In Paradise...

... pretty much. If it weren't for the mozzies.

So where were we, San Francicso, yes? Well, so we hung out there a little more, went to Alcatraz (the audio tour is really good), Mission (cool murals), Castro (gay folk) and Japantown (Japanese stuff). Ate loads of good food and drank a few beers. After said beers, we ran into a roaming musician named Elvis. No joke, his name is actually Elvis, we saw his I.D. He needed to get down to San Diego and since we were on our way to LA the next morning we offered him a ride with us.

We were pretty surprised to find him waiting for us at the car rental place the next morning. We hadn't really expected him to show up. And so began a California raod trip with Elvis in the back seat! He turned out to be a really nice guy, although extremely talkative and, due to his smoking, rather repetetive. Anyway, we cruised down Highway one and took in the amazing scenery. When we stopped in Carmel (where Clint Eastwood is tha mayor) for lunch, our waiter Donovan turned out to be an old friend of Elvis' that he hadn't seen or heard from in almost 15 years. A most random encounter!

So the ride to LA took us 2 days, with a night in San Luis Obispo. Almost the whole route is absolutely gorgeous and we saw elephant seals, flamingoes, deer and what have you on the way. We didn't really check out much of LA, just Santa Monica and Lincoln Boulevard (an exceptionally uninteresting road that goes from Santa Monica to LAX).

After a long overnight flight we arrived sleepy but happy in sunny Samoa. So far, we've driven around half of the island of Upolu and we like what we see. It is very pretty here. We live in a hut on the beach. We are fed fruit for breakfast and coconut fish curry for dinner. We have befriended a little cat. Tomorrow we start our scuba diving course. I hope we find scuba diving enjoyable.

Photos:
Hulda fooling around in front of a mural in Mission
Asta watching the Chinese New Years Parade in Chinatown
Elvis plays guitar
Asta on Alcatraz Island, San Francisco in the distance
Hulda in solitary isolation, where she belongs
By Greyhound Rock off Highway 1
Asta by Santa Monica Pier
Our house
Our view
Our beach
Having lunch in Coconut Beach Club
Beatiful waterfall in the mountains

Kisses!