18 days, 1,953.9 miles driven, 9 cities and far too many beers. It's now time to draw my first visit of California to a close.

Before I say goodbye to the sunshine, I returned to LA where I spent a night when I arrived.

In the complete random nature of travel and the kindness this world has to offer, my friend Paul (who I met only a week ago) said I could come and stay in his Hollywood apartment.

When I arrived at their place, it was like I was catching up with lifetime friends. Pete who is also visiting from England was still around so it was like a true San Francisco reunion (I'll await the clichés). A lot happened during that week so we had plenty to catch up on.

We went out for drinks and I actually got to meet a friend from back home. It was great to see Johnny, and our trips sound very contrasting (especially accommodation standards!!). We all met up in downtown LA and walked along the avenue of stars and avoided the temptation of getting photographs with movie characters (although my nephew would have liked a picture with spiderman)

As the night drew to a close it was time to get a taxi back to Hollywood. We were chatting to a guy who called himself 'Danny Welton'. He said he was a comedian and had been in many movies in Hollywood back in the 50s and 60s. He also claimed to have had 'close' relations with Marilyn Monroe.

I'm not sure how genuine this is, however he was too cheap to contribute to the taxi. If you ever read this Mr Welton, you owe us $5!!

The following day, Paul had the unfortunate task of getting up for work, while Pete and I surfaced around 12. We had a very hectic day, walking up the Runyon Canyon which provided an excellent panoramic lookout of the city and Hollywood sign. We then had the difficult choice of going for a swim or chillaxing in the hot tub!

Last night we went to an LA Galaxy game (pictured). It was a better atmosphere than I'd expected, and it was good to see Beckham, Robbie Keane and Landon Donovan play (sorry don't know any of the others). They beat the Colorado Rapids 1-0 and clinched a play off spot.

After a mere 4 hours sleep, it was time to set sail for the airport. I had an emotional fair well with my Jeep Liberty 3.7L V6 Sport and successfully reached the airport. Next stop the big apple!