Hi Everyone,

Bek here in hot, sweaty, humid San Diego!

We caught the greyhound here on Friday morning. Not very exciting..we had heard of people being released from prison straight onto the bus or homeless people etc...but nothing..just the usual mexican crowd. it only took afew hours..I slept and Mike watched the world go by (he always shot guns window seats).

We checked into our dorm when we arrived in San Diego. We shared a room with two swedish guys who we have grown to love over the last 3 nights. after we checked in we set off to find Ralphs...searching the supermarkets has been one of my favourite parts of the trip. Anyone who has been to the states will know what I mean. Ralphs was amazing. it has so much fresh produce there to choose from and lots of free samples...Mike loved the "meat on a stick"so we got some lunch and wandered back to our hostel. Our hostel is located in the Gaslamp Quarter of San Diego..its really beautiful and lively. Our hostel is located on the strip with lots of restaurants and pubs.

After lunch we set off to find Balboa Park...this is a 20 minute walk up the street. On our way we were very excited to spot our first squirrel or should I say squirrels. We tried to take photos and a local walker laughed at us for trying to get a squirrel to stop so we could take a photo of it. It was quite hot so we laid under a palm tree for quite awhile watching both lawn bowls and the doggy park.

That evening for dinner we went to a restaurant called Bondi and it was AWESOME! it was ANZAC day so we thought we should go to an Australian restaurant/bar. This place is owned by 3 Perth men and they serve Ozzie beers (little creatures etc) and sold australian produce. The staff are all aussies too. As soon as we walked in there was footy on the screen and this elderly man ran up to Mike and said there would be a cover charge for him coming in because he was wearing his Eagles shirt....this guy was a freo supporter and quite drunk...maybe because his team had just lost by a point! Mike ordered a meat pie and sauce and i got myself some nice scallops and pasta! we splurged abit here but it was so worth it for a good decent feed.

After dinner we came back to the hostel and Mike attempted to call Wog and Stevo and Shane..nobody answered so Mike cried (just kidding). We retired to bed and met our very very very drunk roomates the Swedes..one of them Rikard didint even make it to the bed..but kind of laid half on the bed half on the floor. I was lucky to be sleeping on top of the not so drunk other Swede. He snored all night but we still managed to have a well earned sleep in comfy beds.

THe next morning we got up early and headed towards San Diego Zoo. We were very excited to see Polar Bears, Panda Bears and even grizzly bears. Mike loved the lizards and reptiles! We got back to the hostel in the early afternoon and had an afternoon sleep. We then had to race to get ready for our Tijuana tour. We were excited about this tour but also quite nervous. At the moment there is some tension at the borders to cross over and tourists have been kidnapped and caught in the line of fire...I kid you not! Getting into Mexico was fine and with a group of around 50 of us we were assured we would be safe. We were all given numbers on our wrists and were constantly having to call off our numbers. FIrst stop was a bar that sold $2 coronas and $2 margaritas....they also had these crazy mexicans that went around and held your head back and poured tequilla down your throat...Mike and I said no to this round as we had another 8 hours to go! We then went and did some shopping at the markets...it was all rubish like wrestling masks and ponchos! Next we went to a loud, loud, loud restaurant and had more coronas and tequilla pours....its so noisy because every time someone gets their tequilla skull....they blow whistles!! We ate mexican food (too spicy for Bek) and met up with another hostel group so by now there was a huge party of us! We then went to another nightclub which had a bucking bull and tatoo parlour in it. it was mad! we both had a go of the bull (see photos....of Bek...Mike didnt last long enough for Bek to take a photo :). Bek got given a flower by her smooth roomates Rikard and Sven...they are great guys and we really enjoyed sharing a dorm with them. They are just how you would imagine..tall, tanned, blonde and blue eyed and drink like fish. On the way home we had to have a mexican man help us cross the border as the cops are so corrupt they would have stopped us. We all crossed successfully except for one girl we left behind because she didnt have the right cards. We got Jack in the Box which is a fast food for the 45 minute train ride home. I have to say this and Mike will back me up (it tastes as good if not better than Hungry Jacks). We arrived home by 3 and went straight to bed. We all slept in today: Mike, Sven, Rikard and I and got up at about lunch time. We then went to the most beautiful shopping mall in search of this makeup I want to buy since its so cheap here (NARS). I have decided I hate shopping with Mike...he puffs and sighs every two seconds and only enjoys it when we go into the sports stores...thats when its my turn to puff and sigh.

We have just finished watching a movie as we were going to go down the beach but all beaches in San Diego are closed for 3 days since there was a shark attack here afew days ago. We are off to dinner tonight with Shane (who went to the lakers game with us)and Jay (our friends from Perth) who we stumbled apon today in the internet room which was a lovely suprise.

tomorrow is VIVA Las Vegas! i think we are going on a tiny plane so wish us luck..its only an hours flight so we should be ok!

thanks again everyone for updates. its so nice to hear from home. Congrats to cousin Julie and Mike and Fin on the news of the new bub!

Lots of Love,

Bek and Mike.