Christmas & New Years!

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After all the BA strike talk it was a relief just to see our flight up on the departure boards! 11 hours later and we arrive in San Francisco to be met by Dan and Dave (Jamie's Dad). We headed to their house in San Carlos which is a beautiful area next to a canyon so the views are amazing - especially from Dave's brand new house. Still on English time we were happy to get some sleep after some food - bring on Christmas...

Craig and I woke at 4am and couldnt get back to sleep so celebrated Christmas with an early morning beer and toasted the view! Christmas or anticipation of the rest of the trip - either way weren't able to get back to sleep and when the sun came up we took Dave and Karen's dog (Conner) for a walk. Even at 7am it was hot. Not my usual Christmas morning! It was strange to be away from Mum and Dad for the first time in 27 years as it didnt really feel like Christmas it wasn't the same. Craig and I were desparate to export the local area so nipped down to San Carlos. Nothing open except for the obligatory Starbucks and Subway! The hills are stunning especially in the morning sun - which was not quite so welcome on the trek back up the hills! Karen and Dave were expecting about 30 guests so most of the afternoon getting ready for the meal. We met some interesting people and got plenty of tips on where to head in San Fran and LA. The food was 10/10 and much needed!

The next day we made a move as early as possible as wanted to catch an early train to San Fran. The journey was less than an hour and I couldn't wait to dump our bags and get exploring. The hostel was big and friendly (as most people seemed on first impressions). It didnt have a bar, which is always good for sociallising, but it had a large kitchen. We checked in and headed out down Polk street towards Fisherman's Wharf. You can pretty much get away with just walking around the city. The weather wasn't great but we may our may to the bridge - much to craig's annoyance we walked the whole way. Apparently we were lucky just to be able to see the bridge clearly as the clouds often come down over the top of it. There are 80,000 miles of cable in the bridge. There, something (kind of) cultural Mum!

Later that evening we went to a bar we had been recommend called Redwood Room Bar. It was one of the nicest bars I ever been but rather than empty our wallets on a few drinks we headed to the Mission area of the City for food and some late night bars. After some amazing Mexican we went to a mexican bar and drank coronas and jagar bombs with big fat mexicans! We met some local san franners and headed to a bar to finish the night.

On Sunday we had the Alcatraz trip booked so we went to pier 39 and got on the boat to the island, although not before a breadbowl of clam chowder! The tour we really good and the audio tour gave a good idea of what it was like to be a 'guest' at Alcatraz.

For lunch I was on a mission to covert craig to seafood as the crab is famous along the seaside here. We ordered a massive crab and proceeded to smash it to pieces - bibs and all! Best crab i've ever had and craig now officially eats seafood! We wandered around Fisherman's Wharf for a while and headed back to the hostel before seeing the crooked street, then hitting a blues club round the corner from the hostel. One of the guys had the most incredible voice - they seemed like a family band. Whatever they were doing work as the music was great! We were driving the next day so got to sleep in decent time.

On Monday we picked up our Potiac G6 or similar - turned out to be a big blue chrysler van! We had arranged to meet Mallory (lived with us in brook green) in her home town of monterrey. We stopped off just before Monterrey to try to see the elephant seals but there were only a bunch of noisy normal seals. We were pushed for time as we wanted to make Big Sur (pacific cliff drive) before it got dark. Moneterry´s aquarium is one of it´s main attractions so we went there before meeting Mallory. They had huge Tuna and a few sharks inclduing hammerheads as well as a big otter enclosure so you can see them playing with each other and diving to collect stuff. It was a great aquarium but Craig and I were keen to get moving, meet mallory and head to South. Mallory drove us around the town and it was good to caught up over a beer. Monterry is a beautful town on the pacific with plenty of tourists around - we were tempted to stay for a night but couldn´t afford the time so we got going and headed towards San Luis Obispo.

By the time we got to Big Sur it was dark which was a real shame as we could get glimpses of how amazing the road looked. I started the driving then Craig took over as he loves driving so much! Its a long way especially as the road hugs the cliffs going high and low along the pacific. I think it took about 4 hours to get to San Luis Obispo (SLO). We didnt have any accommodation booked so asked a barman, took his advice and got a motel/hotel down the road, dumped our stuff and headed to Mallory´s recommended buger bar. Best burger so far! Fully recharged we did some bar hoping. SLO is a college town but we were not in term time so there were some locals and a few left-over students. The place had a nice feel to it and imagine it would be perfect to go to college (uni) at. We got chatting to some locals (can only remember Andrea´s name), bought each other shots and had a really fun night in the end.

On Tuesday we drove to LA. Don´t under estimate the size of California - or LA for that matter! We experienced the infamous LA traffic and eventually found our USA Hostel, which was in a good location in West Hollywood - within walking distance to what would be the nearest thing to a 'centre' that LA has. Its a sprawling city with neighbourhoods that take a long time to get between. The hostel was big and had its own bar and big kicthen area so it looked like it would be a sociable hostel too. After some korean/chinese food we were both too tired to got out properly so decided to take a night off so we were fresh for vegas. A couple of drunk (probably the most drunk I've ever seen anyone) kiwis had another ideas as they came crashing into our room just as I was trying to get to sleep. Eventually the passed out and I got the much needed sleep for vegas.

Vegas was what I was waiting for the most from this part of the trip so I woke up like it was Christmas morning. We still had the car and drove to vegas making a stop in Barstow. 6 hours later we saw the hotels of the strip appear. We could see all the hotels that I had seen and heard so much about - I just wanted to get to the strip! Another great USA hostel - this time it was in more of a ghetto! It was near the Old Town Vegas area with plenty of hobos on the street. OK, it wasn't exactly the Bellagio but everyone seemed really friendly and the hostel ran pub crawls and limo nights! We then dumped the car what must be the biggest car rental depot in the world - about the size of the Westfield's car park just for rental cars, with its own aiorport style terminal. Only in America!

I had heard alot about the rides at the top of the stratosphere so we went there first. Queue to get a ticket, queue to get to the top and a queue to get on the ride. It was well worth it though - these rides had the best view out onto the strip of vegas and hang off the tower at 1150ft. The best one (Big Shot) throws you up into the sky then drops you back down to earth faster than any ride i've been on! Highly recommended! We went to circus circus for some food - its one of the older hotels so the casino area looks a bit warn. Back to the hostel we played pool with other travellers which was our first real opportunity to do this. We met people from all over europe as well as a couple of good lads from england - one was quickly named Steve! I think his real name is Chris. We played some beer pong and Craig smashed home the hitting shot. High 5's all round!! Alot of people from the hostel were going to a rock club but Craig and I were under strict instructions from Jonny to go to the Playboy bar at the top of The Palms. We met some scottish guys who had been travelling for 24 hours from Glasgow who were wearing kilts hoping the American girls would go crazy for them! We actually owe them a big thank you as they picked up a lost hotel key card which gave Craig and I free entrance into all the bars and clubs at The Palms! The playboy bar was incredible - the only real playboy theme was waitresses and croupiers were in Playboy bunny outfits. Who am I to complain! It had a nice vibe and quickly got chatting to some Americans and Koreans.

On Thursday (New Years Eve) we signup up for the hostel's NYE limo deal that would end up in a club in Mandalay Bay. We went to the Sahara for $1 blackjack and $1 beers and stayed around our area until early evening. We were all drinking in the hostel before the Limos picked us up - this was my first Limo and this time it was a Hummer full of champagne (well kind of!). In the end there were about 50 of us so the atmposhere was quality - everyone slamming champagne or whatever they had in preparation to Midnight! Midnight came round pretty quickly but Craig had dissapeared so after a lot of phone calls I went outside with the others to see the fireworks. I'm still not really sure what happened to him but we met up later on in the night.

The next morning I realise I lost my phone. I still dont have a clue how it escaped my (admitidly quite tight by this stage in the trip) trousers but I called it and the person that answered it said it was at the Wynn Encore. The Encore is one of the best hotels on the strip and is about a mile away from Mandalay bay. At least I had something to do on New Years Day! We went to the Encore later in the day on the off chance that it really was there - its seemed impossible tho, as the strip was closed for new year's eve. It was a good excude to see the Wynn and Encore though - they are incredible. A beautiful place full of beautiful people! After speaking to Keith at lost and found and him sending me backwards and forwards between the Wynn and the Ecore, an hour later my phone was produced! I was really riding my luck. It was found in the XS nightclub of the Wynn so I can only assume that someone picked it up from my cab and then lost it again at XS. Later that night we went back to The Palms to see the other clubs. Unfortunately, the card doesnt work on Fridays so we had to stump up alot of cash for the cover charge. Craig was pretty sick but ploughed on - good lad! The club next to Playboy is called Moon and has a large rooftop area which the best view of the strip. The Palms is definaly my favourite hotel so far.

The next day (after about 2 hours sleep!) we went to check in at Caesars Palace (where The Hangover was filmed). Its a huge hotel that looks exactly as I expected. For some reason checkin took ages as my confirmation number didnt bring up the correct booking - something to do with their being 2 Mr. Wrights! Anyway, after a LONG wait they finally gave in, apologised and said they would upgrade us for the inconvenince to a 700sq ft suite with a view of the strip!! Craig and I were now well awake and his cold soon dissappeared. The room was huge and the view was stunning - just above the famous Bellagio water display. We had well and truly lucked in!

We wandered down the strip to the new hotal Aira and the City complex. Its not finished yet but as far as I can work out its just a massive hotel/casino with a huge shopping centre around it. Its not finished yet but I prefer the Wynn to Aria. We grabbed some beers and watched the water display from our room before playing some blackjack downstairs. Craig could do no wrong on the blackjack machines and before long we were both up so it was time to gamble our winnings on roulette. All on red. Lost. Back to blackjack - in profit again. Back to roulette, all on red. Win! Enough gambling for now we went to Caesers' club called Pure. We had heard good things about it and I had managed to get us on the guestlist during the check-in problems. Straight to the front - no queue and free entrance. Touch! It was so busy inside tho, it wasn't all that. After a while we went back to the casino and stayed there until the early hours.

The next day we had to catch a Greyhound bus to LA. We arrived without baording passed printed so had to hurtry to the nearest internet. By the time we got in line we couldn't make the bus we wanted so we had a 2 hour wait in the bus garage (on the floor!) until our 6 hour bus to LA turned up. Looking back, it wasn't that bad. We checked into the hostel in LA and went straight to the bar as there was some standup comedy. I use the word 'comedy' lightly though, as a couple of guys crashed and burned. The funniest act was the security guard from the hostel who turned out to be pretty good! Craig and I were making up for lost time so did some speed drinking to catch up which hit us hard after just an hour or so - got chatting to some Aussies and another Dave and just stayed in the hostel that night.

On Monday we did the touristy stuff with Dave - Guiness World Record museum, Wax Museum and Hooters! We just wandered around our local area of hollywood/west hollywood in the sun. In the evening we signed up for another Limo trip. This time with was going through Beverley Hills, a couple of bars then a club. It stopped at the bar from Sex and the City where they have a bucking bronco rodeo bull. I just managed to sign up in time and lasted about 30 seconds! The club at the end was not good but the other travellers were great and it was a fun night.

The next day we did a Hollywood tour of Beverley Hills and Rodeo Drive. They are so much quietier than I expected, with just the odd tour bus driving past every so often. Julia Robert's house was probably the most impressive (only saw the back of the Playboy mansion, but Hef's pad might beat it) as the view was right at the top of the hills looking out to all of LA and the ocean. We saw Michael Jackson's old house and the Fresh Prince of Belair's house! That evening we went to Venice beach and Santa Monica after some advice from Jennifer from Hooters. Venice beach is my future home! They are both completely different from Hollywood and the surrounding areas - much cleaner and feel like beach villages. Craig was still ill so I went out with Dave for his birthday in Hollywood. We found a nice bar with some of his friends from home and it turned out to be a really fun night!

Wednesday was our last day so we just had the morning to kill before getting our separate flights. During lunch at Venice beach Craig gets a text from BA saying his flight has been cancelled due to snow. Gutted. We both went to LAZ airport anyway to see what he could do. I went to my terminal and he went to his. Looking back, it was an amazing couple of weeks in the States - very tiring at times, but also one of the best holidays I've had. I checked in and waiting for my flight to Guadalajara Mexico Via Phoenix. It left very strange to travel alone, even in an American Airport. I realised I had never travelled alone abroad.

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