Hi Everyone!

And here we are at the end of our California leg! Its been an action packed three weeks and has absolutely flown by.

We landed in LA and headed straight for Hollywood to spot some celebs. It was the day after Michael Jackson died and the whole city was Jackson crazy, with every car blaring out his songs, hundreds of people queing up to put flowers on his star on Hollywood Bvd and the press swarming outside his house. Unfortunately the closest we got to a superstar was the handprints in the pavement and the massive gates of their homes! Still, Tim was very pleased to have been so close to the Playboy mansion - although sadly the bunnies must have been out.

From LA we joined the famous Pacific Coast Highway, cruising through the sunny suburbs and towns of Malibu, Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. We would love to say we were in a convertible mustang, but we were in a Kia. Which we had thought was a juice.

Our destination was San Francisco where we spent July 4th, Americas independence day, watching the fireworks over the bay and catching a baseball game. We cycled across the Golden Gate Bridge, and visited the famous rock Alcatraz, wandering through the cells of Al Capone and other nasties.

It was a great city, but it was time to see the countryside and so we headed inland to Lake Tahoe - although we had to stop at the wine region of Napa Valley en route! Lake Tahoe was great, and we loved the bear crossing signs on the roadside! We took a kayak out on the lake before it was again time to move on.

Next was a few days of extremes. First was the breathtaking Yosemite National Park. We climbed huge rock domes, and hiked to isolated lakes. We put in about 10 miles a day exploring this incredible place. Then we headed for Death Valley. From the name, you can guess this was a pretty barren place. At 10am it was 115f. In. The. Shade. Wowza. But it was actually a really diverse area, and we put in a few hikes in this otherworldly place.

After a pitstop in glamorous Palm Springs, we arrived back on the coast in San Diego. First thing we did was head to Mexico for lunch! After eating a burrito in a cafe with a fella in a poncho playing the xylophone, and with a donkey wearing a sombrero outside, we decided that maybe it was time to get back across the border! Back in San Diego we visited one of the best zoos in the world - the one where Ron Burgundy falls in the bear pit! - before heading back up the coast.

We had changed our plans so that our final day would be the perfect end to our Californian adventure. Something classy, something memorable that would sum up our time here. Yes. You guessed it. We went to Disneyland!

We were 10-year-olds again (Tim screamed on Space Mountain while Amanda cried at the parade!) and had a fantastic day.

And so we were suddenly back in LA! There were so many highlights of this trip that this blog cannot do it justice, and we cannot believe we will be back in good ol blighty in a couple of weeks or so!

We are now off to Peru, home of Macchu Picchu and the Inca Trail, the Andes and Paddington Bears family. Really looking forward to it!

Hope you are all well and happy, and looking forward to seeing you really soon,
Love,
Tim and Amanda
xx