Day 6 of our trip and on our way to the bright lights of Vegas we took a quick detour to the Hoover dam. Rob was in his element here bombarding me with engineering facts and figures, while I'm just impressed with the beauty of something so practical!And then we arrive. Crossing the sanity threshold, we entrust ourselves to Las Vegas for two nights.A last minute booking into Planet Hollywood hotel, not the plushest hotel on the strip but with it's location opposite the Bellagio, it put us right in the heart of of this crazy city. Definitely really good value for money, big rooms with a double shower and bath and a huge comfy bed.So, Who do we know that lives in Vegas and the perfect person to show us a good time...only John of the Johnson, womanising legend and all round good guy! And I'm pleased to report that nothing's changed- the stories are still as hilarious as ever, only now enhanced with a tad more silicone! Also in town another vet friend on a lads holiday- the charming Scott 'aka Blossom' Crosby with his group of cheeky friends Matt, Jez and Dave.And so my role as wing woman defined, it begins... Casino, bar, girls, ceasars palace club, table, vodka, dance, girls, podium, really fit girl, bed. Pool, Paris, fountains, shops, Absinthe, Venice, Wynn club, poolside table, fake boobs, crazy girls, vodka, pool, shots, pole dancing, cigars, glow sticks, beer, bed. Broken. Vegas-done.Our Vegas experience could not have been better. The place is a 365 day a year party hotspot, it never ends or fades and there's always someone in Vegas having the time of their life.The following day after two paracetamol, a ranitidine and about a gallon of water each, we hit the road again. Six hours in the car tanked up with fuel, we made the daring journey through the notorious death valley headed for our stop over destination in Mammoth Lakes. The radio stations were almost non-existent and had us choosing between country music and preaching sermons! Soon we could take no more and instead started singing cheesy pop songs at the top of our voices! Passing calves suckling their mums in the middle of the road, massive hares crossing and rainbows, speeds our journey along.We booked into a travelodge late in the evening on Thursday to be met by John the friendly, informative, funny hotel owner and his chihuahua named Chi Chi Rodriguez! Our intention was to stay one night and power on to Yosemite the next day but within about half an hour of arriving we had such a good feel for the place that we thought about staying longer. We popped across the road to the local pub and were greeted by the busty barwoman hollerin' to her customers at the bar... ' can you smell s**t? Did you s**t your pants? And then turning to us says- 'welcome to the s**t bar!'So, maybe it was the dog on the front desk that did it, or the bar across the road packed with locals on a stormy night welcoming us and plying us with beer... But there was just something about Mammoth.The next morning we woke and the decision was made with a mere look out of the window. What we couldn't see the previous night was the spectacular snow-capped mountainous backdrop to this homely town. We booked to stay another two nights.Mammoth Lakes is in essence a ski resort but in the summer months turns into an outdoor playground for fishing, mountain biking, kayaking and hiking.Our first morning we decided to quench Rob's desire for some rod based activities, and took to the river- Fly fishing the agenda for the day and trout on the menu for dinner! Mainly successful we strolled along the marshy bank side of the pretty river stalking the brown and rainbow trout and caught a couple.Returning to the hotel we met 'the bear man'! Out on a expedition to see bears in their natural habitat, within a hour of arriving in Mammoth Lakes the night before, he had checked into the hotel and was on his way to his car to make himself a cocktail (?) when he stumbled across three black bears raiding the dumpsters right outside! This, it turns out is a regular occurrence, and cubs have even been known to come in through the front doors of the lodge inquisitively searching for food! We decided to stay up and try and see some for ourselves. Not our night, no bears, but we did see a giant racoon!Saturday and time for an adrenaline rush... The ski gondola at mammoth mountain took us to the 11000ft summit with our means of transportation back down to the valley- a couple of bouncy rental mountain bikes! Insane. We rode the 'off the top' trail but finished on the 'kamikaze' route and both lived up to their names! The sandy tracks were narrow, steep, extremely rocky and the hairpin bends timed wrongly could see you flying off the side of the mountain. The speeds in some sections were uncontrollable and our hands ached as we gripped onto the handlebars for dear life! I fell off three times, nothing serious but I have the bruises as souvenirs, Rob rode it like a pro...again annoying! Considering we have never done any downhill mountain biking to this extent before I think we were pretty lucky, but then that's what adrenaline sports are all about, aren't they?A chilled out evening back at 'the s**t bar' and back to back American football.Sunday morning and we wave goodbye to Mammoth and plunge into the Yosemite valley. Staying in a tent cabin in the middle of the valley we were under strict instructions to leave no food, drink or other scented items anywhere but the storage lockers, for fear of wondering bears. We check in and quickly decide to hike to the top of Glacier Point, a 4.8 mile uphill all the way (can you sense a theme here- if I don't have buns of steal by the end of this trip I never will!)A mile from the top we had walked into the lowering cloud. Not a good sign. The storms here are pretty bad and the trails are closed if there's any chance of lightning. We were already on the trail so there was no one stopping us from setting off...out on a ledge of the mountain we felt very exposed. With the first clap of thunder we were stubbornly blasé determined to make it to the top. But then came the lightning, along side the torrential rain and, given that we were actually in the cloud, our heads ruled our hearts and we turned around. Defeated. It wasn't all bad though, on the way down we met a nice English guy on a trip around the USA as part of his geology degree, hoping to get into storm chasing. He curtailed us with some of his travelling stories and told us that he was gay just minutes after rob had taken his top off in front of him (changing into his wet weather gear). Rob's now convinced that one's in the bank! Ha!We made it down in one piece and headed for the showers. An early night in our bear (free) tent. That was also the night the shepee had it's first outing!Day 12 and our last day in the USA (sad face). A hike to upper Yosemite falls with panoramic views of the largest waterfall in North America, Yosemite valley as well as the half dome and glacier point. We sat overlooking the waterfall and Rob broke the only real rule and befriended a cheeky Jay, bribing him with peanuts and m&ms!Another long car journey back to LA. Our last evening spent meandering around Santa Monica, watching the sunset and the homeless fishermen on the pier.We've driven almost 2500miles across California, Arizona and Nevada in 12 days and squeezed every little bit of daylight and adventure out of our trip. We've adored every minute, fallen in love with the landscape, the people and the massive portion sizes! We can kind of understand why some people never leave America, they've got it all, and we've only explored a tiny corner. We'll be back.Next stop Costa Rica, Hasta Leugo!