Hello All!

In Las Vegas at the mo recovering from a heavy weekend of booze and gambling (only 1 cent slots tho!).

Since arriving in the U.S. we have spent a few days in LA where we had a day in Universal Studios checking out some behind the scenes action with the stars, taking some 3 and 4D adventutes with Shrek and the Terminator as well as nearly being ejected from the park for assaulting a cartoon character. Funny story!

We also checked out Hollywood which was very plush and I personally felt very out of place, being as I have been wearing the same clothes for over 6 months! Rodeo Drive was a cool experience, seeing some of the locals wining and dining.

Our last day in LA was spent relaxing on Venice Beach,l which was right up my street. Nothing but a huge stretch of beach with a fully equiped gym overlooking the boulevard and plenty of crazy locals to keep us amused. My personal favourite being a tramp on the beach playing an electric guitar outside his tent! God Bless America.

Next stop San Fransisco. This is definitely a place I could stay longer. The timing could not have been better as there was a heatwave the entire stay! The temp got up to 105 degrees fahrenheit one day! The views of the Golden Gate Bridge were fantastic and a trip to Alcatraz finished a great couple of days in the city. Alcatraz is a very eery place full of history and intrigue. I highly recommend the audio tour constructed by some of Alcatraz's very own prison officers.

From San Fran we began our tour of the west coasts National Parks, starting with Lake Tahoe where we completed a beautiful walk aroung the South Shore that ended in Emerald Bay; a lovely little cove containing the coldest water I have ever placed my body into. Gotta be done tho. If u ever go ignore the signs that say 'DO NOT SWIM', its truely worth a quick dip.

Next stop Yosemite; the 2nd biggest national park in America boasting the largest tree in the world and the biggest waterfall in America. Truely breathtaking place. We took a 7 mile hike to Upper Falls to get a view of the waterfalls from over 5000ft. Wowsers. It was one of the hardest treks i've ever had to do, especially at temperatures over 100 degrees, yet well worth it to see the views at the top. Very rewarding.

From here we drove to Death Valley, famous for huge baron deserts and the highest recorded temperature in the world! Due to lack of places to park the car and sleep for the night we had our first night in the tent. Not the smartest move as Death Valley reached 117 degrees and there is no grass to pin down tent pegs! Instead we went for the 'huge rocks inside the tent technique' to prevent it from blowing away! The most interesting nights sleep i've had to date.

The following day we visited Badwater-the lowset point in US (287ft below sea level), consequently a rather warm destination, artists pallette- a huge rock formaton blended with lots of fascinating colours and Dante's View- the highest point in Death Valley. More fantastic views over the valley.

That day we drove to the Grand Canyon. The picture I had in my head of the Grand Canyon was slightly different to what we got. Its quite hard to beleive this as Grand Canyon is renowned for being extremely hot and dry but it SNOWED! Yes thats right we struggled to even walk around the rim as the temperature went as low as 0 degrees and rain and hail made it difficult to see and walk. The views of the Canyon were definitely compromised but we had a cool, cool time(excuse the pun!).

Leaving Las Vegas (like Nicholas Cage) today after a fab weekend in the crazy city. Highlights include seeing the Bellagio, Flamingo and MGM Grand as well as $40 all u can drink in the Stratosphere!

Off to Orange County today to fing Ryan and Merissa from the OC!

Hope ur all good

Only 46 days till i'm back in the PO13 so dust off your dancing shoes!

Bye 4 now.

PS. Photos will follow in next couple of days.