Tuesday 13th September

Tom and I are travelled on the AMTRAK train to Santa Barbara from San Francisco today. The train ride was 9 and a half hours long and left at 8:50am! We had quite an adventure this morning just to get to the station. We left our hostel at 7am after packing in the dark- I hope I didn’t leave anything there! We walked with our suitcases this morning to the Bart (the tube type train) about 15 blocks, then went down the escalators with our cases. We crossed the bridge on our train over to the outskirts of San Francisco and we had to walk a few more blocks with our cases. We eventually found the AMTRAK station and finally could relax a bit! I am looking forward to Santa Barbara definitely.

We made it and I got a cab to my hotel, it is a beautiful hotel and I ordered in a Dominos pizza all to myself, yum!

Monday 12th September- Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge

Today we all met up to go to Alcatraz even though the trip was over, we all love to hang out together! After getting halfway to the meeting point and realising I had left the tickets behind and we had to go back we walked the fairly long walk to the Green Tortoise hostel where Mike and Mark were staying and we were all meeting for Alcatraz. True to its reputation San Francisco has some pretty steep hills! By the time we got there we were fairly hot and sweaty. Whilst cooling off Tom and I were approached by a man with no shoes and no teeth called Rob who offered us a joint and told me I was beautiful, delightful! We walked to Pier 33 where the boat left from and I got my first Krispy Kreme donut of the entire American trip, yum. It was pretty windy on the boat and there were sea gulls scouting around. In the end Mike had to surrender his hot dog as a sea gull tried to steal it too many times.

Alcatraz was a really interesting place and great to go to with Stefano, Mike, Mark, Tom, Carolin and I. It was also a beautiful sunny day which of course made it better! I can’t imagaine the prison was a very fun place to me, there was a quote on one of the billboards- “prison is for those who break the rules and Alzcatraz is for those who break the prison rules!” After we spent several hours there and took lots of pictures we got the ferry back and walked to Pier 39 where we met Sebastian, Alex and Helena and had an early dinner in the Hard Rock café. After we left Helena left the group and we caught a tram into the city. We had to get off early as there was an accident between a Porsche and a bus. We walked for a while and ended up in a giant shopping centre with curvy escalators. We found a little café/ bistro bar at the top of Nordstroms and after Caroling came and dragged the boys away from the hand cream stall and me away from the hair straightening stall we enjoyed fruity lemonades as the sun went down. Stefano kept disappearing during the drinks and none of us knew where he was, I thought he must have been sick or something but he returned, wearing a new shirt (his had got ketchup on earlier). His new shirt was just for going to the Golden Gate Bridge and had cost him $200! Tom had bought a new hoody for $90 for the bridge but $200 had us all laughing! Once we left the shopping centre our group minimised a bit more as Mike decided to head home as he was tired, then there were five. We walked and bused to the Golden Gate Bridge and saw it lit up at night. We weren’t allowed to walk across it unfortunately as the footpath was closed for roads works but we stood right by the entrance and took photos and I made a wish on the bridge. We walked and got buses home and said our goodbyes. Carolin and I will see each other again in a few days in New York which is nice but I’m not sure the next time I will see Stefano and Mark… Vegas 2012 perhaps! Tom and I got back to the hostel and went to sleep.

Sunday 11th September- San Francisco and the 49ers American football game

Today we once again got up early in order to leave at 7am to make it to the big football game in San Francisco- the San Fran 49ers versus the Seattle Seahawks. As always we all slept on the tour bus and poor Mike had to drive! We made it to his hotel with plenty of time, locked up the trailer and got a very very expensive taxi to the game. On the way there we stopped off the a gas station to get beers so we could join in the tail gaiting party pre- game. Michelle had decided not to come to the football game so she was continuing on in the cab into the city. There was a slight mix up with cab fares but after we dealt with that we got to the parking lot and couldn’t find the other so we rang them… they had already gone inside because they had been waiting ages and didn’t know what else to do! Once you’re in you can’t get out so Mark, Mike and I were left with 24 beers to drink between us! We put in a good effort and made friends with a guy called Dan who had a couple. It was a fun tailgate although the others did miss out big time. We tried to smuggle some beers in but they all got taken away unfortunately. Their security checks are pretty intense. It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon and we had all had an amazing trip. This was the cherry on the cake to watch most of ours first American football games together. We had quite a few beers more and had a fantastic afternoon. The boys highlight was definitely when the Bud Light girls came and sat in the row behind them and they got to have pictures with them. I honestly can’t say who won the game but I know we were all happy regardless! After the game we went back and found a couple of beers which Mark had stashed and then headed to a very long cab queue where a guy tried to convince us into getting a limo… I don’t think so buddy. We got back to Mike’s hotel out of the city and had dinner at the restaurant in the hotel. After this we cleaned out the van, all grabbed our luggage and waited for the free airport shuttle. Saying goodbye to Mike was really sad, he was such an awesome tour guide! We got the airport shuttle and once we arrived there someone organised a bus into the city which dropped us all off at each of our individual hostels and hotels. I got dropped off at the Encore Express and said goodbye to everyone until tomorrow. After some nice strangers called Peter and Lauren helped me up the stairs with my luggage my friend Tom from England and I were reunited! I checked into my room and dumped all my stuff then Tom took me on a walk of San Francisco. He is studying in Santa Barbara for a year so we are heading down there together. The hostel was nice enough although when I walked in and said hi everyone just stared at me! I slept really well that night after a week of sleep deprivation! I woke up in the morning to Spanish speaking and one of the girls in my room was from Guatemala- CAN THE WORLD GET ANY SMALLER! The other were from China and Portugal and there was a Russian hanging out there too.

Saturday 10th September- on the way to Yosemite

Today we left very very early to get to Yosemite. We all felt a bit better today thankfully and I really enjoyed Yosemite, it was incredibly beautiful and we climbed a big domed rock and could see all the way out for miles including El Capitan the sheer climbing rock and the Nevada and Yosemite falls. We also saw the most beautiful thing- a bear and her bear cub. It was pretty fantastic! The sky is Yosemite was black and grey with rain clouds, it was amazing. That evening we headed to a place outside of the national park, a Hostels International which had cabins. As it was the last summer we had a delicious Italian dish cooked by our very own Italian and by Mike our tour leader. It consisted of spaghetti carbonara, a tomato and mozzarella salad and a pork and bacon delicious kebab type thing. It was certainly yummy! There were some guys there from Doncaster in England who had just arrived in the States and are staying until April and travelling around along with doing the rest of the world, I was very jealous!

September 9th- leaving Vegas and Death Valley- recovering!

We finally left the casino at 7:30am as our tour bus was driving away at 9am. As we left the casino Mark had to go look for Carolin as we had lost her. I was still finishing my Heineken whilst waiting for the cab. It was crazy! I can absolutely see how people stay in the for days and days, we couldn’t believe it was 7:30am and the sun was up and everything. Once we got back to the hotel we had a mad, drunk packing adventure in which Carolin, Mark and I literally threw everything into our suitcases and zipped them shut. Carolin managed to squeeze a quick shower in but Mark and I just got changed and I went out with the makeup from the night before on, we looked quite a treat. After packing the next big challenge was fitting it all into the tiny elevator! Mark and I crammed my two suitcases and my rucksack, his luggage, Carolin’s luggage and the beer cooler box plus ourselves into it. When we got downstairs we could hardly unload because upstairs the girls kept pressing the call button so we kept getting stuck in the door! Once we finally made it towards the trailer I decided to climb in and try and load all the suitcases up, one of the sober members of the group took my place instead pretty sharpish! Our leader Mike soon appeared and said he had never had a group like us where people stayed out all night. We couldn’t find Mike and Stefano, they were still sleeping as Mike had decided to have a little nap before we left and had overslept! Our tour leader Mike had bought some water guns for us to use on the other intrepid travel group who were doing the same trip as us but camping, he told us to go and fill them up so Helena, Mike (tour guide), Carolin, Mark and I did so. Mike gave Mark and I an opened beer to drink we seemed pretty reasonable at 9am when we were still buzzing from Vegas. We ended up having a massive water fight in his hotel room which Helena fled from and eventually Mike did too whilst the three of us soaked each other as much as we could within the space of two minutes. We came out and fought with the other travel group and then got on the bus to go to Death Valley. It was very sad to say goodbye to Vegas as it had been such an awesome couple of days! The back two rows were Mike, Carolin, Mark and I- the people who needed to be together and sleep off our heavy night! (Pictures to follow!) Got to Death Valley, very hot, nothing there, had half a sandwich, slept a lot! Very long drive, everyone pretty sombre. Got to the hotel, speed shower and Mexican for dinner.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas- Wednesday and Thursday September 7th and 8th

Wednesday- We arrived in Vegas this afternoon and after hanging out in the pool we all showered and got ready (Carolin and I dried my hair with two hair dryers as I only left 30 minutes to shower and get ready!) We had pizza with another Intrepid travel group around the pool and then hung out in Mark’s room (king sized as ever!) We then went outside to go on the tour bus our leaders had arranged for us… I thought it was just a normal bus but in fact turned out being a party bus! We visited the Las Vegas Sign, Fremont Street and the Bellagio fountains. It was a crazy and wild night on the party bus and we all did a lot of drinking and crazy dancing and made lots of new friends with people from the other tour group. Afterwards we went into The Bellagio and some of the guys gambled at the tables whilst I played a few slot machines. After a while we decided to go to a strip club as a big group but unfortunately our two different cabs ended up different places and we all got separated. Carolin, Stefano and I returned to the strip and walked it and went into all the casinos until 5:30AM. When we went to catch a cab home Stefano told us he was in fact now heading to a strip club! Once I got in I went to see Mark and see if they had had a good night, he was asleep and pretty confused as to when I had arrived and sent me on a search to find him some juice with two blocks of ice, demanding! I didn’t end up sleeping until 8AM and work up the next day at 12, nobody needs real sleep in Vegas!

Thursday- After waking up at 12PM and showering and dressing we cabbed onto the strip and Carolin, Mark and I went to the Luxor, Excalibur, New York New York and several other casinos. We went to a wedding chapel and Mark and I pretended to get married. Mark had to make a sick stop after drinking too much the night before. We played in the arcades too. After lots of casino and slot fun we got a cab back to meet the others for dinner at 6pm. We madly changed and went to a buffet in the Luxor, it was delicious, there was SO much food and even though I wasn’t massively hungry I still had a lot, the boys ate insane amounts of food! We decided we all wanted to see a show so we walked down to the ticket box… it rained whilst we walked, hot Vegas air and chilling rain, lovely! We got tickets for Burlesque which was taking place in MGM Grand. Carolin and I really wanted to go to the Venetian but we knew we wouldn’t make it all the way there and back in time so we hung in the MGM. The boys and Caolin played roulette and I watched and tried to learn! Eventually we went off to get some beers and I managed to buy one without being ID’d!! The show was good, definitely unlike anything else I’ve ever seen although I was pretty tired throughout. Stefano didn’t come to dinner with us or the show as he was supposed to be having a date with one of the girls he had met the night before at the strip club! After Burlesque everyone went their own ways and Carolin, Mike, Mark and I went back to the hotel, met with Stefano, had a few drinks and I got changed and did my hair. We then got our cab… to the strip club! Carolin and I couldn’t quite believe our eyes! There were semi- naked girls walking everywhere! It was the weirdest place I have ever been. Stefano instantly disappeared and sat on his own to attract girls instead of sticking with the group, ha what a funny Italian guy. We stayed at the club for a couple of hours perhaps and were even approached by a girl called Thea who asked if I wanted a lap dance with Mike too, we politely declined. The bathroom was pretty nice though and we made friends with the guy in there who gave us hand cream. After the strip club we headed back to the strip and went to our favourite casino New York, New York. The boys instantly decided to play roulette and jumped on a table so Carolin and I decided to get some beers. We had a few beers and during that time we spoke to two guys from Holland, four people from Ireland and three guys from Scotland, it was an interesting few hours for sure! After they all left we headed to find the boys and because it was about 6am the casino was pretty early so I ended up playing roulette with Mark’s chips! IT WAS SOOO FUN! I won him quite a lot of money too haha, it was great and was one of the best nights, we played for ages and had drinks bought over to us and had a really good laugh.

Tuesday 6th September- Grand Canyon

Today we headed to the Grand Canyon and made a few stops on the way including a town called Seligman on Route 66 which has been preserved and kept how it used to be originally. After the Route 66 stop and going to a supermarket to pick up lunch we arrived at the canyon! Seven of us decided to take a trip on a helicopter into the Grand Canyon. It was breath-taking! I knew the Grand Canyon was vast but flying over it and really close to it showed me the full extent of it. It was HUGE! After the copter ride we went into the park and walked along the rim. On the way we some three elks and some deer. Everyong on the trip has discovered now that I talk a lot, have a lot of stories and am very gullible, today at the Canyon Mark took an opportunity and ran with it. My camera battery was running low so I told him if I ran out I would have to take pictures on his camera but he said his was running low too but he had heard if you lay batteries out in the sun they gain a little bit of extra charge. I asked him if it would work where we were given the sun was getting low in the sky and he said it probably would and I should hold it up towards the sun so I took my battery out of my camera and held it up pointing towards the sun. He also told me to point the gold connector part of the battery directly at the sun, so I did. He then started laughing and told me he was just kidding but it was good to watch! Cheeky!

We watched the sun set in the Grand Canyon, it was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen and when I get home everyone can also see it as I took a couple hundred photos of the sun setting and the helicopter ride. I met some lovely women from Manchester at the sun set who were road tripping for three weeks. This evening we stayed at a place about 45 minutes from the canyon in cabins. A few members of the group cooked dinner- spaghetti bolognaise Aussi style, it was really good and we ate it around our camp fire with beer. After much convicing Mike played us some songs on his guitar and we made smores, delicious! Afterwards I went on a little adventure to try and find a coyote. I didn’t find any on my own and when Mark decided to join in on the animal hunt we still didn’t find any but instead got wet shoes walking through all the grasses and plants and mud. We did however find an interesting plant that was kind of furry and felt like a bunny ear. I slept really well in the cabin this evening and it was so great to be based out in the countryside where we could see so many stars.

Monday 5th September- Joshua Tree National Park

Monday- today Carolin and I woke up early to get ready for the big trip! We had breakfast and then went to meet the group. Our group has ten people in including our guide Mike. He is American and everyone else is from all over the globe which is great! There are three Germans including Carolin, Sebastian and Alex who are travelling the world and won’t be returning home until February! There are two Australians on the trip- Mike and Michelle. Mike is a primary school teacher who has been overseas since January and after our trip will be heading to Europe to travel around. Michelle is here on a holiday from work. We have an Italian called Stefano who works on an oil rig. And a girl from Switzerland called Helena who has been in San Diego studying at a language school. The final member of our group is Mark from South Africa (originally from Zimbabwe) who has been working in Canada for several months and is now doing some American travelling before he heads back home. Quite a mixture, we all get on really well.

Today was a long drive to Joshua Tree national park. On the drive we went past a massive wind farm which spanned for miles. The park is in the desert and is absolutely amazing, lots of different plants and rock formations. The Joshua Trees themselves are like no other tree I’ve ever seen. There are lots of rocks to climb on so the boys all ran off and mountain climbed. It rained on us today which was ironic given we were in the desert! We ate lunch in the park and got rather wet! We worked our way around the park and went to different places including a highly elevated spot which looks out for miles and from this location you can see where a fault line runs through the state. We also saw an amazing rock called Skull Rock which the boys climbed up into, pretty neat! We stayed in a hotel this evening in Laughlin Nevada called The Golden Nugget, it had a casino lots of trees in the entrance and a few restaurants where we had dinner. After dinner we all gathered in Mark’s room- some how he had got a room all to himself with a king sized bed. The beer cooler received some serious damage that night! I did not get very much sleep!

Sunday 4th September- start of the my California Discovery Northbound tour with Intrepid travel

After sleeping a little bit longer than intended we awoke to Julie making crepes, delicious! After breakfast we went on a drive and found a guy just outside of Bel Air selling a Star Map so the next time I return I can be a celebrity stalker! We went to Santa Monica to try and get UCLA nighties. They didn’t have any but as ever I managed to find something I liked! The day was tinged with sadness though as we knew this evening I was checking into my hotel to start my California Discovery trip so Michelle and I would be apart. After a few issues with freeway mix ups, gas station mishaps, multiple McDonalds coffees and losing the hotel several times Michelle and I finally departed. It was really sad and we both cried but assured each other next time it wouldn’t take 7 years to see each other again. I had the best time visiting her and seeing each other again especially as I didn’t expect to see her this summer.

At the Holiday Inn they informed me I had a room mate called Carolin. I was quite nervous about the trip because it specifies you are only allowed one suitcase and after having to buy a new one for all my shopping I now had two and my day sack. Carolyn was really nice and instantly became best friends! She is a German 21 year old and is over in the States for three weeks doing some travelling and funnily enough visiting her sister who is studying in Michigan of all places! She is also going to be in New York when I go back there so we are going to meet up when we are both there. I love her already!

Saturday September 3rd- trek to the Hollywood Sign

Saturday was one of the best days of the entire summer! After struggling to get up after very little sleep we hiked to the Hollywood sign. It was breath- taking. We could see all out across Los Angeles and miles beyond. We started around the front of the sign and then we walked up and ended up behind it and up by the satellite mast. The sign is one of the things I have wanted to see my whole life and it was definitely worth the climb. We were all tired after the walk so after some coffee we got home and Julie and I went for a quick swim and showered and then we all fell asleep for several hours. When I woke up I felt like I was hungover or something, it was crazy! Michelle and I went out to dinner to a delicious pizza place and then got dressed and drove to Starbuzz for the last time. It was a lovely night and so nice to see all the new friends I had made but very sad to say goodbye!! Michelle, Chau and I went to Del Taco for our last fast food experience and we then went back to Starbuzz where one of the bosses gave me good bye gifts- a scented candle and some hookah stuff! People are so nice! We got back to her apartment at about 4AM and slept for rather a long time!

Catch up... Friday 2nd September (a very fun night!)

Today Vida, Gerald Wallace, Sierra and Stapha came down to visit us in Westwood and we hung out on the balcony smoking hookah. I tried it for the first time but promptly coughed and choked on it so didn’t try it too many times after that! After hanging out on the balcony for several hours we decided to go to Mel’s diner which is an all day, all night American diner on Sunset Boulevard and get some tasty late night food. Julie came as well and we all ate burgers/ French toast/ grilled cheese late into the night.

Catch up... Thursday 1st September

On Thursday Michelle was in class until 2 so I watched Eat, Pray, Love and once she got home we went on a search to find a sleeping bag for my upcoming trip. We had seen a few in Target but they were $40 and given that I’m only going to be sleeping in it for a couple of days I didn’t really fancy it! We went out for diner to a cute little place called Antonio’s which was on a street corner. Julie, Michelle and their friend Jennifer came. The Italian place was run by a little old man. The food was delicious and we enjoyed sitting out on the street in the cool evening air. Afterwards we went home and had coffee. Possibly the funniest event of the day was when the toilet got blocked and we had to buy a plunger and then it didn’t work so we had to pour some drain clearer into the toilet, I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard about a toilet!

Wednesday 31st- Downtown Los Angeles

On Wednesday Michelle and I went to Downtown Los Angeles, it is incredible beautiful with lots of fantastic architecture, particularly the Walt Disney Concert Hall. It took us ages to park because loads of the parking garages in the city cost $3 for 12/ 15 minutes! Frankly we didn't feel this was a particularly viable option so we finally found a place by the Disney Concert Hall. The concert hall is gorgeous and architecturally out of this world.



We climbed up a staircase that was on the outside of the concert hall and after realising the majority of my bottle of water had leaked inside my bag we found the garden that sits on top of the concert hall. It is a beautiful garden with a fantastic flower shaped fountain made out of china plate mosaics. After being in here we went to look at suitcases in stores in the city and then to The Coffee Bean. After this we went to the Los Angeles Public Library which is absolutely beautiful. There are lots of art exhibits and we saw some fantastic sesame street drawings including one which looks just like one of Michelle's friends (and now my friend). Anyway... there was a giant art exhibit hanging over the open area of the library and when we went there a creepy guy followed us and only left us alone once we went into the toilet. Then when we came out he was there waiting for us... gross!! We managed to lose him but then ended up with another weirdo who wanted to know how you text people and get their numbers, very odd! The library has a great gift shop and we spent a long time in there looking at all the books and cool postcards. We then had to run off as the original creeper came and found us, luckily we escaped!!

We also went on something called the Angels Flight Railway. It was orange and took us up and down the cliff. I eventually bought a new suitcase to put all of my new stuff in (uh-oh) and after walking around some more and attracting some more creepers we headed home. After downtown LA we headed to 'Tokyo' where Amanda used to live and went to a place called Yogurt Land where you get to choose whichever yogurt you like and whichever topping you like in a big tub and then they weigh it- delicious!! I love Los Angeles!!

Michelle and I in downtown LA and Julie and I at dinner

Some recent photos

Tuesday 30th- Santa Monica!!

Today after Michelle finished class we headed to Santa Monica which is such a lovely place. After a dangerous hour in T.J. Maxx and emptying the cart I had piled high with prospective new shoes and bags back onto the shelves we returned Michelle's new purchases to the car. we were allowed to park for free for 2 hours in the parking lot and as it had already been one hour we decided we should re- enter the car park and refresh our parking. Only once we had driven out the parking lot, done a U- turn and returned to the top deck did we realise that we could have just walked up to the barrier and pressed the button for a ticket rather than driving the car out and in again! Dear- O me!

Downtown Santa Monica is absolutely gorgeous, shops, restaurants, water fountains, live music and when you go to the directory there is a friendly man there to help you called the 'downtown ambassador' who helped us decide where to eat and sent us in the right direction. We ended up going to P. F. Chang's for lunch which is a nice chinese place where I had orange chicken and Michelle had a veggie dish. We ate it all and struggled to walk for the rest of the day. We saw some really cool things in the shops like jewelled bras! After waiting in a horrendously long queue for the bathroom in Starbucks and getting coffee to go we headed back to the car. Michelle laughed at me throughout the day for saying hi to people every time they would say hi in the street outside a store for example, it was an afternoon full of laughter!!

We decided to go to Starbuzz that night so after sitting in loads of traffic (as always) to get back to Westwood we quickly changed and drove to Fullerton to Starbuzz. As always it was fun. We went to Del Taco to get our late night feast and Chau drove us in his friends Mustang- one of my all time favourite cars!! After eating our mac and cheese bites in the parking lot Michelle drove us back to Westwood, we had to take a detour again as there was construction blocking our exit. The traffic around here is so bad and it never seems to quieten down.

Monday 29th August- my first In N' Out Burger

Today Michelle had class from 10- 11:30 so went met for lunch and she took me to a famous burger place called In- N - Out Burger (http://www.in-n-out.com/default.asp) and I had my first 'double double' which was a giant, delicious burger. We went to the drive- thru bit and because it was so busy a guy in an apron and cute little chefs hat took our order standing alongside our car! We bought our lunch home and sat out on the balcony to eat it... delicious! Michelle went to work at 1 so I rested after my giant burger and when Julie came home we went to the local coffee shop called Peet's and sat outside on the street and enjoyed the afternoon.

That evening I met Michelle's room mate Megan as well and she is really lovely too! A couple of Michelle's friends from home, who are now my friends too who I met first at Starbuzz came for a surprise visit and we sat out of the balcony and Chau taught us all how to play the arabic card game Tarneeb, it is a really good game, I hope I can find someone at home who can play it too. I spoke to Samantha on skype as well which was really nice.

Saturday and Sunday 27th and 28th- Mission Viejo!

On Saturday Michelle went to work and I hung out with Julie whilst she baked a pink champagne cake for her friends birthday and we watched Sex and the City together whilst drinking pink champagne for breakfast! Michelle finished work at 5pm and after packing and getting ready we drove to LA. We went to Starbuzz (the hookah place) and stayed there really late! After it closed we went to Del Taco as always and got our usual late night feast. We finally got back to Mission Viejo and Michelle's home about 5AM! We slept late that morning!!

On Sunday it was really hot so we spent the whole day in the neighbour's pool. It was great because so many people were there- Mie and her 3 year old son Wyatt who lives with Tom and Joy, Joy, Lena, Michelle and I and later on Tom, Joe and Joy and Tom's grandson Tristan. Wyatt doesn't like going to swim in the pool, he only likes to paddle in the shallow park but eventually Michelle managed to get him to sit on my lap in the rubber ring boat thing and after that he decided he would go in the water if we held him and he practised kicking and had lots of fun! This was really great because his Mom said he didn't like going in the water. It was really hot so great to be in the pool all day. We also drank beer in the pool for breakfast... I am definitely on holiday! After showering we had a delicious barbeque and Tom and Joy came over for dinner too. I then had to pack, this did NOT go well! I knew I had accumulated quite a lot of stuff but I hadn't realised quite how much. Lena told me she could give me a suitcase which I would be able to take as hand luggage but when I started packing I realised I would need a BIG suitcase to check in on top of my other suitcase, man oh man! It was very sad to leave my surrogate mother but we had had a lovely time together. Michelle drove us back to Westwood, LA and we headed to bed.

Friday August 26th- day one in Westwood

Today I woke up at Michelle’s apartment and she went off to school so I spoke to Cory and Kyla over skype and got ready for Michelle’s return from class. We went and got lunch at a place round the corner called Corner Bakery. I had carbonara which is only the second time I’ve had it in America (amazingly). Once I came home from lunch I booked my hostel in San Francisco for the two nights after my bus trip around the west coast. I also booked my train down to Santa Barbara. Michelle’s flat mate came home from school and we spent the afternoon together. Her name is Julie and she is studying linguistics and psychology and is a really great girl! We spent the afternoon moseying around the shops and got a cookie ice cream sandwich from a famous place called Diddy Reese. They have loads of different types of cookies and ice cream. We also saw the Fox theatre where they have premieres sometimes. After shopping we came home and got changed and went swimming in the pool at the apartment. It was LOVELY! We met an English couple and their son who tried for years to get over to the US to work and finally made it. Fantastic!!

Monday 22nd- Thursday 25th August- fun with my surrogate mother

This week I have spent living in Mission Viejo with my friend Michelle's parents, Lena and Joe. Lena and I spent every day together doing nice things and we've decided that she is my surrogate mother!

Everyday I woke up to lovely fresh coffee and Lena cooked me a delicious breakfast. We went to the mall on Monday and I bought a couple of nice things. On Tuesday we ran a couple of errands and went shopping with Lena's neighbour Joy and took her to the hospital. Whilst she was at the hospital Lena and I went to Starbucks where we met a lovely lady with a beautiful shaggy dog called Blondie. Lena recorded the dog barking and played the recording of it all afternoon which left us cracking up every single time. Nobody quite understood! After we came home we went swimming in Joy's pool, living the life!

On Wednesday Lena and I had a fantastic day and did loads of things, we headed to a place called Salt Creek and in Salt Creek we went to Dana Point which is a beautiful harbour town where you can walk around along the water. We got coffee and ice cream and then drove on to the Ritz Carlton. We walked down a huge hill to the most beautiful beach front I have ever seen. There is a walkway that runs the entire length of the beach. We walked along the beach and took loads of lovely photos. After this we headed back to the house and went swimming in Joy and Tom's pool.

On Thursday we went to Laguna Beach (Lena and I) and we got coffee, walked along the boardwalk , had a picnic under a tree, near another tree full of origami birds. We went to the Wyland gallery who is an artist originally from Detroit who is famous for painting whales all over the world. After a beautiful few hours we headed off to collect Michelle from LA. There was lots of traffic on the way to and from the city. We stayed for dinner and then headed to Starbuzz for someones birthday. Afterwards we drove back to LA. Unforunately there was loads of construction so we got home really late!! Michelle's apartment in LA is in a place called Westwood and is absolutely beautiful. Westwood is a really cool place, lots of shops, food places and bars, I love it!