California!!

So, I'm back after having a wonderful time in the States. Things did n't start brilliantly as the car that work organised to collect me did n't turn up. After half an hour failing to call the useless buggers I realised I was on my own. So, local taxi organised I call Virgin Atlantic to be told that if I'm not there 90 minutes before the flight then they won't let me on board (hang on, it was n't like this with Ryanair!). So, the taxi driver absolutely hammers it down to Heathrow and I know I'm going to be late. I turn up about and hour before take off and stagger up to the counter short of breath to be greeted by a beautiful young lady who asks me how I am today. "Well, I'm rather late and vrry stressed"! She asks me which flight and tells me we get an extra 20 minutes in business class so I'm fine, lol.

After that it was almost all good. The flight was fine and I enjoyed "Inception Day" on the way over. David "The Hoff" Hasslehof was sat a few seats ahead of me (for sure!) and for a while I was debating if JLS were also just infront of me too. My Brit Pop knowledge ain't that hot but I don't think it was them.

The conference was good. It's not every day you get to listen to a Nobel prize winner give a lecture. We had a nice meal out at a Chinese with our Japanese colleagues too which was fun.

One of our colleagues from the San Diego site offered to give us a lift down there but he was leaving a day earlier than we had planned. Hotels in California, or maybe just the people, are a lot less fussy than over here so they were happy to let me leave early and give me some money back. A quick visit to Tripadvisor found the Hotel Indigo in the Gas Lamp Quater of the city and we were set. We arrived late afternoon, freshened up and headed off to where the action was. On one of the main streets all the restaraunts had their tables out on the very wide pavements so that's where we had dinner followed by hitting a couple of bars where there was live music and even dancing in the last one.

Next day was "free". We visited the Seaport Village where I grabbed loads of presents for the people I would be staying with later and the kids. In the afternoon we hit the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier turned into a museum. There were loads of planes on deck and we even got to stand on the bridge.

I was there with a colleague from work. Katherine is a rather attractive 29 year old and it was funny for me when some guy thought we were together, hahahaha!! She chuckled too!

That evening we got a cab out to Torrey Pines heading back up past the airport. I recently saw a tv programme called "the world's 10 most dangerous airports" and SD was in there because they built a high multi-storey car park right in the flight path. The planes, as we saw for ourselves, have to pass really close over it as they come in to land.

We were spending the weekend at the Hilton at Torrey Pines. The hotel is lovely, separated from the sea only by the PGA golf course. My favourite part was the pool and jacuzzi on the back patio, especially in that California sunshine. We Spent Saturday with our old friend Ben, walking the nature reserve and then dinner and drinks in his garden around the chimanea.

Sunday Ben was racing so Katherine and I had a nice day in La Jolla, a lovely little seaside town. Monday was a work day, visiting our colleagues at the San Diego site with a very beneficial mutual exchange of science.

Tuesday Ben I were supposed to hit one of the best mountain bike trails in South California. A high level ride with excellent views of the sea, so I'm told. Unfortunately, I'd hurt my back hauling the suitcase around so we could n't go. There is an irony to spending the night in a lovely big $225+ a night hotel room with a kingsize bed and then sleeping on the floor, which happened a few times!!

We consoled ourselves by driving out to one of the local breweries for lunch, a tour and then some sampling. We headed back to Ben's where we spent the evening sipping the exquisite Aberlour A'bunadh that I'd brought him. After that the 18 year old Glenfidditch seemed pretty ordinary.

On my last day Ben had to work but he lives about a mile from the beach so I managed to have a nice day even without his car, which he offered to lend me. Next morning a big breakfast for us two growing lads and then I'm on Amtrack up to LA. The train was a double decker and I'd been advised to go upstairs and sit on the left for the coastal views. Shuttle bus from Union Station got me to LAX. I could have spent an hour or so looking round downtown LA but following the "joy" of journey out I just felt I wanted to get to the airport nice and early. Anyway, that way I got longer in the business lounge ;-)

Then it was done. What a fab time I'd had. No Katy Perry but one of the funniest moments was when I mentioned to Ben how gorgeous all the Californian girls seemed. "You should come back in the summer...." he replied "...all the same girls but they just don't wear so many clothes"!!!!!!!!!!!