Ooh LA, she was such a good girl to me

Fall out from the previous night was in full swing literally. Savage wouldn't get up and I was prepared to leave him until I dragged him almost out of bed and he took a swing for me. Pen was in a drunk walking sleep and Savage half dead but somehow we all made our flights. All except Sandra, who text me just before take off (when she should have already been in Seattle) to say that she had only just woken up. I had text her earlier but as there was no response I assumed she was flying. We arrived in LAX and as Savage got a different flight lugged our baggage through all but one terminal to find and failing that gave up and ordered a shuttle, only by chance for Penny to see him in a small cranny in a tiny part of a terminal while getting water. How he thought we would find him is beyond me. So we shuttled to Santa Monica and checked in, did a tour of the pier and tasted the local food, shrimp tacos (and also a beef tongue one). I slept for four hours and then tried and failed to use the internet while we watched Megashark versus crockosauras. We then took on the 50 McNugget challenge at Mcdonalds and failed epically. In our fragile state I managed 26, Savage 25 and Penny a poor 10, but at the end I felt about as sick as Stoney does when a girl says Yes. We caught a Kevin Costner film where he is an escaped criminal and perv and hit bed and slept a good long sleep.

 I slept late and thenn went shopping with Penny for flipflops before grabbing a Seafood burrito, and meeting Savage (who had to move hostels as he booked too late). I gave my left over McNuggets to a homeless guy and we set off for a long walk on the beach. We walked from Santa Monica Pier, through Venice to the Canals, and boy did the talent change, Santa Monica, filled with locals, was like getting a ferrero rocher three pack for christmas, not alot but all quality, Venice, filled with families, was like getting a Tesco selection box for christmas, there may be one good one but by the time you find it you're sick of looking.

On the way back we checked out the Venice boardwalk, which was alot like Camden, if Camden was hot, on the beach and filled with loads of attractive women....I think there was a point along the sort of hippy and stalls side but I got lost in the beautiful bustle, muscle beach, skate parks and more and more beautiful women on roller skates.

We went back to our hostel for $5 all you can eat BBQ and witnessed some awful guardianship of the outrageous amount of kids in our hostel.
'Haven't you ever thought about turning off the Tv, sitting down with your children....and hitting them'
Bender, Futurama.
We finished the night off with a beer at the English pub round the corner with Joel an Aussie and Carol a girl from Seattle. When I got back to my room I found the pillow I had carried all around San Fran was missing and on telling reception it was made clear housekeeping took it. I raised hell but nowt, this hostel really is shite.

I woke up late and started the day by running from Santa Monica Pier to Venice Pier which is a little over 3 miles, we then took a dip to cool off and tried and failed to find Savage in Venice. In Venice a street musician trying to sell his music to Penny said where from Brazil, Italia, and when I said no thanks he said oh I see, Zimbabwe. I thought that was hilarious. We went back to the hostel for a shower and headed back down Venice to finally meet Savage, and on the way I saw a guy in an England rugby jersey, I leant over as he passed and simply said 'not this year'. We met Savage and as the 'I love you man' fish tacos were overpriced we hit a happy hour for a few beers, savage disappeared to see a friend, or hit a brothel and Penny and I people watched at the skatepark and beach. I finally got my fish tacos from a street deli and they were good and on the walk back I did the rope climb at the fitness section of the beach.

We bought mixer for Penny Bacardi Camel Pack and I tried to complain about my pillow again, only to be told there is nothing they can do. Given this is a $5 pillow wasn't the point, I told them it was a £140 medical pillow for my neck injury and I will speak to a manager to resolve it in the morning, I then received a load more pillows....most of which I will only use to build a fort. After posting my blog I met Penny down the beach for some bacardi in his camel pack, the sun had set and the tide had come all the way in (and soaked him).

We toured the pier, which was a different experience at night, busier and with a higher energy. We got more tacos, a personal favourite now if you hadn't guessed and then settled in to watch Doctor Who; Lets Kill Hitler, the episode that I very proudly worked on.

This hostel is a joke, it has kids or creepy old people, I awoke to the latter in my bunk, Billy Bullshit, who was trying to tell some South American kid he had come here from St Louis to buy property and move here. What he had actually done is slept non-stop (in his clothes) for three days only once disappearing from the room to get completely hammered and return. Penny and I picked up BBQ for dinner at Arianas later and we had lunch in the courtyard at our shite hostel, where for the tenth time in three days my keycard stopped working. In our down time I managed to wangle two more Wales World Cup tickets (I now have South Africa, Fiji and Samoa covered) and a ticket to see the All Blacks thanks to dads old friend Neil Brown. We renamed Penny El Cinqo Burro Loco (The fifth crazy donky), for no great reason at all and spent the afternoon on the beach next to the Santa Monica Pier.

We refilled the camel pack and drank it on the hour bus to Arianas for BBQ, where our steaks were dripping blood so badly a girl down Santa Monica gave us an Armani bag to put them in. When we arrived she wasn't about we received some gentle LA humour that she didn't live there.

We had our hot dogs, steaks and veg and proceeded to polish off plenty of wine and beer and talk of the old times in DC and also writing ideas we had before retiring to the silo in Arianas back garden. When we caught the bus at 3.30am there were chickens and a rabbit just bouncing around the street, not exactly the LA we all know about but when we got on the bus the LA we know and 'ahem' love rejoined us in the travelling apartment we had just boarded. I hit bed hard and crashed.

I got up hung over to buggery, hot and sweaty. I secured my Fiji dollars and walked to Venice with Penny under terrific sea fog. We got more fish tacos at daddys and watched the skateboarding.....again. Savage and then eventually Ariana joined us and by then the sea fog had burned off, bad news for me being left with a badly sunburnt farmers tan (t-shirt tan lines). When we walked back into Venice they were filming something and I recognised the afro guy from LMFAO (later confirmed by a sign), and realised they were filming their new music video featuring a cardboard robot, cowgirls in bikinis and a very tall Jesus. We sort of meandered in the background, so you never know we may make the final cut. Check it out for yourself, my only regret is not meeting Ron Jeremy!

LMFAO - Sexy and I know it!

We went for a long walk down main, dipped our toes in the ocean and had drinks while discussing sustainability, primarily in fishing. Miss Hodes then used a phrase after I had suggested a made up sustainable fish that 'I would f#"$ing eat scrotum fish'. We then got a ride back, got tacos and hit the pier at night. We said our farewells to Ariana and I said bye to Savage as he was to leave in a few hours and returned to the hostel with Pen to chill until he departed also.

The USA has been a whirlwind adventure of meeting old friends, making new friends and enjoying the tastes and sub cultures of a range of settlements across the pond. I have thoroughly enjoyed every stop for one reason or another and feel that now I have extensively covered the USA (although still one or two sites I would like to see) and would like to continue with the rest of the globe before I return again. To my friends in the US, old or new, I urge you to come and visit me and let me repay your kind hospitality and companionship.