Blogs from California, United States, North America - page 1002

Woddup folks? Woke up with a stinkin hangover the morning i had to take an 8 hour van mission down the coast from San Francisco to LA and i only got to the semi-final in the drinking game! Didn't get too drunk during the match but ended up drinkin loads of Tequila with some peeps and going to a karaoke bar with some crazy Ozzies, they are all completely off their heads, i've got some serious training to do before i get to Oz for sure. We have been staying in a converted home at the foot of the Hollywood Hills on Orange Drive which is literally 2 doors down behind the Kodak Theatre where the Oscars will be in two weeks. Our street is dark and quiet but take about fifty paces left from our ... read more

36 hours to lift-off! We're so excited and exhausted from the packing and preparation. For a while there, we thought Peter wouldn't even be able to get out of the country. He submitted a renewal application for his passport in November. 3 months later, still no passport. The Irish government is switching to biometric passports and the passport photo requirements have become impossible. Peter has taken about 7 different passport photos and they have all been rejected. The infuriating thing is they won't/can't tell us what is wrong with the pictures. It's just rejected without notice. The lady at the Irish consulate couldn't have cared less if Peter got his passport. She kept telling him to call back, probably hoping that someone else would pick up the phone. I guess Peter's cute Irish accent doesn't work ... read more

The transfer turned out to be an eight hour drive in all, and we both had hangovers, after the previous nights drinking games, Beer Pong, and tequilla drinking. An english guy in the hostel, Adrian, had just got to S.F from Mexico, so had a big bottle of tequilla!! Mmmm. Hangover was quite bad, and luckily it didn't feel like we had missed a day, as would have probably spent it all in bed. The crazy Aussies that we were also drinking with were mental, can't wait to get to Oz!! I really do not know where to start with L.A! Our hostel is in Hollywood, a few minutes walk from Hoolywood Blvd., where all the action is. It's a quaint 1920's abode, and we're staying in the basement, right near the kitchen, which is ... read more

San Francisco Monday Hi All, well as you saw last night we arrived in San Francisco, so today we went looking around the city. It is quite interesting, not at all like Brisbane or Sydney. Many old buildings with a truly old feel (given that much of the city was rebuilt after the 1906 Earthquake). We visited Macy’s (Claire I lost your cousins details somewhere and although I did go to the Lingerie Dept I couldn’t find her) and yes did buy some goodies (you should see my jeans!!) We saw lots of fire engines rushing around the city…..and the grates in the middle of the road seemed to smoke although we have not yet come up with an accurate reason but we seem to guess it might be something to do with the fault lines ... read more

Hello Fellow Travelmates!! Sorry about the long delay but we have been experiencing some technological issues here in the USA. Briefly the converter which we had bought was not compatible to the computer power cord…..and the phone could not be forced onto the US mobile phone system. Well as they say you have to experience it to learn about it. So here we are after about a week uploading the information about our week (so far) in the US. Well, it is hard to know where to start…..briefly though here is the rundown:- The first full 3 days we stayed in Santa Paula. This was amazing. Wally was our host and so very nice. He arranged for us to see all sorts of marvelous things including schools, land fills (dumps) and the site of major housing ... read more