US Adventure Part 1 - The sights and sounds of the Hollywood Hills

Here in the US and just got a moment to make my first travel post. So many things have already happend, it's hard to know where to start. Well, to begin with there was my memorable day in LA with my tour guide and host James Talbot (and his dog RJ).

After arriving at LAX from a 14 hour trip, James thought it would be good to go grab some lunch down at Manhatten Beach (nice) and then go for a leisurely stroll up in the Hollwood Hills to blow the cobwebs out. Plus of course I was trying to stay awake after the flight to get into the US timezone. He assured me it was just a short walk - but little did I realise that fitness-freak "Sargent Pain" Talbot's idea of a short walk was a 5km hike up steep ridges and through rough bush tracks. Granted it was a great view of LA, the Hollywood sign ... it's just I hadn't walked that far in one go for about 5 years, let alone along mountainous bush tracks. End result - Dale bringing his lunch back up on the side of the trail, much to the embaressment of myself for all the other joggers running past me at the time. Enjoyable? No. Memorable? Absolutely. Pictures are yet to be added here, but you'll see when I do that I kept a smile on my face at least :)

In Vegas now for the conference and meeting up with some friends for dinner. More on the early stages of Vegas next time!