After a frantic dash out of bed, Ma and Pa dropped me at Bham airport for the flight. Had the usual heebie jeebies about whether my suitcase would be too heavy (it wasn't), whether they'd let me through with all my batteries (they did), and a mishap when I thought I'd left my driving licence at home (I hadn't... I'd in typical Louise manner - just popped in a safe place! After getting Kerry a memory card, me some water and food, we boarded. I had a lovely couple...

This is the last instalment. My time in the US has come to an end. I'm currently sat in the lobby of the Miyako Hotel in Downtown LA, waiting for my shuttle to LAX, which should be arriving in little under two hours time. It doesn't seem five minutes since I was sat in the same seat 15 days ago as nervous as hell waiting for the tour to start. A lot has happened in the past two weeks. I've met some lovely people, seen some beautiful places and learnt a lot about...

We left lovely San Francisco on Monday. Albeit will a lot more luggage than I arrived with - darn shops! We had a bit of a drive, but stopped off at Walmart - it gave me the last opportunity to get their deli chicken bites. So so delish!! If only Asda made them! I also managed to get a little something for Simon, Emily a little something and some M&Ms for number two. We stopped off early evening in Santa Barbara. I had high expectations of this place but wa...

I had a totally selfish me day today. The clocks went back an hour so I ended up being up even earlier (?!?). What's the betting when I'm back at work next week I won't want to be getting up so early? I just figure it's such a waste to be somewhere new and sleep through it. Anyway I'm rambling. I wanted to do my own thing today and have a bit of me time. After breakfast I thought I'd get the use out of my Metro pass (and be lazy), and bus it down to near Union S...

Was up bright and breezy again. My body clock is so screwed up. This morning we jumped in a cab down to Pier 33, for our trip to Alcatraz - the home of some of America's most notorious criminals. Our cab driver was awesome and had a real passion for her city. Alcatraz was great, seeing the conditions they lived in and the extremes they went to, to escape, were really interesting. After that, we got the boat back to the city and went to Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. ...