California, Reno, Tijuana and Vegas

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August 30th 2010

Published: August 30th 2010

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Ralex

Photo 1

Me and Charlie first night out in San Fran

I am currently in San Diego after a month away travelling. America has flown by and we are leaving for South America on Thursday. I apologise for not updating this earlier but to be honest I have been enjoying myself too much and have had too much to do like go out, go to the beach etc. I also apologise for some dodgy spelling, there is no spell check.
Our first day was quite eventful. There was a tearful goodbye from my mum at the airport, obviously. As we were going through security Doug started setting off the alarms, he was called over and they asked if he knew what he had tried to bring through, bemused he said nothing. The security then pulled out 4 kitchen knives from his bag. He had left them in his bag from when he had moved house. What an idiot. The flight was fine, with the exception of the annoying kid in front of me constantly swinging his chair back and forward, it was probably excatly what I used to do when I was his age.
We arrived in San Francisco pretty jet lagged so stayed up as long as we could and then

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San Fran

went to bed. We were all up by about seven the next day. Spent the day in San Francisco shopping, eating and having a few drinks. Cider is twice if not three times as much as beer which is very annoying for me and Charlie, we rolled with a punch. We went back to Doug's uncle's flat where Doug and I were staying to get ready and went out for a few drinks. We went to the Castro which was interesting, I could pay you $5 for every women you saw there and still have change from a tenner. We then went to a bar in downtown San Francisco called Vessel, on a Wednesday they do a deal where it is free to get in and a free bar, you couldnt really ask for more on your first night, we took full advantage and then did some bar hopping before calling it a night. The next couple of days in San Fran we spent doing the sights Alcatraz, which was excellent, I spent about 4 hours there just listening to the stories of the building, it was morbid and grim but also very interesting. Saw the Golden Gate bridge which

Photo 4

Golden Gate

was covered in fog and a few of the other sites. We had another night out in San Fran on the Friday, not free this time, and then woke up the next day to pick up the car and drive to Reno.
We woke up feeling a little groggy and went to the airport to pick up the car. When we got to the counter, there was an option of an upgrade which we took. We went from the equivilant of a Rav 4 to our Buick Enclave, when we saw the car we celebrated. It was basically like driving around in a sofa. We set off on the long drive to Reno delighted with our purchase.
Throughout the trip we told people that we had been to Reno and they always asked one question, why? Its about a 230 mile drive in the wrong direction just for a night out. We established people feared our methods because they dont understand our methods. It turns out we were right to drive to Reno, it was a great night. We went to a club where the DJ was English, we got chatting to him and he was from essex, he never

Photo 5

Lovely stuff

saw English people in Reno. We stayed in the DJ booth all night. Turns out he recognised Nick from when he was there three years ago, thats how often English people go to Reno. We all had a great night including the DJ, he played whatever we liked and got us free drinks. This is what we do.
We left Reno the next day and drove to Truckee to meet a family Nick has spent time with when he was coaching in California. They were so nice and welcoming, we went out on their boat on to lake Truckee and then had dinner with them in the evening, we were mothered and after less than a week it was needed.
The next day we spent 13 hours driving from truckee to Santa Maria, I was the only one insured to drive, it was a long day, we just kept telling ourselves at least we werent crammed into a Rav4. From Santa Maria we got up early and drove to Santa Barbara, we spent a couple of days in Santa Barbara just chilling by the pool and had a great night out in one of the bars as there was festival

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We obviously upgraded our car

going on, this including a dance off with a breakdance crew, we obviously lost, me worse than anyone.
The next three nights we spent in Hollywood. We did the tourist bits in Hollywood. However the highlight was meeting Xavi Alonso. As we were driving round Beverley Hills we spotted a few Real Madrid flags outside of the Beverley Hills hotel. The penny dropped that Real Madrid were in town to play LA Galaxy. We pulled over and chatted to a few people outside, they suggested we went in to the hotel, we parked up, valet, and went into the hotel. As soon as we walked in we spotted Angel DiMaria and Roysten Drenthe. We decided to go to the pool to see if the players were they, they werent so we grabbed a drink. On our way back to the hotel we got the lift to the second floor and walked down to the lobby to make it look like we were staying there, so we could mill around in the lobby and look for players. The plan worked within two minutes, Nick spotted Xavi Alonso, he started walking through the lobby and shaking I approached him. I was very

Photo 8

Reno, two hundred and fifty miles in the wrong direction just for a night out. This is what we do.

star struck and mumbled I was a big fan and asked for a photo, he said that was fine. Got the photo and was immediatley asked to leave the hotel. It was so worth it though, I spent the next four hours shaking. We had a really good night out in a club called Playhouse that night as well to cap it off. The next day met up with an old family friend and then went to a few of the places that are in Entourage and saw a few of the famous bars on Sunset Boulevard.
The next few days we spent at Marina Del Ray, from here you can get to Venice Beach, which was rough and Santa Monica which was excellent. We had a few low key days here mainly spending time by the pool. After a few nights chilling out we made the drive down to San Diego.
Arrived in San Diego and went for a night out, spent some time relaxing, again. The hostel we were in was running a trip to Tijuana on the Saturday, we obviously signed up. Tijuana was an interesting experience, to get across the border you go through the equivilant

Photo 9

It was worth it.

of a football turnstyle, once you are in Mexico you know you are in a different country straight away. There are drug stores lined ten deep, everything looks worse and is worse, eg the toilet in the first bar we went to which I wouldnt wish on my worst enemy. The hostel tour took us a round a few bars, one of the bars we ate in and they had an interesting way of pouring you drinks. Basically one 'waiter' comes round with a bottle of Tequilia and tips your head back, pours the drink from the bottle in your mouth, shakes your head around then knees you in the back of the head. I would give him zero for customer service. Tijuana was certainly an experience and worth doing.
We left San Diego the next day and drove to Laguna beach, we spent the day on the beach and saw a pod of dolphins, had a look around the ridiculous houses in Laguna. Spent the next couple of days relaxing, we decided not to go out as we needed to get our A game together for Vegas.
On Wednesday 18 August after just over three excellent weeks in California

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Tubing on lake Tahoe

we left for Vegas. The 280 mile drove flew by, we said goodbye to the Buick, which had served us so well and then met Burnham, Duzza and Buckton, we hadnt seen them in a few weeks so we were delighted to see them, we spotted them and ran across the pool to jump on them. We caught up and then met Sam and Quinn who arrived a couple of hours later, the same thing happened when we saw them. We all met in the hotel for a few drinks before we went out. It was lovely stuff having all nine of us together. We had a fixer in Vegas called Daniel who some of the boys had used before. He basically gets you tables in the club and walks you straight in. The first night we went to LAX in the Luxor and Daniel came out with us for a few drinks. It was a great night, we were all just really excited to be on a night out together.
Daniel the fixer, had a good night with us and decided to come out with us on Friday to Pure with his girlfriend. Turns out Daniel knows everyone in

Photo 10

Hollywood

Vegas, there was a line og about 500 people outside Pure and we just walked straight through to our table. Daniel and his girlfriend spent the whole evening with us and were great value. We all had a great night the club was amazing inside, it was probably in my top three nights out I have ever had.
On the Saturday we went to Bank in the Bellagio, minus a couple of lads who had got a bit carried away the night before. Bank was even more swanky than Pure if that was possible, this was proved when all of a sudden dollar bills just started falling from the sky. I was stunned, we again had a table and again got carried away. It was an expensive night but was so worth it. Those two back to back nights were such a good 48 hours. I really cant do them justice in words or photos.
On the last two nighst we had in Vegas we upgraded from our room to a suite. It was so plush, we were living way out of our means but it was so worth it.
We had a couple more VIP nights out. One of

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Well built

them was on the Tuesday, we were all pretty skint but Daniel had managed to sort us a VIP night out for a third of the price, we went back to Pure and were sat in Flloyd Mayweathers both. Unfotunately he wasnt there, if he was I dont think we would have got that booth somehow. It was another great night, which we all enjoyed. It was so good to see the lads and Daniel made everything so good, the nights out we had I felt like a celebrity and not a D list one at least a B list one.
We left Vegas after saying goodbye to the lads, it was a bit sad saying goodbye to Charlie and Nick, we had a great month together in California which was topped by an amazing week in Vegas. All the lads had a great time in Vegas and I will look back at it as one of the best weeks I have ever had.
That brings us full circle, we are back in San Diego now. It wasnt easy going from a suite in Caesers Palace to a bunk bed at the USA hostel, I rolled with a punch. We