I must admit I was pleasantly surprised by America, well California at least. The (British) media doesn't always present the place and its citizens in the best light but I'm pleased to inform that I wasn't the only person to believe that Mr. George W Bush is quite the silliest cowboy to come out of Texas for a long while...well that's the nicest (and cleanest) way I could put it anyway. A big thumbs up for California and its people; they were all very welcoming and friendly. So I suppose you're wondering what I got up to, well read on fellow travel companions.... I arrived into L.A from Fiji having had close to zilch sleep, at which point I begin to hallucinate. However I managed to find the Santa Barbara Airbus which took me to the bus terminal where my Auntie Maggie and Cousin Helen were there to meet me and take me to their house in Los Osos. I spent the next few days catching up with my family and meeting the new arrival, baby Thomas, son of Marc and Eileen. What a gorgeous family they make! Thomas is growing fast and learning plenty of bad habits from Daddy such as blowing raspberries. We went to the coast, flew kites, ate pancakes and wandered around San Luis Obispo where they have the most fantastic farmers market on Thursday evenings. When Helen had some time off work we went in search of elephant seals and to the Madonna hotel where everything is so very pink and overboard, especially the cakes that look like they have enough colouring in them to put a particularly sensitive being into a coma for a week. On Thursday, Auntie Maggie and I drove up to Coalinger where they have their second house as Peter her husband works part time in the hospital there. There's not an awful lot to do there but they have a swimming pool which made up for the lack of entertainment. We went for a drive into the countryside which was a interesting insight into a landscape that has it's own strange beauty, yet at the same time demands a lot of respect because it's so barren and it seems to go on forever in all directions. Not a place you want to be lost in without a lot of water. As a slight change to the original plan my Dad and his partner Val came out to California and met me to drive up to San Francisco going via Yosemite National Park. Yosemite Valley is the result of some hardcore glacier action which has left behind some sheer cliffs and a lush valley floor. We had great weather so could enjoy the sweeping views of the landscape and enjoyed wandering around. The best bit was seeing the Giant Sequiolia trees which are so huge you could drive a car through one and you'd need about 10 people or more to hug it properly. Some are thousands of years old, seeded at the time Cleopatra commanded over Egypt...blimey! After two days spent in scenic perfection, we hit the road for San Francisco. We had a reservation at a downtown hotel which I knew was going to be a bit posher than usual as we had a deal with it but nothing prepared me for the fully dressed beefeater that greeted us, whisked the car from us and ushered us into the overly decorated reception hall. So this was a nice upgrade from my usual 6 pounds a night hostel..! It would have been criminal not to have gone on the cable cars so we did that which was an experience, hanging off the side and listening the melodies tapped out by the drivers on their bells. We went for cruise around the harbour that took us under the Golden Gate bridge, around Alcatraz and past the sea lions that have taken up residence at Pier 39. We visited some art galleries, museums and aquariums where we saw Nemo, Dorry and plenty of other not so pretty but equally fascinating sea creatures. We ate very well while we were there, tucking into huge breakfasts in the mornings; and my favourite evening meal was in a blues bar watching a jazz band do their stuff, while I sat back and supped my cocktail-American bliss.