Well San Francisco was a cool little city. We were all hit with the whole "budget travelling" thing as we stood outside our hostel (it looked horrific and didnt get much better as we got inside). We roomed together with two other guys - one Japanese who woke up having nightmares each night. The city was nice. We ate out in Chinatown the first night we arrived (Chinese cusine seemed the obvious choice - being in Chinatown). The next day we strolled around Union Square (after our first major debate). Our debate was whether we got the car or not - it took about 2 - 3 hours to make a decision! We ended up deciding to get the car (although Joe and Creaky were less than happy to do it at the time). Anyway we got a cab to the Golden Gate Bridge which was stunning. It was huge - we also got a great view of Alcatraz (which was totally booked out until the day after we left San Fran so didnt get to do the tour) and a view of the city. The cab actually took us via Lombard Street - which was incredible. It is a steep hill with mansions on either side, it bends back on itself about 5/6 times in a small space - no lie it must be the windiest road in the world. We picked up a car on our last morning - a Chevrolet Equinox. It is almost brand new (less than 8000 miles). It has all the mods cons including heated seats, electrics and air con. Its absolutley magic. Im actually writing this from Las Vegas. We left San Francisco a few days ago and headed down Highway 1 or the Pacific Highway. We drove for about 250 miles untill we found a cheap enough motel to stay at. The drive was awesome, beautiful mountains and hills on one side with the Pacific ocean and beaches on the other. We passed through Santa Cruz, Monterey and the Big Sur! The Big Sur was like "Sally in the Woods" with all the bends and twists in the roads and shear drops off the cliff in places - only longer, 63 miles of it! It made for uncomfortable driving after dark. The place we ended up that night was called the San Simeon lodge - it was like a Butlins resort. We had two double beds a tv and our own shower/bathroom. We liked it alot so stayed another night. Well i ll write again when i have left Vegas to give you all the info on how it was. We got here last night and the weather today is beautiful by the way. Speak soon, hope you are all well