Falling asleep at the wheel!

So our American road trip began properly with our drive from LA to San Fransisco. Our guide book said that it would take us about 6 hours but it failed to mention that in order to complete the journey this quickly the interstate road needed to be taken and not the road they recommended. Unfortunately we learnt this piece of information the hard way by driving along the recommended and supposedly scenic road. Hours and hours and hours later we eventually arrived in San Fransisco. As you can imagine by this time it was dark, really, really dark and as usual we hadn´t booked ahead and so had nowhere to stay. After driving for what seemed like an eternity along a windy, climbing country road we eventually came to the campsite we were looking for, however, the gates were well and truly locked. We had just pulled into the lay in oposite when a police car pulled up. Slightly anxious (as it was very dark and we were in the middle of nowhere and this guy had an enormous gun) we got out of the car and politely asked in our best English accents if it was OK to park there over night. The policeman seemed surprised at our request but said it was fine and disappeared and we settled down for our first (and fortunately only) night of sleeping in the car!

We slept incredibly well and woke up to find the sun pouring in through our windows. After checking into our incredibly remote campsite we set off into the city to visit the infamous prison.

Alcatraz was awesome. Such a remote and desolate rock stuck out in the middle of the bay, it really was the perfect place to house the USA´s most notorious criminals. Although it had been roasting when we left the mainland the weather on the rock was completely different, really cool and windy, making the experience even more chilling. We knew that we had a ticket off the island that same day and it was still a harrowing place to be, you can only imagine what it would have been like to have been there on a life sentence.

That evening Ad indulged his pyramaniac tendancies by not only lighting his own coal bbq but by also making use of the fire pit next to our tent. Roasting marshmallows and drinking beer - what a perfect way to spend an evening.

The next day was 4th July, American Independance Day. We headed off into the city to join the thousands of Americans who were celebrating by eating at least 10 hot dogs each and swilling it down with extra, extra large full fat cokes. While driving over the famous Golden Gate Bridge we recieved a text message we had been waiting for, our friends Kate and Marcus had had a beautiful baby girl, congratulations guys! Had a great day just chilling out listening to absolutely terrible bands while enjoying a pic-nic overlooking the bay and famous bridge. The celebrations ended with an absoluetly fantastic firework display - the Americans definately know how to celebrate in style.