USA - West Coast

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We arrived in LA at 9.30pm on Thursday 11 October and we took a taxi to our hotel in Venice Beach. Steve and I went out to Santa Monica and had dinner and drinks in an Irish bar. We then walked down the street to O'Brian's (another Irish bar) before going to Circle where we stayed until 2am closing. On Friday morning, we all walked along the beach from Venice to Santa Monica Pier and then went shopping on Santa Monica Boulevard where I bought 2 pairs of trainers. Ian went to the airport to pick up his brother Tom who was joining us for 2 weeks. I took a long walk back to our hotel via Main Street and then checked out Muscle Beach at Venice. After an hour on the internet, I had dinner at Subway where Ian and Tom joined me. That evening, we sat in our hotel room drinking and playing cards before getting a $55 taxi to Hollywood. We found a nice restaurant/bar for a couple of beers before finding a cool bar/club where we partied until 2am closing. Then we took a taxi to Avalon and stayed until 4.30am before getting a $65 taxi back to our hotel in Venice. On Saturday morning, we walked into Santa Monica to find a bar showing the rugby but the two bars were both already full. After having lunch on the 3rd street promenade, we went to book a tour of LA for Sunday. We then took a taxi back to our hotel and walked to Venice Beach where, amongst other things, there was a photo shoot taking place for Australia's version of 'Next Top Model'. After some sunbathing, Steve and I went for a 4 mile run down Venice Beach while kicking a mini football most of the way. That evening, Steve and I went out for drinks in Santa Monica where we stayed in O'Brian's for most of the night before going to the club next door until 2am. We woke up at 8am on Sunday and got picked up at 9am for our full day tour of LA. The tour included Santa Monica, a tour of the stars homes, Bel-Air, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Sunset Blvd, Kodak Theatre, Chinese Theatre, lunch at Universal Studios, Hollywood Hills and downtown LA. On Sunday evening, we sat on the internet in a Mexican cafe and booked a car for the next 10 days and also our accommodation for San Francisco and Las Vegas. On Monday, we checked out and picked up our SUV and departed for San Francisco at midday. We eventually reached our hostel in downtown San Francisco at 8pm and we got a Chinese takeaway (disgusting) and then watched a DVD before going to sleep at 11pm. On Thursday morning, we walked around the town, through Chinatown and Little Italy to Fisherman's Wharf and the piers. After having crepes for lunch, we booked our tickets to Alcatraz for the following day and then went for a walk along Market Street. At 4pm, we decided to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge to Muir Woods where we spent an hour admiring the redwoods. We stopped for dinner on the way back to the hostel where we spent the evening on the internet before having an early night. On Wednesday morning, we sat in the laundromat for an hour or so doing our laundry. Then we drove to the pier to catch our midday ferry to Alcatraz. We spent a couple of hours wandering around the old prison grounds and learning about its history and past inmates. On return to the mainland, we got a quick lunch at the pier before driving back to the hostel. In the evening, we went to a Thai restaurant for a nice meal before going to the cinema. We were up at 6.30am on Thursday and set off for Yosemite National Park. The drive into the Park was very scenic and we arrived in the Valley at the centre of the Park for lunchtime. After lunch, we walked around, saw climbers ascending huge vertical cliff faces and then we just sat by one of the Falls admiring the setting. Early evening, we drove out of the Park to our night’s accommodation where I had a very early night. On Friday morning, we drove back through the Park, stopped at a few lookouts and then drove to the East exit and headed for Death Valley. The entire afternoon was spent driving the long desert roads through Death Valley until we crossed into Nevada and reached the Longhouse Inn at 7pm. We had dinner and drinks here, then played in their tiny casino before going to sleep at 11pm. We checked out at 7.30am on Saturday and drove the final 90 miles to Las Vegas where we checked into Excalibur. We then drove to an Irish bar for the midday kick-off for the England Vs South Africa rugby world cup final. After a few beers and a sausage and mash lunch, we went back to Excalibur where we played in the casino for an hour or two. Early evening, we started drinking in the hotel room and eventually went to Coyote Ugly's @ New York New York at about 10pm. The bar was busy and the drinks were flowing so we ended up staying here until 2.30am. After minimal sleep, I got up at around midday and went down to the casino for some brunch. More fun was had on the slot machines in the afternoon before I had a siesta. We had dinner together at the casino before driving down the Strip to the Stratosphere where we took the high speed elevator to the 108th floor for great views of Las Vegas. Ian and I also went on a ride that shoots you out over the edge of the building which was fun but left the palms of our hands sweating. We spent a while in the casino playing Wheel of Fortune before driving back to Excalibur. I stayed here until 3am playing roulette and watching the others playing Blackjack and then I went to the MGM Grand. On Monday morning, we lined up for tickets for that evenings show Fab Four Mania. We walked around for a while before going back to our casino for lunch and a couple more hours on the slot machines. At 5pm, we walked to the V Theatre @ Planet Hollywood for our 6pm show. The Beatles cover band were great and they played a lot of the classics in the 80 minute show. Outside the theatre was an Italian restaurant where we had dinner before walking down Las Vegas Blvd. We watched the water fountain show outside the Bellagio before checking out the inside of the hotel/casino. Then we strolled back to Excalibur where - after losing too much money on roulette - I played Blackjack for the first time in a casino. Ian, Steve and I had great fun sitting at the same Blackjack table and getting our free beers. By 2am, I had broken even at the table and was so exhausted that I had to go to bed. On Tuesday morning, we checked out and departed for our drive to the Grand Canyon. By the time we had lunch, it was 1pm before we were out of Las Vegas and an hour or two later, we realised we were on the wrong road. We continued anyway, passing through Arizona and Utah until we reached the North Rim of the Grand Canyon at 6.30pm. We found accommodation about 45 miles out from the Canyon and after a dinner of toast followed by warm apple pie with ice cream, we had an early night. On Wednesday morning, we drove the 45 miles to the North Rim of the Canyon and went on a few small walks taking in the magnificent views. Later in the afternoon, we departed for the long drive to the South Rim of the Canyon. After stopping for dinner at our previous night’s accommodation, we continued the further 200 miles or so as night fell. We reached the South Rim at 10pm and found accommodation in the Park where we were glad to get to bed. We woke up at 6.30am on Thursday and went for breakfast in the park café. Then we took a 16 mile scenic bus trip along the rim of the Canyon, occasionally walking between some of the stops to appreciate the surroundings. After lunch, we set off for our long drive to LA. Five hours into the drive, our petrol light come on and there was not a service station for about 60 miles. We kept planning what we were going to do when we ran out of petrol in the middle of a desert and so after a while we turned off the air conditioning and put the cruise control down from 85mph to 55mph. Amazingly, to our great relief, we made it to a gas station just in time and rewarded ourselves with a fast food dinner. Back on the road again, we could see the smoke in the air from the wild fires as we approached LA. Ian dropped Steve and me off at the train station in LA at 7.55pm and we ran for the 8pm train to San Diego. We just made it and were exhausted while we sat on the train recovering for the 2 ½ hour journey. Meanwhile, Ian and Tom were staying in LA to see family before Tom flew back home to London. Steve’s friend Lauren picked us up from the train station and took us to a bar for a beer before going to her apartment where she was letting us stay for a couple of nights. On Friday, we walked to the local shops to get food and then returned to the apartment where I spent the day on the internet. In the evening, we went out for dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen before driving downtown to go drinking in a couple of bars. At 2pm closing, we got a $55 taxi back to the apartment. On Saturday, we drove back downtown to pick up the other car and then returned to the apartment for breakfast. The afternoon was spent on the internet and planning our evening trip to Tijuana, Mexico. At 5pm, Lauren drove Steve and me to the bus station where we caught the 6pm bus to Tijuana.

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