Hollywood

We spent most of the day following Vegas travelling back to LA. This was fortunate given how tired we all were not to mention any mild hangovers. This was made better by my first visit to an ihop diner for a 'Split Decision Breakfast'.

For Kate and I, tonight would be our last night together before our first big separation on the trip so far. Needless to say we were both a little anxious about flying solo the following day.

Kate and I have been the perfect travel companions. We're both pretty laid back and accommodating. Kate has been massively supportive and appreciative of my driving efforts and her and Susan (our Google Maps woman) have been the dream navigating team. Kate pre-empting Susan's directions as she habitually tells me to exit an interstate when I'm in the left hand lane of a 6 lane carriageway. To demonstrate how lost I became without her the following morning I got into the passenger side of the car twice and Susan and I fell out completely after I took double the time I should to find a Target store! It's OK though, Kate spoke to Susan and smoothed things over and told her I hadn't really meant the things I'd said about her (I had).

One thing we have learnt though is that the organised treks (like the one we're just finishing with Trek America) are far more stress free than the DIY travelling we've mostly been doing. It does come with a big catch for me though which is if you choose one of the longer duration treks (2-3 weeks) you are taking pot luck with the group you end up with. You will be spending the entire trip with them and I think this factor would put me off a longer tour. I think I must becoming less tolerant of people in my old age! It's also worth remembering that the demographic these tours are aimed at are generally early 20s so there were numerous times I felt my age! That being said, the 4 day trip which included the sights, accommodation, travel and many of our meals was easily the best £450 I've spent so far. Admittedly that didnt include the helicopter ride. There's no way we could have so comfortably covered the same sights solo though.

Once back in LA, Kate and I reunited with Flora the Focus and headed to our new Air BnB. We had quite the surprise in store but I will save that for a later post.

Meanwhile, let me introduce you to Jens. I feel remiss that I haven't introduced you sooner. Jens is our tour guide's lucky Kiwi who lives on the dashboard of the van. Jens is so called after the poor Danish man who was unable to join our group for unforeseen reasons and shall remain forever in our hearts. You may have noticed facebook or instagram posts with the hashtag #thisonesforjens. Well Jens (the Kiwi) lost his beak so as a thank you to our tour guide I took it upon myself to procure some special beak fixing glue and restored him to his former glory. Before and after shots below.

I promise the upcoming posts will be more eventful!

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