hi all,

I don't really know where to start as its been a while since i updated, here goes.......

wednesday the 8th

We arrived in l.a late in the afternoon and went to our hostel in venice beach - only to be told they had cancelled our booking because my credit card had bounced - especially annoying as they sent me a confirmation slip!!

We ended up staying in this mezanine floor of a scummy house on flimsy matteresses. its a hostel but not really. The bathroom visits were lots of fun - no locks and it was normal for people to just walk in when you were having a shower - argh!!!!

That night we went for 1pound margaritas on venice beach, watched all the muscly freaks on muscle beach and went for a meal. We ended the night with a look around santa monica pier. Kathryn and i went on the big wheel and I got a bit freaked out!!

Thursday

We went for a hollywood tour round bell air etc to see peoples houses, celebrity hang outs.... and we even saw callista flockhart (ally mcbeal) walking past our bus in hollywood boulevard!!

Thursday night we spent hours trying to book a hostel in san fran - it was looking pretty bleak!! We then went to a free concert on the pier with the 90's hip hop group arrested development - quite good i suppose.

Friday we took a minibus up to san fran (8 and a half hours). The bus was hot and smelled of cow fields and cheetos. Sarah gave me a cheeto gas mask and I nearly puked!!

Last night we had a small dinner and an early night. We managed to get a tiny double room in a hostel in down town san fran. Its a cool city but there is lots of homeless people and interesting smells to contend with. We were so lucky to get a cancellation as lots of people had to sleep on the streets the city was so packed out. Its also nice to have some privacy for a change.

Today we caught the tram to the fishermans wharf and had clam chowder and walked around the place for 3 hours. We caught the tram back (1 and a half hours to catch the tram) then massive squash on the tram - bit of an ordeal. sarah and kathryn have crazy lumpy bites all over them - worrying.

Tonight we are sitting in watching trashy tv and drinking cheap red wine.

We are in san fran until monday night then we get the overnight bus to l.a, then fly back later that afternoon. We are 8 hours behind at the minute so we lose a day on our trip back to London.

It still hasnt sunk in that we are home in a few days - gulp!!

Thanks for the camera facts colin, that makes me feel soooo much better!! Glad sarah is taking my top flexi spot - its hard work but someones got to do it!!

see u all soon

smithers xx