PASADENA & ANAHEIM CALIFORNIA

Not an awful lot to talk about today, we slept in which was nice then we went to Denny's for breakfast. It was real good, they should have one of these at home. Its a 24 hour diner that has just about everything. Wonderful.
So we started repacking then headed off to Pasadena to check out a college football game - UCLA Bruins vs Arizona Wildcats.
Now all you American Football fans stop reading from here or otherwise its my opinion and its my blog so if you don't like what I think feel free to comment - I have the power to delete MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I may insult you so don't say you weren't warned!
Ok so we get there and theres people everywhere outside the gates drinking. Cause you can't buy alcohol inside. Fair enough I guess it is a college game.
So we find something to eat and drink (you can't take in opened bottles so we had to get new waters for $5!!! thats heaps here) and then went to our seats. We had pretty good seats I think sorta to the right of the end of the field.
We didn't realise but we  arrived about 10 minutes left of 2nd quarter. Now my Ohio mate Grant had emailed us details on how the game works and its pretty much like NRL - except the players have more padding than a transexual and theres about 166 players a side.
So they do the tackle and stop. Then do another tackle and stop. Then one more and decide to swap ALL players. I mean WTF is up with that!!!!!!! So its like they play for like 5 seconds then stop and rest then swap players. Its madness!
I think that 10 minutes left took about 15 or so minutes for it to finish. By then we were all looking at each other going WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON because theres just so much bloody confusion and un movement....
Anyhoo, FINALLY halftime and the college band and alumni band come out. Being Halloween tomorrow they were all in costumes. It was ok  and I guess the part where they did some halloween songs (ghostbusters then thriller) was cool cause they had ghostbusters chasing a ghost with fire extinguishers then they all stopped during thriller and put down their instruments and danced in unison.
So then the 3rd Quarter started. We were at the home ground (UCLA) and Arizona were beating them. Then Arizona got a touchdown and we were like wow something happened what a thrill - but not as much of a  thrill as leaving!!! We were so over it (LIKE ABSOLUTE YAWN MATERIAL) that we left!
So we travelled back to Anaheim (which is the suburb we are staying) and we thought screw it lets go watch Saw 3D (is that out at home?) and well BLOODY MEN we couldn't find the cinema cause they didn't get the address so they got the address and STILL COULDN'T FIND IT but it was too late by then. We have a very early morning and a long long long drive so tootalo!

HOLLYWOOD CALIFORNIA

Today we took a drive to Venice Beach, check out what we saw on the way!

Weird huh.

Anyhoo, we got to Venice Beach and it was real quiet, we were like ummm where is everyone but I guess it was a weekday and not summer. We walked along the pier

Then we walked along the boardwalk. There were some real nice places along there but small! Then we found Adam's heaven - muscle beach!!

As you can imagine he had a ball. There weren't that many people there. He could of got a day pass for $10 but didn't. We looked around there for a while then went and ate and headed into Hollywood.
Hollywood was real busy, we hung out on the Hollywood Blvd. There were a ton of people waiting to see Taylor Swift (we didn't!) and we got to see her woofuckinghoo.
We walked along the stars and stuff, saw some cool ones. Then this madness

We had some time to kill so we went and did the Ripley's thingo but that was shit, Gold Coast is better. Then we went on a tour of homes and stuff, was cool but camera died!!! Heres a good one for ya'll

Sorry but all the rest didn't really turn out well since we were driving along and there were bloody trees everywhere, how rude!
Then we ate at Hard Rock and went home.



UNIVERSAL STUDIOS HOLLYWOOD CALIFORNIA

Today we were very naughty and got up kinda late. Probably cause we are sleeping on a fold out bed and the freezer makes this weird sound (really it does). You can't win em all, the curtains were great otherwise we would of known it was later!
We rushed around like toolbags and headed out to Universal Studios.
Look what we saw on the way

So we got to Universal and had to wait in line for what seemed like forever but once we got inside it was surprisingly quiet.
We went into the house of horrors (well most of us) and it wasn't anywhere near as good as Blood Manor but was still really cool.

Then we did the Special Effects show where they used audience members to help out and they had this couple who were Aussies and they came out and he had to pretend he was a astronaut in outa space and she was moving him around well he was hooked up by some pully things and everytime his body tipped flat he would freak out jolt and stuff it was fucking hilarious!!! It was a good show all in all.

After that we walked around and saw a heap of other areas and characters like Shrek and Donkey and Spongebob and such then we went on the tram thingo that takes you past some studios and through some bits of movies. We went through one bit that was from King Kong, we had to put on 3D glasses and it appeared that king king was fighting with a dinosaur on either sides of the tram, it would rock and stuff. It was brilliant. We saw Wysteria Lane (but on the outside, they were filming) Bates Hotel, Jurassic Park stuff, and other things I forgot but least and most important to Christ JAWS and they did a little show for us which we recorded for you. Maybe we even found something at the gift shop :)

Then we thought meh and were gonna go but decided to check out the T2 3D.  We couldn't take cameras in there but check this out the guide womans name was kimberley duncan, trippy huh!!
So they had people and 3D stuff it was really cool, it appeared to have all the fav actors from T2 and being 3D was way more fun. Loved it. Then we did this

A 39 mile trip back to our room took 2 1/2 hours in horrible LA peak hour. Seriously I've never  seen anything like it.
We got back and tried Dennys for dinner, we all give it a LIKE

SEE YA NEVADA - HELLO CALIFORNIA!

Today we picked up a hire car - a Chevy Traverse - and packed it up with our six suitcases to begin the drive to California. We had to stop at In N Out Burger cause J & J didn't shut up about it for the past 2 years. Kudos to them, DELICIOUS. They have a double burger, a burger and a cheeseburger. Simple yet fantastic.
Then we set out to drive to California. The drive was fairly plain, you know going through a desert and all, all you really saw was cactus and mountains and the occasional casino.

I took alot of touristy shots that weren't that exciting but you know it kept me entertained. I had my headfones on and it was so good to get some cof time! Saw some weird bilboards too.

For those Stonesour fans out there check this shit out!

So we drove and drove then we had to go through this quarantine shit where he said where did you come from and we said Las Vegas and he said have a nice day... um wtf?

So then we got closer

And in no time we were there. My camera battery pretty much died FML but I hade a little left.... We checked in then we decided to go check out some shops so we did that then ate at Sizzler - pretty much same as before but you could order more meals and the salad bar had taco stuff and that. Then I made everyone wait for me while I went and got some californian nails, they look way cool! Tried to take a pic but didn't work too well. Could be cause its more important to hold my bud than the camera!

LAS VEGAS

After a night of drinking and waking up feeling like absolute shit (the food at hooters wasn't that good so I didn't eat very much) I was like FFFFFFFFFFFFFMMMMMMMMMMLLLLLLL cause there was no way my guts were going  to handle going on the stratosphere rides. So I didn't do it (i'm still crying as I sit here typing this with bud in hand).
So we did other stuff instead. Did I tell you about the watch Adam bought? Its a Ferrari watch and its fucking hot, cost a absolute packet but worth it. He got it in Florida but when we got back to the room he realised the day wouldn't change. We took it back and they didn't have anymore in stock but told us  they have a store in Vegas so we can swap it there. We went to do that but they wouldn't cause they are individual not franchises. fffff!! However, he rang the store we bought it from and they said post it back and we will refund you so we will Fed Ex it. So he just bought another. You like?

Hmmm nice huh. So then we thought lets just look around. We wanted to  go back to the stores at Ceaser's so Adam could get some Nike Shocks. We then went to The Venitian. When we got through the doors we were stopped by some people trying to get us to go to this presentation for time share blah blah I wasn't listening because there was A THOMAS SABO STORE RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME.
I like Thomas Sabo.
Heaps.
And yes I bought a ring. I could of spent TONS in there but didn't. Wheres pic you ask? Didn't take one :) Its HOT and BEAUTIFUL. Now I have a Thomas Sabo hand that is missing three rings (hint hint hus band)
So then we decided to go to Madam Tausands or however you spell it and catch up with some friends.

Done with that and kept looking at some shops and stuff but we were both beat so we headed back to the room and I did the wonderful job of packing while Adam went and got the worst massage ever.
We ordered chinese, ate and now are chillaxing before leaving tomorrow.

GRAND CANYON NEVADA/ARIZONA

Got to have a bit of relaxing morning with bacon and eggs for breakfast. American bacon sux. I've tried it at a few different places now and its horrid.
We walked down to The Orleans and got a shuttle to the airport to jump on a helicopter.

I was a little concerned how Adam would go since we were put at the front and he was next to the window but he was absolutely fine. The pilot told me I was his co pilot and I think everyone else started panicking haha.
There were us four, with J & J  having their wedding anniversary that day and a German couple who tied the knot that morning.
We flew out to the grand canyon which took about 45 minutes.

We stopped in the Canyon and had a picnic lunch and saw a chipmunk, they are so tiny, smaller than your gerbals lolly! 

About 10 minutes before we landed most of us felt a bit sick which was weird but normal apparently. The flight back we stopped quickly for fuel and then did a ride over the strip.

After we landed we went back to the room to get ready to hit the town. We met up with our friend Jeff's brother Justin and his wife Amanda. They live in Vegas and have for the past 6 months. They were really awesome people.
We met at Hooters hotel and casino and also met Larissa and Jarrod!!! Wicked night drinking DOLLAR FIFTY BUDS and eating at Hooters.

Drank a fair few as you would then headed back to their room - awesome - then we went home and I passed out pretty much!

LAS VEGAS

We kept hearing about how awesome the outlets were in Vegas and since Adam has gone nuts and I haven't we went to them today. While we waited for our shuttle we saw this number plate, most American's are so patriotic!

We were at the outlets for about 4 hours then went to the other end of town and were at those outlets for about 2 hours. Grant, I apologise they had a Hot Topic and I bought about 8 things, so your right it is cool. Fairly emo but cool. We went into a DC Store and it was like we had to beg for service, it was absolutely rediculous!
We all went back to the room and then Adam and I got ready to go out.

We hadn't been out the entire trip by ourselves so we were really looking forward to it.
We went to the Stratosphere and had dinner at a nice Italian Restaurant. Adam had a rigatoni with spezzatino which is gay for cuts of steak, and I had Australian Lamb Chops, yum!. The decor was way cool, the walls are painted to look real and they have balcanies and stuff to make it look genuine.

We had a while to wait so we went to a bar and played some pool where Adam decided to bring out the pool shark and absolutely kicked my arse. We all know I'm awesome at pool so it was a huge surprise!!! (NOT)
We then went to see a stage show called Bite which is vampiric. In the opening scene theres like 8 girls wearing fuck all dancing and I was like cool this is a gothy strip show but it got a little better with acrobatics and stuff. Was a really good show. There was a story line and they pulled people out of the crowd (but works out that was part of the show) and the girls were like ok and took their tops off alot which was nice :) the whole time they showed their fangs. I was wearing mine of course. Afterwards we bought some stuff and got our professional shots from before the show then got pics with some of the crew. \/vvvv\/

LAS VEGAS

After getting up at stupid oclock (3am!!!) we headed to the airport and used the American Airlines kerbside checkin. How way cool is that! We caught our plane and it was about a two hour flight to our stopover destination - Texas!
We get off the plane and go looking for food and sitting in the food court is a genuine cowboy - well sort of genuine, his beard was so shaped it was hilarious!! Anyways he had the flanno and the boots and the hat and he walked like he was going to bootscoot anytime.
We had a three hour stopover there so just hung out in the Admirals Club which is similar to the Qantas Club but just like AA flights they only provide you free refreshments not food. I was sitting there trying to get wifi so missed the big excitment of Snoop Dog walking past but thats ok I'm not a fan anyways.
We caught our three hour flight and ended up in Las Vegas. We had to wait a while to check in so went up to the grocery store and got some supplies then headed to check in then we went to The Strip. We were all so very tired, not all of us went to The Strip but we spent about 3 hours there and all went home and slept (hence why I'm doing this later)
Bit of an issue here though, no wifi and the pay internet wouldn't work so I gotta use their free computers and I'm not keen on plugging my camera into their computers so no pics for a while guys sorry :(
Today we are shopping, I'm in the mood for that so I think we'll buy suitcase number three too!!
Later...

SAINT LOUIS MISSOURI

Today we really just slept in and decided to explore St Louis a little. Since we have a stupid oclock flight in the morning we had to repack and wanted a bit of a chillax day.
A trip to St Louis after the bud factory of course isn't worth it if you don't go to Crown Candy Kitchen as seen on Man vs Food. Its a very old looking place thats like going back in time.

His challenge at  this one was to drink 5 thickshakes in half an hour. Easy you think? One thickshake the really the equilivant of 2 1/2 normal thickshake glasses. He didn't make it, he had one glass to go and vomed.
We all tryed a flavour each, Adam got Choc Banana and I had Marshmellow Malt. We both had all of it (yes 2 1/2 thickshakes) and I spent the next 2 hours wandering around St Louis trying to keep that mo fo down.
We checked out the arch

Then we went to this cobblestone place and BMFD you didn't tell us about your restaurant!!

We didn't eat there because not only were we stuffed from the thickshakes but we figured Ginger wouldn't be cooking she'd be too busy drinking tons of alcohol so we didn't bother this time.
We went back to the room for a while and repacked then thought I'm hungry so lets go eat. We went to Hardee's and it was SUPURB. Adam had a burger and i had a burrito (my latest yum). We will go back later for dinner I think!

One thing I forgot we were looking for a Halloween Store to look at - this place goes mental for that, we so wanted to buy tons of stuff but check out whats just in front of a chuch for sale!

So in Summary, I'm moving to St Louis, working at the Bud Factory, I'll drive there in my '64 Impala of course (not that I've seen more than one yet!!!) and eating at Hardees.

Tootallo.

BUDWEISER FACTORY ST LOUIS

Have you ever felt so excited that you don't sleep well and when you get up you have that butterfly feeling? Well, that was me today :)

Surely you can see my excitment? Adam is trying to keep me upright so I don't faint.
I walked inside and I seriously felt my heart stop IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!!!! They have a ton of things to read and stuff but we got there just in time for the Beermaster Tour so we went and started that.
They take you around most the factory, you have to wear a hat (which you keep in the end) and safety goggles at some places. It was brilliant, you get a headset too for when you can't hear the tour guide. There was the four of us and another two people so real small.

We were on this tour for about an hour and a half and got to take some samples from the area where they label the bottles and from where they put the beechwood in. As we walked around the smell reminded me of toasted cheese sandwiches, odd but yum! The room where they bottle the beer you could see it not making it into the bottles at some points but it didn't stink.
Then the best part - we all got given a glass and got to have a bud from the vat - 8 hour old bud it was the most delicous thing EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then we went back to a room and had half an hour to try some buds so we all got different ones (cause Anheuser-Busch brew a few different families too). These are the others we tried:

American Ale

Amber Bock

Shock Top

Bud Light Lime

That tour done, we had a bit of time to kill before the next one. We went and had some lunch then went to the gift shop -  where for the first time in ever I wished I didn't wear just black!!! I bought anything black I could and if I didn't live so far away I would of bought more, I did ok I only spent $250!!
Then we did the beer school which was only about half an hour and we pretty much tasted the beers above so wasn't that great. The cool thing is we got certificates:

Then we walked past the giftshop to leave and I saw one more shirt I was like oh I better buy that too hahahahaha but it  was BRILLIANT and Lolly and Daniel please find out how we can get the puppies over here, I stopped at their employment office (they probably have it, they have their own bank, barber and nail salon!!!) and applied for any job at all, after 6 months working there you get 2 cases a month..... SEE YA AUSTRALIA!! (jk of course xx)