Sorry for the lateness of this update, but we have selfishly been enjoying the sun and the mid 20'C temps since we have coming down the coast! But rest assured that we are of course thinking of you all back in the UK with you sub-zero temps!

As per the norm, our Greyhound journey to Santa Barbara, although only just over an hour long, wasn't without its little oddities!! Boarding at Santa Maria we found that the bus was already extremely full and so had to sit apart, not a problem, and thankfully we found two normal looking people to sit next to. The problem was the less normal around us. On got a rather large woman, who quite clearly hadn't washed for some time as there was a distinct smell of stale wee, and plonked herself on the seat across the aisle from Sasha. For the next half hour of the journey she made a number of phone calls to various family members and friends, telling them all the same story about her ex girlfriend, and how she was off to see her new girl that day, with a few graphic stories about having sex on the beach with a bloke . . . Well once she had gotten the same story off her chest to all in her phone book, she settled down to shovel handfuls of crisps into her mouth in a fairly quick sucession, before finally turning to Sasha to tell her how much she liked her glasses . . . and then letting Sasha off the bus infront of her with a "it's ok sweetie, you go first!". And so comes Ollie's new name or Sasha: - Lesbian Fodder!!

Arriving at the hostel, we check ourselves in and head off into town to find food as by this time it was nearly 4pm and we hadn't had any breakfast or lunch!! And low and behold we find a fabulous mexican bar and restaurant offering happy hour specials, half price starters and 2 for 1 drinks. Ordering our food, a beer and glass of wine, what turns up to our table but two beers and two glasses of wine!! Ah ha! So that's the game we are going to play!! With food out of the way we then decide to sample the Magarita on the menu, but just ordering the one!! Feeling a little tipsy we head out onto the street to find a place to watch the holiday parade that was billed to start at 6:30pm when Ollie suddenly realises that he needs a wee!! So off we head to another bar to buy more drinks so that he can use the facilities!! We then spend the next couple of hours watching the most bizzare parade, mostly made up from after school teams, whether it be the cheerleaders, the Karake club, or the band, nothing overly Christmassy about any of it, apart from Santa being pulled on the back of a truck at the end. One more drink at a "London Pub" that has a bit of an identity problem with American football on the TV's, and Irish and Scottish drink posters on the walls, before heading back to the hostel.

Our hostel room that just had us two and one other gentleman had grown to full capacity with all 12 beds now being occupied. 11 men and one female, Sasha. With plenty of alcohol consumed by all, everyone slowly but surely fell into their drunken slumbers. One gentleman however appeared to have a sleep talking habit which was rather amusing, especially when he started talking about something smelling and tasting of sewage water!!

For the next couple of days we explore the town of Santa Barbara which is a mix of chilled out beaches and beautiful shopping areas, it is certainly a rich man's paradise, and so we stuck to the happy hour offers, maybe a little too much!!

It was with a heavy heart that we left the sanctuary of Santa Barbara as we would have loved to have stayed longer, but to Anaheim we must go to do a spot of working holiday, if meeting up with a gentleman who has offered to take you out for a steak meal can be called working!!

We arrive in Anaheim to glorious sunshine and have two days there topping up the tans! Anaheim is of course the home of Disneyland Resort but we had little interest in going and instead did a spot of shopping and treated ourselves to a netbook!! Which means that we are able to upload our photos wherever we are, and we now also have a camera on the netbook and so anyone wanting to skype us will be able to see us too!! You lucky, lucky people! See how easily we can justify spending the money??

The meal out with Richard was DELICIOUS!! And Sasha didn't get too bored with all the geek talk between Ollie and Richard!! It was great to meet him, and he is going to be a great person for Nick and Phil to work with on future games, and for Ollie to get back in with once we settle! Plus we may well meet with him again in the new year once we get back from Vegas!

From Anaheim we find ourselves in San Diego with plently of time to explore the beaches, the city itself, and we might even fit in a little trip across the border to Mexico!!