig zagged street, viewed Alcatraz from across the bay and rode the trolley and tram services to
death.

From San Fran we went to Yosemite National Park, which was amazing. Did loads of hiking and
played in the snow!!! It was about thigh deep!!!! Our second day there was chilly, but beautiful
blue skies which was perfect!

From Yosemite we went to San Joaquin Valley, which was pretty much just a stop
over. It was a great camp though, fire and Marshmallows!!

From there we went to Death Valley, which again was amazing. Apparently they
have had more rain in the last couple of weeks than they would normally get in
a whole year so it has meant a load of wild flowers coming up that have never
been seen there. The place was amazing! The worst thing was though our first
night of camping was disrupted by unbelievable winds and we actually had to get
up and put the tent pegs in again!!

One of the trip highlights so far was Vegas for 2 nights. A great place!! We all went out in an SUV
limo (20 ft Escalade), had 14 bottles of champagne and cruised the strip!! Then went to more
bars and casinos and got very drunk, getting home at 5am!!! We didnt get up til 2pm the next
day and then wandered round the strip
again. All went out for buffet dinner and then gambled a bit more - Karen won
$20!!!!! Woo Hoo!!

Next was Zion National Park which was also amazing and did some more
hiking.

After Zion we went to Monument Valley which was just as cool as Karen remembered. Tino (the
guide) drove us round the Park, pointing out the names of the rock formations. We all sat on top
of the van for a great photo opportunity and then watched the sun set. Magical! The camp site
was cool too that night, loads of stars and we had a great campfire.

From there we drove to Grand Canyon. We had a quick look around the rim and then went to the
airport to go on a helicopter ride through the Canyon. It was a great view, I dont think Karen
would want to go in one again!!!

The second day in GC was a free day, and some of the group (the fit ones!!!) did
a 7 mile hike down into the canyon. Me, Karen and some others decided on a more sedate 3
mile hike along the rim, which was just as spectacular!! Another
sunset and then an even cheaper meal in Wendy's for me, Kaz and Tino as some of
the others enjoyed steaks!! Went to a great Saloon bar after though and sank a
few beers with the group.

From Grand Canyon we went to our Cowboy Camp! It was hilarious! It was very primitive to say
the least. Porta-potty for the toilet, but basically a hole in the ground surrounded by corragated
iron!! Thank God it wasnt the hight of summer!!!

There was another trek group there at the same time, and it was really funny to
see how much we had all gelled as a group and how protective we were of each
other! They were an odd bunch to say the least and their tour leader even
tried to fight with Tino!

The whole experience was great though. The food was great though - Navajo Indian Fry bread.
It was a lot of fun, eating round the camp fire and then Betty and Rusty singing cowboy songs
and basically bitching at each other the whole time! We had a bit of a lie in the next morning as
Betty was making us Breakfast too. Biscuits (scones!) and Gravy with potatoes and scrambled
eggs. All made on the fire! Fabulous! One of the best sights of the place was all the Saguaro
Cactus Groves which were wicked! They are the cactus that you see in any
western film. Cool!!!

Our next stop was to Tuscon, via a section of Route 66. At Tuscon we went to the
Desert Museum, which was a cross between a museum, botanic garden and zoo. It
was cool though, glad to see Coyotes, snakes, eagles and roadrunners in a safe
environment!! That night though, in our tents, we were conviinced there was
someone walking around the tent, but when we asked everyone in the morning, the
all denied it and Tino said it would have been Coyotes!!!

Our next stop took us to the Joshua Tree National Park, on my birthday! The
Joshua Trees were cool and we did a nice easy walk through a part of the
National Park. It was a red hot day and we had just driven 400 miles so noone
could really be bothered to do anything! We went to the campsite and had a bit
of a party for Kev. Cowboy and Indian toys, lots to drink and a Donut stack
birthday cake!!!

2 Days in San Diego followed, which was cool. First afternoon spent on the
beach which was cool for me!! Then the evening in Tijuana MEXICO!!!! We drove to the border
and then walked over into Mexico. A very odd place. Not very busy, but full of wild bars, most
of them strip joints!! We managed to negotiate a $10
per person all you can drink deal in one bar, so that worked out really well!!
Walked back to the USA at about 2am and got back through the border control with
no problem!! Unfortunately no stamp in the passport though!

The second day in San Diego was free to explore and we spent most of the time on
line trying to get accommodation for Seattle!! San Deigo is a really nice city
though, very relaxed and friendly.

Our last day of the trek was spent back in LA at Disneyland!! We hadn't been
looking forward to it that much, but when we got there it was cool! We stood in line for nearly an
hour just to get our photo taken with Mickey!!! There were some great rides too such as the
Indiana Jones Adventure and we could have easily spent another day there just to see it all.

Our last night with the group was spent at a little cheap and cheerful eatery and then we went to
a cool bar for drinks. Ended up staying out til 2am and had a tearful farewell with the Irish guys
we got closest to.

The trek was amazing and I am gutted to be away from everyone on it. We are already planning
on meeting up with Belinda in Chicago and Tino might
also be there on another trek so that will be cool!

Our last two days in LA were spent at Venice and Santa Monica Beaches. Venice
Beach is cool. There are the open Basketball courts (used on White Men Can't
Jump) where all the locals go to play ball!! Very entertaining! Also there is
Muscle Beach, which you might have seen on TV too, where the really buff posers
do their weight training for all to see!! One guy working out in a bright
orange speedo - mmm nice!!!!

We also went back to the Kodak Theatre, and saw people queueing for the new Star Wars movie
- not due out until May 13th!!!!! Went to Universal Studios, but just round the shopping complex
as too late and expensive to go in.

Our last night was spent with Tino, having a great burger and a few drinks in
the hotel bar. Really wish we could have been doing another trek with him. He
was top quality!