Hey guys!

We entered Nevada and all our minds were on Blackjack, Roulette and Slot machines! We'd been planning our strategies for some time since leaving the Canyons of Utah and Arizona! As soon as we could see the mass of concrete hotels in the distance sticking out of the desert it all went out the window! Both of our reactions "Wow, what a place! And look at the size of it!" The closer we got it looked more like an amusement park than a city. Entered at the Northern end of the Strip and our first proper view of Las Vegas was a rollercoaster flying out of a hotel window. Wasn't long before we realised that was nothing and pirate ships, gondolas from the Venetian, volcanos and the Eiffel Tower surrounded us. The Strip is 5 miles long but the true Vegas doesn't really start until Treasure Island and goes down to Mandalay Bay which is a good three miles. The Northern end of the Strip is fairly old now and looks a bit out of place compared to the well-known casino hotels we've all heard of. Had a result with our American Budget Motel, we were pretty much sitting in the back garden of the MGM. It was the first time we actually wanted the sun to go down so that the city lights would come on and show Vegas in all its glory. Thought it was time for a proper wash and scrub up before hitting the town! Didn't hang about and went straight to New York New York, into the Times Square Bar. We could hear pianos playing and people having a good old sing song so off we went, grabbed a pint each and wasn't long before we were bouncing around joining in! Two pianists with mics having a contest between US and Aussie songs - Born in USA, Living on a Prayer vs Waltzing Matilda, Land Down Under. Great atmosphere full of tourists all letting their hair down and it was much needed after all them rocks!

Spent the next few days in and out of the hotels, one that certainly stands out is the Bellagio. Every 15 mins at night in front of the hotel a lake 200m wide hosts a fountain show to music, from classical to Elvis to Sinatra and even good old Elton! Really awesome, never seen anything like it! Hadn't had much luck in the casinos so was starting to cost us more than we first thought, we thought about joining the Mexicans selling bottled water on the strip!

07/07/07 - The luckiest day of the year! Weddings everywhere, yes we joined in! And gamblers all trying to be Danny Ocean and do the casinos out of some serious money. After a few stubbies and beakers of wine in the room we headed to Hooters hotel next door. We'd been studying Roulette and had given up on all the other games. There's certainly a pattern in the roulette wheel and tonight we'd cracked it! Luckily enough it was $5 minimum bet, in our budget, not! Loz got the ball rolling and once $50 up we cashed in and headed to the next. Now Jim's turn, $30 up in the Tropicana so again cashed in and headed on. New York New York tickled our fancy, mind you it did for a gunman the night before too, but he's now banged up! Found a roulette table we like the look of and off we went. Jim's rule was two consecutive losses and we're off but an hour and a half later with Loz stuffing $5 chips in her pockets we decided enough was enough and cashed in again. Lovely job! Getting to like this betting lark, free drinks and more chips than Walkers! The first time we've been given money since leaving England, that'll keep us going a bit longer! Our last night in Vegas we went for a meal in Paris. It's nearly a year since we got engaged so thought why not! Struggled to recognise the food on the menu and eating off of proper plates made a change from our plastic ones and paper-wrapped fast food! Had a seat on the Strip overlooking the Bellagio, must have been the best seat in Vegas, front seat for the fountains! Who says romance is dead eh, even two scruffs like us can manage it! We followed it up with one final trip to the Excalibur casino, not much fortune tonight, in fact none! Vegas done us proud and we'll definitely be back!

Drove 600 miles North to San Francisco, a boring drive with not a lot to look at but kept ourselves amused by singing to our CD collection - Tom Jones, Britney, Beach Boys and Chas n Dave. You can tell we found the discount bin in the music shop but what a collection! We're still trying to work out who Mr Alan Kirby sounds like, Chas or Dave - lovely ol job!

Frisco certainly hit us, 70 degrees and bloody chilly! We looked like two Abo's again in amongst a load of white people! Between getting lost and trying to find accommodation we saw a lot of Frisco city in our first day. The crookedest street in the world (to go with the steepest in NZ), plenty of cable cars (trams to us) and the traditional Frisco steep streets. Quite an old looking city and colonial style buildings. Has its fair amount of grubby looking suburbs complete with dodgy characters unlike some other cities we've visited before. The Golden Gate bridge is unbelievable, 1.2 miles long and a sight not to be missed. The architect said to paint it orange as it would provide a contrast to the surroundings and it certainly does. Plenty of different viewpoints and thousands of tourists just admiring the view. Tried to find Mrs Doubtfires house but no luck on Steiner Street, dear! Thought we could have popped in for a feed and some entertainment but no luck! Must have been down the park playing ball..."like a lady!" Drove to a town called Sausalito, north of Frisco but still in the bay. Very French Riviera and Italian style with great views of the city and the best banana ice cream ever! A lot of rich and famous live here, and you can see why!

Booked on a trip to the famous Alcatraz, home of Al Capone and The Bird Man Robert Shroud and plenty of other inmates. When travelling over on the boat, you certainly get the eerie feeling of solitude. Spent a good few hours around the Rock, as its known to the locals, with the aid of an audio tour. As you enter a sign on the dock says "Break the rules and you go to prison, break the prison rules and you go to Alcatraz". Believe us you would have had to be pretty stupid and insane to have ended up in there. Saw the main cellblock and wardens areas, it certainly wasn't the Hilton! And you can see why it was the most notorious prison in US. There was a former inmate called Darwin Coon who served there from 1959-1963 (when it was closed down) for committing 5 bank robberies, sitting down by the entrance and talking to people who dare approach him. James found him a man of few words but he managed to get a book signed by him on his experiences of life in and outside of prison. He was released in the mid-70s from another prison so he certainly had plenty of stories. Miserable old b*****, thought he'd have learnt how to do it and not get caught after 5 attempts!

Unfortunately aaron and Mary couldn't get us baseball tickets as there was a one off All Stars game which is lasting well over a week so going to go to one in LA in few weeks time. They are coming over to the UK next summer and said to meet up with them along with the Gooner from Staines and his wife Sharon. Sure that'll involve a few! We found Frisco a very cosmopolitan city and a bit run-down in places but the main sites were really awesome and well worth the visit, but as we keep on saying to ourselves it's just another city and we've realised we prefer the open space and laid back lifestyle.

For all you golf fans we travelled to Monterey Bay on the Pacific Highway. Home of Pebble Beach Resort. Even being a greenkeeper and seeing alot of courses in England and europe, this place sweeps them away. You can see why it's in the top 5 US courses. Unbelievable and even managed to do a sneaky one to get a look around the clubhouse, practise putting green and then onto the course itself. It looked like a picture postcard, especially the 18th dogleg hole, talk about a toughy to finish on! Don't worry got some great pictures for you! The whole area is on a peninsula which has four courses on it - Spyglass, Cypress Point and Peter Hay course and obviously Pebble Beach links. A host of houses that you'd die for and the scenery was amazing! Even took Loz's breath away. A little beyond travellers means but well worth the visit.

Since being in America we've noticed the different varieties of cars around and got our eyes on a Ford Mustang. We're hunting around for a 4-5yr old one and you wouldn't believe how cheap they are, $7000! By the time we get it shipped home, it'll work out a whole lot cheaper than getting one back at home. And just so you know, there'll be no competitions to name it as you were all useless at that, it's got a name already, Sally! And no we're not joking!

Anyhow, enough of all our travellers excitement, time for a dip and a stubbie, got some Miller cans in the fridge! Who needs to go away when we bring the sunshine to you!

Take care, Loz and Jim xxx

P.S No we're not Mr & Mrs yet, the vicar was on holiday! Damn!