Downtown San Francisco

We walked through the financial district...I later discovered that the brown building behind me is of Goldman Sachs and is actually where the father of the children I babysit for works.

The Bay Bridge, San Francisco

Although not as recognisable as the red Golden Gate bridge this is by far the larger of the two.

This was taken on an evening trip to the city - only a 40 mile journey.

So we are at Stanford shopping centre, where we were attending an open air jazz concert (not sure why we don't have any photos of that....). I don't think that i have seen anything so comical in my life!! Is it the sunglasses? The helmet?? How serious he looks??? Or the thing that he is riding (is it called a segueway?)????

I would have given anything to see him chase after someone in that....

This church is on Stanford campus...there was a service going on - luckily we had come from church, so we were dressed for it - and were allowed to go in.

Stanford University, Palo Alto

And we arrived! Fast forward a day and we are on Stanford campus - to which is actually in Palo Alto (where Kimber is from). I really liked the architecture of the place - all of the same style - the yellow buildings with orange roof tiles.

This was an interesting little town in Nevada where we stopped to rest on the way. Its strange...the size of it is about the size of a village, but it doesn't feel right to call it that...when I think of villages I think of old churches, thatched cottages, winding roads etc. In my opinion they are a very English thing. Its been really fun being able to see similarities and differences between England and America on this trip. I love how emphasis is placed on convenience here in America!

In my defense the sun is really bright reflecting off of the salt....and kimber has her fringe to shield her from the sun

So if you have good eyes and can read the writing, even if you click on the photo, the record was first set by a Briton and is currently held by an American.

The Great Salt Plains

From Provo we drove down to California. We left at around 7 in the morning and arrived at about 7 or 8 in the evening

Travelling back from Vegas

This is either Southern Utah, or Northern Arizona - close to the Grand Canyon. Fellow tourists happened to stop off, so they helped us out with taking the photo.

I can't remember which hotel this is by...

...

Peter's reception

The main reason for the visit...

Another part of the Paris casino complex.

The Strip

This is taken looking down the strip.

The Bellagio is to our left and Caesars is right behind us. My hair started doing all kinds of crazy things after I dipped my head in the fountain.

It was so hot that we dunked our heads in the fountain behind us. The average temperature was well over 40 degrees C.

more from Caesars

And now we're inside Caesars, it was fun getting this picture taken having seen Joey dress up as a Roman centurion on Friends.

Caesars Palace

These Casinos really are impressive, the imitations are really convincing as is the size of them - the strip is like an area with lots of mini cities/civilizations on it.

The Bellagio

This is inside the Bellagio - the reception. Hanging from the ceiling is coloured glass.

Paris

The Paris casino is behind us. We're in front of the Ballagio fountain, where the characters stand on Ocean's 11 at the end of the film.

Las Vegas

Of course...what else could it be but fabulous...

St. George, Utah

The first two weeks in America I stayed at Kimber's brother's flat - who is in New York for the summer. A friend from my mission was getting married in Vegas, so not wanting to miss the opportunity we drove down and spent the weekend there.

We stopped off at St. George on the way to fill up on gas. I'd really liked the red rock, which is typical of the area. There was already a huge difference in temperature between here in Provo.