We purchased a Greyhound bus ticket for a few hundred pounds that allowed unlimited travel throughout USA and Canada and watched old runs of Saved by the Bell whilst waiting for our bus to San Diego. We hopped off the bus and tried to find our way to Pacific Beach (PB) where our friend who had kindly offered to put us up lived. Although we found our way to PB pretty easily we had a long walk from the bus stop and we ended up flagging a taxi as our bags were killing our sweaty backs. He only had to drive us one block north and three blocks east - we were so close!! (I think the previous looooong walk in LA had scarred us). We found their bachelor pad and knocked on the door. It was opened by a massive American guy who invited us in - we were so unsure if we had the right place but luckily our friend Andre was just in the shower. Peter, his friend, told us to make ourselves at home while we waited. We couldnt help spotting some bachelor books on the side that made us smile!!

We all sat and caught up for a while - we'd first met Andre on the Oz bus in Australia so we filled each other in on details since we left. For tea we ate some mexican fast food (definitely something that should be brought to the UK). Alcohol and jalepenos at a fastfood joint yum yum! Afterwards we popped into a beach bar where people watching was very interesting.

On our first night we joined Andre on a double date and visited a few of San Diegos bars. We went to the top of the Hyatt Towers and had drinks whilst overlooking city lit up at night. Andre pointed out the army base and other points of interest - it was awesome to have our own tour guide! We were then pointed out a bar used in the 'sleazy top gun scene' so we couldn't resist having one drink inside. Surprisingly there were a few older men in their uniform propped up at the bar. Despite catching a few zzzz's on the bus I couldnt stop yawning! It was so embarrassing! We had another drink at a rooftop bar before heading home.

The next day way Independence Day. We managed to grab a lie-in before heading to the boardwalk for breakie. Sadly the weather wasn't all blue skies so San Diego was quieter than normal for July the 4th. Walking along by the beach we saw loads of flags and gazebos on the beach and a massive bbq that someone had dragged along the sand. One group of people had covered their area with caution tape so their towels were left untouched. In front gardens we saw parties with beer pong and red cups and we were being wished 'happy 4th'. We had a bit of a house party at Andre's but my throat was pretty sore. I enjoyed watching Simon and the guys become progressively more and more drunk and happily reminded them of their antics the following morning. Simon managed to beat Peter at a shot-gun beer despite never doing it before! So proud..

Our last day in San Diego was spent seeing the sights. At Mission beach we munched on fish tacos - we both decided to try shark which was nice. The surfers were all out and the place was looking very stereotypical SoCal. Andre kindly drove us into town and we mooched around the mall and along the docks where we saw two huge aircraft carriers across the water in the Navy Base. Along the boardwalk we passed a 9/11 conspiracy theory group who were handing out DVDs and displaying several boards of information. In the car we made our way to the Mexican border - although it was too unsafe and we didnt have enough time to cross over, it was cool to see how close the place was. Flying high above the small town by the border was a massive Mexican flag. On another side of town we saw a seal colony which dominated a small beach. We were then driven to San Diego University which was stunning and mega posh! Afterwards we had a drive around the posh area where we saw how the other half lived. We finished our day with a look-out point over the city and a stop at a fast food joint called In-n-out burger that only cook fresh food. It was a jam packed day and we were so so grateful to Andre as there was no way we could have seen it all, or known about all the places, without him.