Hello All!!

A few things before I fill you in on what we've been up to. Firstly, thank you for all the messages that people have left...we do love to catch up with whats going on (and it's nice to know that people other than our parents are reading this!!) And, to everyone in Perth who started a new school year today, we hope it went well!!

Right-o...well, the train ride from Santa Barbara was amusing. It was a Friday afternoon so it was packed but we manage to get seats together although right near a toilet. We had a nice lady sit with us and we chatted about our travels and the US. The toilet provided some amusement as some people just couldn't shut the door properly (they thought it was but it wasn't) and if the train slowed down or went around a corner...yep, it was quite amusing!! Then someone managed to lock the door from outside the toilet and people would come and think there was someone in it and wait so we would have to fill them in that it was locked and they would have to find another..we made quite a few friends that ride!

We arrived in to San Diego around 8pm and headed to our hostel which is in the gaslamp quarter which is kind of the heart of the city in the evenings and on weekends with bars, restaurants and cafes everywhere! The taxi driver had to drop us around the corner, then we walked past the hostel with all our luggage and hundreds of al fresco diners staring at us until we found it and hauled all the luggage upstairs (can't remember if I mentioned that the luggage is multiplying quite rapidly!!)

We had a room to ourselves but it's right onto the main reception area so everyone knows when we get up! We stayed in bed a little bit on Saturday (figured we deserved as much =P) and then headed out to walk around the town a bit. We went down to the harbour where there were 3 cruise ships in port. They were huge! And considering there were 3 cruise ships in town, there wasn't that many people out and about for a Saturday...well, we thought anyhow. We went shopping at the local Westfield and bought some shorts and t-shirts as we didn't bring too many of these with us. We then headed back to the hostel as we had arranged to go on a tour to Tijuana with some of the people from the hostel.

We left the hostel around 4:30pm and got the trolley to the border. You then have to walk across a foot bridge and through a couple of turnstiles to get to Mexico. Some of the people on our tour wanted their passports stamped but the guy wanted to charge them $20 each so they just left it. We stopped at a few places for some drinks and then some food and then the next couple of places we were supposed to be going to were closed so the boys doing the tour tried to find some other places (which weren't too dodgy) with little luck. We kept ending up back at the same bar. It's very different and while it's great to be able to say I went to Mexico, I wouldn't go to Tijuana again.

We had some excitement on the way back to the border at 1am when one of the guys who works at the hostel got arrested but they managed to meet us back at the trolley station in the US before we got on it. It did cost them all the money the two of them had on themselves....long story...got back to the hostel about 3am and traipsed into our room to find we now had a room mate (oops =P)

Today was a late start again. There were quite a few sore heads (not mine...YAY!) so we didn't do too much. Emma and I headed out at about 11am to the USS Midway - an aircraft carrier that was decommisioned and now serves as a museum. It is in the harbour near where the cruise ships dock. It was really interesting but I couldn't imagine living on there all the time...nevermind getting lost!! We got to go up to the bridge and get into the cockpits of some of the planes. They have about 20 or 30 planes and helicopters on the flight deck that you can get really close to or inside of. We even had some lunch on board although I am glad to say it was not from the mess!

We then headed back to the hostel and I watched the Super Bowl game and was disappointed the Cardinals didn't win...I now know most of the main rules of the game, I think and actually enjoyed it. The ads were top quality too =P

We are heading to the San Diego Zoo tomorrow so will hopefully have some good photos for you and then off to Anaheim and Disneyland on Tuesday..YAY!! But it means our trip is coming to an end and it will be back to the real world very soon =(