We drove the 454 miles (not the 350 miles reported by the US route planner on-line - it was clearly no AA in terms of accuracy) back to LA today and made it to Allen and Jess's apartment in around 9 hours. They suggested a fab Brazillian restaurant for tea and we had Caipirinhas and Margaritas as well as some brilliant food including plantains, garlic beef, Brazillian sausage and fried Kale. After a nightcap of Johnnie Walker Blue Label (Mmmmm), it was off to be...

This pic was taken at 7.30am on the Mastodon peak trail. You have to be up and at em early in the desert. It was already pretty hot! After this we visited the Cholla gardens which are cactus gardens. They look pretty cool. After this we began our long journey to Vegas baby! Very barren landscape with not much to keep us occupied except Bill Bryson on audio book and of course some fantastic and very exciting news from a very special girl at home!!

We are literally in the middle of nowhere! Joshua Tree National Park is in the middle of the Colorado/Mojave deserts! There are only 2 others sharing the campsite with us tonight. It is very stunning and also a little scary with all its warnings of rattle snakes and coyotes. Esp since Ian reckons he already saw a snake, and we have defo heard the coyotes. We are drinking some vino round the gas lamp though which is making everything good! :) Off to do some explor...

Old town San Diego. Having driven through this place on our tour yesterday, we decided to visit again today. 'Old', of course, is a relative term in the US but it was a good kitsch place. Wild west/Tex Mex fun though not sure the national trust would have approved! Howellsey loved the cacti growing there. What a surprise!

We went to go to the Broken Yolk cafe as featured on 'man versus food' this morning but the queue was so long we decided on an alternative venue choice. The Cheese Shop claimed to have the best breakfast in the Gaslamp quarter and I tend to agree. Don't worry, this blog will not solely be about food and drink! Honestly! Have been a bit carried away this first week!