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Hi Guys, we are back in civilisation!We arrived in LA after a rubbish sleep on the Amtrak due tot to more brats and were glad to get off our last train woohoo!! We got to our hotel $65 lighter and were told we couldn't check in or leave our bags anywhere so we cancelled our room and went somewhere else and spent the day doing laundry except when we went to subway for breakfast and witnessed a drug deal in the street at like 9am lol, only in Los Angeles!Next day we got up and went to the hotel our trek was starting from. We met all or group who are all great, The New Yorkers - Jen and Steph, The Danish - Sorren and Carsden, The Aussies - Amy and Jane, The English - Dan and Ian, The Italians - Sarah and Matteau, One Swede - Joel and us and our tour leader Mike! We started off with driving to Beverley Hills where we saw Beverley Hills hotel where Pretty Woman then we walked up Rodeo Drive which was gorgeous but I reckon I am too poor for there! We stopped off in Hollywood and it was cool we walked along outside the Kodak theatre where the Oscars are held and looked at all the stars on the ground, couldn't find Bob though so Im glad we are going back, also glad we didn't do too much as it will be nice to see it with our friends together. We took a drive up to a view point where we could see the Hollywood sign and it was some view, the freeway snaking through the city was huge! From here we drove the whole afternoon down to Arizona and got to or campsite on the banks of Colorado river which was an amazing site, it was really scenic and pretty the river in the middle of the hilly desert. We all set up camp and had a Barbie which was cool! After dinner we all went for a swim in the river in the dark which was cool but quite scary as Craig kept throwing seaweed at us! Then we checked our tents for scorpians etc and went to sleep!The next day we got up at 5am as it turns out tents are not the most comfy nights sleep nor are another tour group playing loud music all night! We drove to The Grand Canyon National Park and Mike made us all design our own trek America brown paper bag and then he asked us to put them on our heads and get out of the van and form a human trail. So we walked for like 5 minutes and couldn't see a thing but could hear lots of people laughing at us, we must have looked some sight. After a bit he said to take them off so we all took them off and we were standing at the edge of The Grand Canyon, it was the most amazing sight we had ever seen! Pictures and films etc do it no justice, it really is something everyone should see! We set up camp which was in the middle of the woods and then we went for a trek down the canyon which was cool, we didn't walk very far as we had been warned that it takes double the time to get back up than it does to get down so we just walked a little bit as it was really hot. We took a bus round some of the lookout points and had a look in the visitors centre which was really interesting especially if you have studied the Colorado River Basin in Higher Geography lol! We had some spaghetti back at camp and made s'mores over the open fire which were gorgeous, its like sweet crackers with chocolate and a melted marshmallow on it, soooo good!!Next day we packed up and set off on our way to Las Vegas baby!! It was a long day in the van but it was worth it cos we stayed in a hotel yeha! We had a swim in the pool and a shower, you wouldn't believe how much you miss the simple things in life! We all got dressed up and headed to Mike's room for pizzas n drinks, I drank a bottle of wine and I think mixed with no food and having not really drank in like 6 weeks I ended up a bit drunk which was the object of the evening! We got party limo/bus thing which was cool with lots of drinks and music and all had a shot of dancing on the pole, it was hilarious, everyone had a great time! We got off to have our photos taken at the Las Vegas sign, to see the light show in Fremont street, downtown, to go to the toilet in various casinos and to see the fountains outside the Bellagio which was cool. We had our photos taken with Elvis and walked about the strip and then Craig and I had to run off to the loo lol in Maccy D's but we luckily caught up with everyone and headed to a club in New York New York Casino and Hotel, the complex was huge but the club was quite small and the music wasn't the best but it was a great night with our group so that didn't really matter. At about 12 everyone sang Happy Birthday to me and told everyone we met the whole night it was my birthday lol, it was fun! Craig and I are going to go for a nice meal at some point to celebrate it and I am going to find something nice that I can actually carry as well lol! Outside the Bellagio we also had to do the Conga for a Mexican TV channel with Craig leading the way in his kilt which was hilarious! When we got home I called my sister and Kirsty after about 20 tries of trying to use a phone card!The next day I was a bit worse for wear as usual so we kind of stayed in most of the day as we knew we didn't have to see everything as we are coming back with Emma and Nat and we wanted to see it with them too. The rest of our group were going to the Stratosphere but we thought we would save it for when we came back and there was no way I could go on rides. So we had a swim in the pool and then went out for a nice Indian, it was so good to get some good food mmmm! Then it was back to the hotel to sort out my nemesis - the rucksack lol! The next morning some of the girls came to wake us on their way home lol, it had turned into another night out but there was no way I could have drank lol not when we had 10 hours in the van to Yosemite National Park! We got there quite late and made up our camp in the woods and then we made fajitas for dinner and had to be really careful when tidying up in case the bears or mountain lions get a whiff of any food, bears can smell things 3 miles away and they like toothpaste and deodorant etc as well so all of that went in the van too, needless to say I didn't sleep too well that night. The next day we got up and went into the park which is so pretty, it has some of the best scenery I have ever seen. Most people were going on a big hike but we wanted to get bikes so we went and picked them up and they were like old fifties bikes with no gears and you had to pedal backwards to brake, it was hilarious!! We cycled around a it and took lots of photos as you will soon see if I ever get the up loader to work and then we took a little trek to Mirror Lake I was scared in case we saw a bear haha!! We cycled up to Happy Isles and had a swim in the river which was absolutely freezing but quite nice then we chilled out by the side of the river, it was nice to have a wee rest. At night we had pizza with our group and went back to camp and had a swim and s'mores round the campfire. Next day we got up and drove back to the park to go and have a wee trek to see the Sequoia trees which are the biggest trees in the world, their diameters can reach 25ft. It was a bit uphill but it was worth it. We made the drive to San Francisco in a few hours and had a little tour in the van then we all walked across the Golden Gate Bridge which was a really cool sight but a bit windy. We stopped off at the gateway hotel to the tour and emptied the van and made a hobo's day by giving him all the flat beers from the cooler and got a taxi to our hostel which is really nice. At night we met our group for our farewell dinner at a Thai restaurant which was really nice and then we had a couple of drinks in an Irish Pub which had Magners yeah! Then we said goodbye to our tour group which was really sad as we have all become quite good friends and got on really well during our tour and had a good laugh so thanks guys! Today we are just in the hostel loving that we had an actual bed last night and getting our clothes cleaned and catching up on the log etc today. Tonight we are going to meet Emma n Natalie at the airport, yeah!! They have had a bit of a mess up with their flights and are in Chicago just now but I'm sure they will get here in the end!Thanks to everyone that sent me a text on my birthday I cant text everyone back as its quite expensive. Also Happy Birthday to Aunty Betty, Pop, Lana and of course Emma my birthday sharing buddy lol and Congrats to my sis on her exam results!Hope everyone is good!Lots of Love Eva and Craig xxx
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