San Fran

When we arrived at San Fran international airport after a very comfy flight with Virgin we headed to our hostel called the Adilade. It's a nice hostel but a little like being in someones house. It's really cheap, Tom and i are staying in a room called Alcatraz, yes it's like Alcatraz, very small. Charlotte had flow the day before to San Fran so we planned to meet her. Saturday morning we meet and got the metro down to Golden gate park which is really nice. We stopped on the way and had a look at some of the cool shops and obviously stopped in a beer garden for a Margarita with a friend we'd made from the night before, Charlie. When we told Charlie we where Welsh she told us she hated the welsh, the nerve, she's English so she can't talk (joking). We saw lots of geese and ducks on our stroll around the park. Tom, Charlotte and I headed back to Charlotte's place as we planned on going out for a few drinks that evening. We went to a all you can eat buffet in Chinatown, it was awful! I have definetly eaten better chinesse at home! We went to a few clubs that evening, none of which compare to Monkey! Monkey rocks
Picture 1: A Canadian Goose Picture 2: A famous photo from San Fran (Not sure why).

The aftermath

When i awoke at three o'clock i tried to think what happened in the end, i still haven't got a clue! Never mind, everyone tried to fill me in on the goings on but i still can't think of anymore, not even one flashback. The three northerns left that morning at 9, none of the three where in any state to travel, let alone fly. We spent the day around the pool which was nice and chilled out. We basically chilled out for the last few days which was nice. We tried to make plans of what we would like to do when we get to San Fransisco. We flew to San Fran on Friday.

The extreme day.. 21st October

Today Tom, Adam and I had an early start because at 11:30 we where getting picked up from the Tropicana Casino to go SKY DIVING. (sorry mum) We where drove about 25minutes from Vegas to a little airfield just on the cities edge. To be honest i wasn't that worried and I'm still not sure why. I should have been very nervous, jumping out of a plane 2.8miles above a desert isn't the greatest of ideas, but i wasn't for some reason. We meet out instructors and then had to watch a video about the process and dangers of skydiving.
Below is the man who invented the tandem sky diving system. I laughed so hard when i saw his face. To think i was going to trust this crazy looking dude with my life.
We put our jumpsuits and harnesses on, ran through what to do when we jumped out of the plan. Then we where all set to rock and roll. The three of us had already payed to have a DVD of our jump ( I promise you'll all see it before i get back. I'll have a word with Pete about how to go about it). When we saw what would be flying us up to 15,000 feet i got kind of scared, it looked like it was made up of old roses tins. I was really glad that we didn't have to come down in it. Just before we got to the jump height my instructor Troy asked any last words as part of the DVD, I blurted out "I love you mum" and shortly after that i found myself heading straight down, then the potty mouth started. 50 seconds of free fall with your mouth wide open, screaming, doing roughly 120mph really drys your mouth out believe it or not. When he pulled the shoot it went from being extremely loud to so peaceful in a split second. Troy suggested we did a few "Death sprilles" (nice name hey?) which i agreed too. They where really cool but i felt sick after about 10 or so, i had to ask him could we just cruise down nice and slowly. THe landing was really soft which i didn't expect at all, i thought it would really hurt. We headed back, got changed and got a lift back to the strip. Tom, Adam and I had a beer and a laugh about the insanity we where just a part of. After that i went back to the room for a power hour or two.

When i awoke later everyone was getting ready to go out down the strip for a few beers and a gamble. Before we left we paid to go up the Stratosphere tower to have a go on the rides and look at the strip at night. The strip was really nice at night.

The details of the rides are below:
Big Shot - Shoots passengers straight up 160 feet at 45 mph (over 4 Gs) until they are 1,081 feet above the Strip.
X-Scream - A giant see-saw that propels you 27 feet over the edge of the Tower, 866 feet above the ground.
Insanity, the Ride - A massive mechanical arm extends 64 feet over the edge of the Tower and spins you at a force of 3 Gs for a truly mind-bending experience.

X-Scream was rubbish, it may have been because i was sitting at the back on my own. The other two where a really good laugh.

When we finally hit the strip we started in the Venician which was lush on the inside and had canals you could have a ride on if you didn't mind spending a few dollars on the outside. We didn't stay there long because it was really expensive for drinks, we decide to find somewhere with cheaper table minimums and obviously cheaper drinks. We ended up in a little casino which was a bit of a dive called Casino Royale. I didn't really want to waste any money on the tables so Adam and i sat by the bar and got the drinks in. After a few Adam got his courage together and put $100 on black and won! He played a few more times and kept winning. By the time he was done we was up about $700. He said he'd pay for me and him to get drunk, this is where it turned sower. We had about 12 beers, 3 frozen margarita's, 3 double jagermisters and 2 double whiskeys. As you can imagine i was howling! It went crazy after that, last thing i could remember was standing by a craps table at about one. I found out we didn't get in till about 6 am. I'd lost four hours of the night, bad times but fun so I've been told.

Back to Vegas

We left the Banana bungalow early on the Sunday ready for the six hour bus ride to Vegas. The four of us (Charlotte, Wayne, Tom and I) had book into the Stratosphere for four nights for 11 bucks each a night. When we got there we went to the off license to get supplies this encluded Champagne, lager and Vodka. The seven of us went for a buffet in the Sahara, which was awesome, all you can eat for $7.50 rocks.
On the Monday we spent all day in around the pool on the 8th floor which was really cool, there was also a gym so i got a few hours in which made me feel a lot better about all the junk and fast food i had been eating. The weather was stunning, not a cloud in the sky, sunbathing in mid-October is lovely and kind of weird. The only thing about when you stop from being on the go all the time is, your mind starts to think about the people you miss, Rebecca, the family and you guys of course! Again that evening we went for a buffet and had a wonder about the casinos. This time one of the northerners demanded we sample some of the wonders of $1 magertia's. We ordered 28 for a laugh, the barman wasn't best pleased but hey we where the ones tipping. After wondering about the Casino's we headed back to the Northerners room. They had payed a fair bit more than us and there room had a lounge, master bedroom and a bathroom with a jacuzzi! WE all stayed up and got a few drinking games and funny stories on the go, Adam had a few beauties. The story continues!
The Banana bungalow.











The Stratosphere

The big chill.

When we got back from our road trip as you can imagine i was totally shattered. We stayed in the Banana Bungalow in LA for a week. We ventured out a few times to Melrose Ave as well as another walk or two along Hollywood Blvd. Mostly Tom and i played scrabble (thanks Alison) Toms winning 5-4 but don't worry I'll beat him. We also played loads of card games and pool. Free BBQ and karaoke which was a good night. Two days before we planned to head down to the beach to surf and continue the big chill we meet 3 northerners, oh dear. Dave, Adam and Rob where extremely funny and had just finished a two month road trip access America, there last stop was Vegas. They asked Tom and i to meet them there for a few more nights in Sin City. They also asked a few other mates we'd made at the hostel. Pants, Wayne and Charlotte. All of us except pants decided to take the greyhound on the 19th for 4 nights of good clean carnage.

Photos: Part 2

Picture 1: The seal lions at pier 39 in San Fran.Picture 2: Jimi Hendrix's guitar that was in the hard rock cafe at pier 39.
Picture 3: This is the ska cross jazz band that we saw in San Fran's Union square.
Picture 4: This was when we where about to leave. It's a joke we had going with the English boys. To do with a cartoon crab.
Picture 5: Left to right Me, Woody and Tom cooking foil pack.
Picture 6: The Yosemite accommodation, you can see mine and Tom's sleeping bags. Fetching hey?
If your not sure what ska is, ask Mr F!

Photos: Part 1

Hey Guys,
If your going to leave feedback or comments on any of the attached photo, please put which number it is. Enjoy!
Picture 1
Tom running through the fountains in the Kodak Thearte in Hollywood Blvd.
Picture 2: Tom and I looking for some new sunnies in the Kodak thearte. The top one is a newest pair of comedy sunnies we've found!

Picture 3: Picture of the Hollywood sign.

Picture 4 and 5: The dancing cars used in the film the Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Picture 6: Jaws (Obviously)Picture 7: The new Simpson's ride at Universal Studios which was awesome.Picture 8: LA by night,Picture 9: The room mates from the Banana bungalow in Hollywood.
Picture 10: The road trip team in Laguna beach.

Picture 11: The Hollywood sign

Picture 12: The sunset heading towards San DiegoPicture 13: The view from the 22nd second floor of the Luxor.

Picture 14: Action shot from Yosemite.If you enjoyed that have a look at part 2.

San Fransisco

Day 1: We got up early again today and headed off to San Fran for the last few days of our tour. It took a fair while to get there but it was definitely worth it! It was warm and to sleep on a mattress was like a cream come true. There where two cars of people traveling towards San Fran, my car and the English boys car. They got caught speeding on the way and had a $475 fine! Lucky I'm sensible hey!? We arrived at the hostel and i had two showers because i couldn't get the smell of fire out of my hair. I went to bed mega early that night.Day 2: Tom, Woody, the English boys and I all went for a walk around San Fran, i think San Fran is my favourite city so far. We stopped at Union square and watched a really ska cross jazz band play. After that the boys went to do some shopping so i went back and rang Bex and Mum. Was nice to speak to them both. Ended up going out that night for my birthday, we went to quite pub for an hour where the barmaid was English. We order a mudslide cocktail and because she messed up the order we all had a free mudslide and i had a double tequila for free. Then onto the club. It was the bar mans birthday as well so we had free champagne. All the people we went out with all chipped in and bought me a surprise a drink, three actually! 3 double Tequila's, not good. Although i would have done you all proud, powered them away and mad it look easy! Stayed in the club until about 2 then headed for some fast food. Slepted like a baby that night, i was so wasted.

Day 3: Tom, Woody and I planned to head down to pier 39 which was awesome fun, we had a burger from the hard rock cafe and watched the sea lions. The blue angeles where flying around all day because it was some festival(The blue angeles are the equvliant to the red arrows they flew under the golden gate bridge and alcatraz). Had a quite one that evening because i was still recovering from the night before.

Day 4: Time to leave to head back to LA. This drive took about 9 hours because we took the 101 which hugs the coast. Some of the photos and view we saw where amazing.

Yosemite

Day 1: Yosemite was a good 9 hour or so drive away, today was going to be a long day. We where up early and left the casino early. When we got out of Vegas and into the desert th sky was really dark and it looked like it was going to hammer down! It did about there hours into the drive and not only did it rain it hail stoned, some desert! The roads we where driving along was really cool, it was like some stage of a rally course, shame the cars where automatic. It took so long to get there we ended up camping in a little village t the bottom of Yosemite called Browns Town. That was the coldest i have ever been, i couldn't believe it!

Day 2: When we woke up we headed off to buy more booze and a another sleeping bag. It toke about three hours to get up to the national park itself. Some of the view where spectacular. Below is a picture of Tom and i by a lake in the national park Notice the snow capped mountains.
We continued to drive another hour or so towards the campsite, this time when we stopped we was the below... Was a tent going to be enough protection from all the beasts out in the wild..... I think not.
We pitched the tent up and cooked tea on a camp fire and went to bed.

Day 3: No incidents with wild animals last night thankfully although we had to lock all our food, booze and toliteres in these massive bear proof containers! We went for a walk around the site and made a few more friends. We saw some wild life, nothing spectacular, a deer and the cheekiest squirrel ever. Woody taught Tom and I how to cook foil packs on the fire which was really nice not to have fast food for once. Chilled out that evening and had a reasonable night sleep.

Second stop: Vegas

Day 1: We headed off from the ocean beach hostel about 7am . We stopped for a coffee and some breakfast. T drive is about 300 miles across the desert along some of the longest, straightest roads I've ever driven along. We stopped at an abandoned truck stop which was really creepy, just like out of a film. We also stopped in a designer outlet , i ended up buying jeans, a hoody and a new after shave called Bongo. When we arrived at the Luxor we went for some food and ordered three bottles of champagne and strawberries to celebrate our arrival. I had a shower and headed down to the casino floor. Gambled about 10 buck s on the slot which was worth it because the amount of free drink s i had. By 10pm i was wasted! There was also a club in the Luxor called LAX, we had free entry because we where staying there. The club was awesome,. Ended up in bed about 4ish.

Day 2: Woke up late believe it or not! Tom, Woody and I headed down to the pool to have a day chilling out and relaxing. The outside of the Luxor is stunning, i t has three pools . We layed about and nursed some pretty bad hangovers. Later that evening we headed down the strip to have a look at the other casinos, namely the Bellagio where we watched the fountains which was so impressive. The MGM grand wasn't that good really, i thought it was rather grubby. My favorite casino was Caesars palace. I went to bed early that night because i was so tired!

Picture of Woody and I chilling by the pool in the Casino.

First Stop: San Diego

So the first stop was San Diego, we decide to go the scenic route through Long Beach, Newport beach (where the O.C. is based) and Laguna beach. The drive took about 4 hours which was ok because we stopped a few times. I drew the shirt straw so i has to drive, all the cars out here are automatic so are like go carts, go and stop easy peasy really. On the way down we saw the most stunning sunset (below). When we got to San Diego it was late so we went out for food and straight to bed. The hostel was a little dirty and because we where in the front room right on the main street the partying went on all night, so we didn't get much sleep. The next day we went for a walk along the pier and watched a few dudes surfing and rented bikes to cruise along mission beach. That night the five of us (Shannon, Jennah, Tom Woody and I) went for a meal and a few drinks then went to bed. Tomorrow we head to Vegas :)
Second photo from left to right- Woody, Me, Tom at Laguna Beach.

Road trip: The build up.

Hey All,
Sorry this next update has taken so long. I've been on a road trip with three Aussies. Believe it or not there's no wireless hot spots in Yosemite National Park. I'll start from the beginning.

After we left our first hostel we had a recommendation from a Irish guy to go to the Banana Bungalow which was about 1/2 a mile down the road on Hollywood Blvd. We booked in online and headed down there, It's more like a typical motel. The first day we where there a big gang of us headed down to Venice beach for a game of volleyball and a swim (photo below). There where two Aussie girls where in our room both seemed very nice. They where planning a round trip and invited Tom and i along, we decide to go because they'd planned to go to all the places we wanted to go. We also meet a very funny Aussie guy from across the hall called Woody. Woody asked of he could come, that would make the Fab 5, later to be called team "Waussie". First stop San Diego!