Hi guys,

We have finally found a reasonably priced internet cafe so I can give you a blog at long last!

I have so much to write about so I'm just going to briefly update you on our travels.

We reluctantly left Vegas last week and headed to Death Valley. It was absurdly hot at 42 degrees C and we couldn't even get out of the car at some points. It was fun to drive through the national park though and see the vast desert land. That night we stopped at a place called Bakersfield en route to Yosemite.

Yosemite National Park was stunning. It was so lush and green and we really felt like we were "getting back to nature!" We had intended to camp but we hadn't realised how hot it would be that far north so after we had driven around the park we started looking for somewhere to stay but everywhere was full. We had to drive an hour outside the park until we could find a place with a vacancy. The next day, we went back into the park to do some hiking and our first hike was called the "mist trail". As the name suggests, we were expecting to get a little wet as we walked up alongside one of the waterfalls but we hadn't anticipated just how wet! I don't get that wet in the shower! It was a crazy hike and many people had to turn back because the water was just running down the steps and it was fairly dangerous. Our next hike was much easier (and drier).

After a couple of days at Yosemite, we headed to Sacramento which we really liked. While we were there, we had a day trip out to Lake Tahoe as well, which is huge and surrounded by beaches and a nice little town. After that, we went north to Oregon. We weren't planning to detour to another state but we had extra time and thought why not? We were told to visit another national park while we were there called "Crater Lake" and it made the extra miles to Oregon totally worth it. We were blown away by the lake, as I'm sure you will be when you see the pictures. It was beautiful. Probably my favourite view of the whole trip.

Back in California, we stayed the night at a town called Eureka, mostly because Fin liked the name, but it was also a good place to break up the driving. San Francisco was next on the agenda. We stayed over memorial day weekend so it was very busy and all the prices were bumped up but it was a very nice city, especially Fisherman's Wharf on the sea front. It was very cold though! Much colder than home in may. We went over to Alcatraz yesterday, which we really enjoyed. It's great how everything is exactly as it was then- except for the prisoners of course.

Last night we stayed in San Jose, and today we are in Salinas, home to John Steinbeck. We visited his house and museum earlier today which was very infromative and interesting. Tomorrow, we are heading down to Santa Barbara, on our way to Los Angeles and San Diego.

Crazy that we'll be home soon!

Lots of love

Sian and Fin xxx