Hi all,

Another quick blog as we'll be back soon enough anyway!

Since we left San Francisco, we have been travelling down the coast and are now in San Diego. The weather hasn't been very good at all which is a shame, but we've had a lot of fresh sea air and we had our first encounter with a snake when Fin almost stepped on one, which was pretty exciting.

After Salinas, we went to Santa Barbara- a lovely city built entirely in spanish/mediterranean- style achitecture. We really enjoyed it there; the beach was the cleanest and safest I've ever seen. After that, we did LA's beaches. First was Malibu, which was much smaller than I expected but it was exciting to see the Malibu Colony- a row of huge houses belonging to famous movie stars. The beach is private around that area so we couldn't get up close and personal. Santa Monica was a really nice beach with lots of people jogging and cycling and rollerblading. There's an area called Muscle Beach which is basically a gym on the sand. From Santa Monica we walked along to Venice Beach, renowned for its hippy-ish reputataion- it certainly was an experience! Almost everyone we passed along LA's beaches was carrying a tiny little dog- very Paris Hilton!

Long Beach was the next place we stayed and we were again pleasntly surprised. We got a great discount in a hotel because we were "english", which was very welcome! Long Beach was also the home of the gigantic carrot cake. I almost died when the waitress brought it over to me- there really should have been some sort of warning on the menu. I'm proud to say that I did finish it though- in 2 days!

We are now in San Diego, our last stop on the coast before we head to Hollywood. It's quite a quiet city and one I feel very safe in. The zoo was brilliant, but so big! Highlights definitely included the Komodo Dragon and the Pandas.

Less than a week left now and its going very quickly! The countdown is on!

See you all soon!

Love Sian and Fin xxxx