San Diego

Before I start, we would just like to point out a mistake from the last blog entry...

Laura mentioned that we were given a 1 litre bottle of wine by some kind soul whilst in San Francisco. It was in fact a gallon bottle of wine which is 4 litres and that's why it was such an effort to run half a mile with all our bags and a bloody big vat of wine (which I was carrying).

And the contents disappeared in 3 days = Laura has a serious drink problem (mum, I was drinking lemonade, honest)

Laura Says: Apologies for the error, I can only assume I was drunk at the time of writing!

Anyway, we took the Greyhound down to San Diego and were pleased to find our hostel right in the middle of the Gaslamp Quarter where all the bars and restaurants are situated. We were liking San Diego already!

We dumped our stuff and headed out for a bit to eat, a beer and a margarita.

It was really warm and sunny here and we spent the next few days walking around the town, doing a bit of shopping, eating and drinking and going to the doctors - Laura had an ear infection that had made her deaf in one ear. I told her it was just old age, deafness is quite common in really old people like her.

Laura Says: Going to the doctors was an experience in itself:-
The surgery was located only 10 minutes walk from the hostel & it's vibrant hustle & bustle but within 5 mins you could feel the vibe change... I really was heading DOWNTOWN.
The clean interior of the surgery didn't do the run down broken window exterior any justice - LUCKILY! & the staff were great ...considering the clientele! :-

• There was a couple who clearly thought they were on the Jerry Springer Show, arguing about why they'd actually come to the surgery in the first place?
• Maria, bless her, was most upset they wouldn't sign her relevent form to send off to the social & was demanding to see the nurse she had already insulted once this morning - She soon changed her mind once security were called.
• A lady in the corner, who would've got away with no one noticing how drunk she was had she not been called by the doctor & had to use the heads of the people sat down to get from one side of the room to the other??

All in all, it was a very entertaining 3 hours & something to write about in this blog.
PS: I am not old, at least I don't look it, so I keep being told ;-)

We went to a baseball game, the SD Padres versus the Arizona Diamond Backs. Luckily, after playing a bit of softball back home we managed to follow the game as the rules are pretty similar. We were suprised though how many bad balls the bowler makes. You'd think at this level they would get it right pretty much all of the time but it just doesn't happen, and these were two of the top teams playing. So Ben, you're not the only one who is a crap bowler!!!

It's not the most riveting of games, the only excitement comes when they score a home run and there was only three of them. The game lasted 3 hours and then they have to play again the following two nights - the longest game of sport ever?!

Luckily, like the rest of the crowd, we ate our way through the game. The amount of food that is on offer at these places is amazing and it's all really bad for you!

Laura says: I ordered a 'small' popcorn & thought I'd been misunderstood when they handed my something resembling the size of a 'small' adult?

Also, right at the end, this bloke called Trevor came on and everyone got really excited, shouting Trevor Time. It seems he is a really good bowler as he bowled 3 men out straight away and then the game was over and everyone was happy (apart from the Arizona fans obviously). What we couldn't understand was why they didn't bring him on at the beginning and just win a bit quicker...

Laura Says: I even bought one of those tacky foam fingers that everyone has at the game with 'Go Padres' printed on it. However, I was too shy to wear it & took it back to the hostel before the game.. & a good job too, I would never of been able to hold that, my popcorn, the hot dawg & my cola all at the same time!

J9 says - If she had've brought it, we would have definitely got on the big screen TV when they do the crowd shots, missed opportunity there....

Laura Further Says: It's definately not football!! (Well obviosuly - it's baseball) Everytime the ball is hit out of bounds fireworks go off & if all is too quite in the stadium a message pops up on the screens saying make some noise & everyone does. Each player has a theme tune which is played every time they're up to bat & the really odd bit = there are no offensive songs sung about the referee?

Anyway, after a few days in the city, we headed to the beach for a bit of R&R. We stayed at the Banana Bungalows which is a hostel right on the beach. Not the nicest of places but a great location. We spent 3 days chilling on the beach and then partying on the deck with the other guests. The first night a group had just come back from Tijuana in Mexico (you can just pop over the border for a day of drinking and strip clubs if the mood takes you). A few guys had obviously had a good day on the tequila and insisted on wearing their newly acquired wrestling masks all night and challenging everyone to a wrestle. One of them was pretty big so no one took him up on the offer except me but he chickened out, obviously my muscular right bicep put him off!

It was a good three days but then it was time to leave. We stopped back in the city for a night and met up with the lovely Josh who we had met in Hawaii and then again in San Fran. I will put his pic on for the girls as I think he has to be one of the most attractive men ever! And such a nice bloke too! He was so attractive that I just stared at him the whole time so he obviously thinks I'm some kind of loon. Luckily Laura was there to make the conversation!

Laura says: she's not joking, I've never seen her so quiet!

And that was San Diego - a really nice city and some really nice people, with a few less nutters than San Fran. We liked it!

Laura Says:
Don't forget Sea World! - yes we did the touristy theme park thing too... it's not all about cultural tours this travelling malarkey, you know. I had been to Sea World about 20 years ago & like Wagon Wheels it seemed so much bigger then. It still hasn't lost it's charm though, Schamu the killer whale is still as light on his flippers as he always was - he must be about 50 years old by now?
The only major differnece for me this time was the fact I think I was more petrified going on the rollercoaster than I was before. To help me adjust J9 made me go on it 4 times!!
Rather stupidly we did this at the end of the day & there is an awful lot of water involved & we couldn't dry off as quickly with the sun setting.
We kept being asked by passers by if they should head away from the ride but we said it'd be fine normally it's just that we were at the front & did it 4 times.
After 6 or 7 people asking us this J9 turned & said to me 'Do we really look that wet?" & burst into hysterics as she noticed my white vest top had a rather transparent apperance to it - not one for the children! & would explain why blokes were urging their wives/girlfriends to go on!

Next stop, Los Angeles