After an easy taxi ride to the airport and a reasonable flight to Phoenix I officially entered the USA. As befitted "America's friendliest airport" the entry procedure went very smoothly and with several smiles so it was off to enjoy some American airport food before my flight to Santa Ana.

I arrived in Santa Ana on time and was met by Adam at the airport who had bought me a present of an Angels of Anaheim baseball cap and t-shirt to wear to the match that evening. We chilled for a bit before heading off to met Melissa, Adam's girlfriend, and some of their other friends at TG Friday's before heading to the stadium. We were in a private dining area and had vouchers for food and drink so we ate, drank and talked and occasionally watched the game - Angels won in the bottom of the ninth against Oakland As.

Next day was one of the highlights of my trip - Adam's friend works at Disney and got us two free tickets to Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Park!!! Chance to be a big kid all day. The park was heaving so we had to be sensible about queues and tried to make the most of our queue jumper tickers that you could get every 2 hours if there were any left. We also ate as if it was going out of fashion - which it definitely isn't in the US of A! We hopped between the two parks and managed to go on most of what we wanted except Tower of Terror (120 mins queue!), California Screamin (broken down) and Matterhorn - the original rollercoaster at the park. Some of the rides where identical (if older) to Disneyland Paris but others were new to me such as Cars (racing car ride) and Space Mountain was now Star Wars themed. We managed to stay until the laser and water show at 10.30 before heading home exhausted and happy.

Next day was much more chilled - we met up with Kelly who I had met in Naan Kuse to pick up some donations. After this Adam and I went for lunch at a dim sum place and then to the cinema to see Suicide Squad - which I hadn't even heard of before hand due to travelling. It was OK - some really good and some a bit slow.

That evening we headed to Bear Flag fish company in Newport beach for food and my first introduction to Trader Joes a California based supermarket that is sweeping the country.

Next day was a day trip to LA - with a particular focus on Pretty Woman ( a shared fav film) We started at Langers for hot pastrami sandwiches then a walk around Macarthur Park before driving to Hollywood Boulevard - not picking up any hookers on the way.

There we parked up and strolled along the Walk of Fame, gazed at the Hollywood sign and looked at the Chinese Theatre and the stars handprints. After this it was off to Beverley Hills 90210 for Rodeo Drive (you work on commission don't you? Big mistake, huge!) and the Beverley Wilshire Hotel and gazed up at the penthouse. We also had a yummy cupcake and ice cream sundae at Sprinkles where they even have a cupcake ATM if you get caught short while they are closed!

After this we were going to visit Santa Monica but it was so crazy that we couldn't find anywhere to park so headed home instead!

That night Adam decided to take me to his local British pub just around the corner from his house. The decor inside was very authentic but unfortunately the fish and chips were not.....

It was great to catch up with Adam - we got on as well as we did in Africa and hopefully we can meet up again in the future. However it was now time for me to leave and let him pack for his hliday to Thailand with Melissa the next day!