Wednesday 25th June: I Guess we Should go for a Run then

After two days of sedentary loafing, we donned our sneakers, wolfed down some bananas and went for a run around Balboa Park. As ever the main highlights were: Tims love of playing chicken with oncoming joggers; numerous homeless ramblings shouted in our direction (although with their eyes rotated some way into their heads); the freeway which bisected the park in a manner which left us too confused to find the other 80% of the park (which included 15 museums); and of course planes moments from our heads.

My main observations of Southern California (and I am sorry to repeat myself) are how you are never too far from a freeway, the sound of the Amtrak or the smell of pee.

Over breakfast we booked ourselves a gold studded room in a Holiday Express Inn. Even this hotel was four times what we were used to paying for accommodation but knowing the standard of La Jolla we were hoping the hotel would have followed suit. The hands of the July 4th Gods gave us no other choices apart fromthe Hilton which God Tim was not interested in with it's spas and gold courses.

Room sorted, our final task was to sort out boxes to ship our beloved bikes in. Tim mastered this within minutes, only to then start a hunt for pipe insulation that felt more like Red October. I, exhausted from such activities, set to finishing the Lance Armstrong biography which was by this point irritating me so immensely that I didn't feel I was being lazy - in fact I felt equal in tasks.

Thankfully Tim foresaw such tension, returning with carrot cake (from Bread and Cie) fit for an irrate Lance Armstrong hating queen, oh and of course some insulation. Not wanting to push ourselves we decided to leave the packing for a fresh day and instead headed back to Little Italy for food.