Ah World Cup time.As timing would have it, we were in the States for the England v USA match.We were making our way towards San Francisco so decided to break our journey in the college town of Berkeley thinking that we would be able to find a good bar with a mix of people from all parts who knew they were watching 'football' not 'soccer'.Well, we did find a bar but sadly there was no mix of people - only frat boys chanting 'U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A' over and over again without really having a clue what was going on.In the 4th minute when England got the first goal, we quickly established that we were the only non-USA fans…Very amusing overhearing some of the comments coming out - "what's this off-side thing then?", "shame, I don't know any soccer songs", and our particular favourite which was directed at us - "f*@k you Britain!!!" when they equalised.Hmmm what makes up Britain Mr Frat Boy?Have you heard of Wales and Scotland?How did you make it into Berkeley?

After the frat boy bashing, we decided we needed some Brit support so headed down to stay with my mum's cousin Penny in Silicon Valley.Spent the next few days getting cold sightseeing in San Francisco (damn that fog), watching Penny's husband Bret kiteboard (a top US champion don't you know) and generally just hanging out, eating, drinking and getting to know my extended family.Thanks again to Penny, Bret, Bas, the dogs and the cat with half a tail for putting us up.Nice to have a bit of luxury before it was back to the tent and the open highway…