Well we've had a busy old time over the past few weeks, but we've definitely had time to relax a lot and enjoy being near the coast.

The flight from Buffalo was a long one, especially as we had had a big night out in Niagara, but we slept a lot of the way and landed in San Francisco late - straight to bed!

The hostel in San Francisco was huge and loads of fun, so we did quite a bit of sightseeing, hired bikes and rode across the Golden Gate bridge, ate a lot, met up with a friend of Erin's and had a big night out with her and generally had a brilliant time!

Sad to leave, but what was to come was definitely going to be a real USA experience - we hired a car and drive down the coast, ending up in LA. Along the way we saw some incredible sunsets and beaches, found radio 1 and the disney radio station on our car stereo so sang along to the whole of HSM3 practically, it was an incredible experience.

After getting to LA, we decided on a recommendation of a friend to stay in Santa Monica. Here, we were a block away from the beach so hired rollerskates one afternoon, met some lovely LA girls and had dinner at their house, did the touristy thing one day and went to Hollywood Blvd and saw some star's homes (or rather, fences and gates!) and unfortunately didn't see any celebs.

But on to Las Vegas, which was unbelievable. We stayed at the MGM Grand, gambled a bit (with my first dollar I won ten... should've quit while I was ahead!), got all dressed up and went to the hotel bar, met some guys from Kentucky and chatted to them until late, and went on a flight over the Grand Canyon.

Phew exhausting!!

Now we're in San Diego, going to stay with my auntie and have a few days with the family, going to see my little cousin in a ballet and things like that. Unfortunately we move on before Thanksgiving but we can see the buildup, before moving on to Fiji, then NZ on 1 Dec.

Ah it's a tough life!