Here I go...

---

I touched down in San Francisco on June 20th 2002 after an 11 hour flight from London. Feeling tired and weary I did what any savvy budget traveller would do and hailed down a cab to take me to my Hostel.

It took me a little while to settle into life in the Hostel. What no room service? The Pacific Tradewinds Hostel was a small and welcoming joint and I quickly made friends with some varied and interesting characters. I quickly developed a rapport with Robie from Canada, based mainly on a mutual apprecation of drinking and womanizing.

I spent a few days doing the tourist thing e.g. walking around the city, alcatraz, cable car rides etc. The best thing I did was hiring a mountain bike and cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge, I also watched a Baseball game live for the first time. It was bloody freezing and I had to wear a hat. Perhaps England doesn't have a monopoly on bad weather?

In addition to sightseeing I introduced myself to the USA in true Brit style by intiating as many booze ups as possible. This led to a 70's disco with Swedish girls and on another occasion I had to scale the front of the Hostel to enter through the third floor window after being locked out at 2AM.

San Francisco was cool, but I was ready to leave after a week. After a trip I had booked to Yosemite went pear shaped I met Ali and Steve and from there the road trip began to take shape.....

---