Well, by now, I guess most of you have lost interest in this site - and I can't blame you! I've been rather lazy over these past 3 weeks, and not updated it. I have no idea what day I'm on now, and have probably forgotten most of the things I've done during this time. I'll do my best to fill in the gaps, and get back on track with (near) daily updates starting from this Monday!

So, where were we - oh yes, Six Flags Magic Mountain - the roller-coaster Mecca of Southern California - host to "Wally's World" from the National Lampoons Vacation film (Chevy Chase - anyone remember those??). There's more roller-coasters here than I've ever seen before - and I'm told it puts Alton Towers to shame - and I hate roller-coasters, so it's probably a good place to get over my phobia!

We start the day on the water-rapids ride - after getting soaked at Disneyland at the end of the day, we decided it might be worth getting this one out the way early - and I'm glad we did; we both got absolutely soaked - but it was great fun! We head next to the World's largest STAND-UP ride - SHIT! And this thing is HUGE - I am now suffering from curious tortoise syndrome! It's called the Riddler's Revenge (it's a Warner Brother's themed park) and I'm in line to scare the hell out of myself - why??

I can't even begin to describe the feeling's that these rides put me through - if you get a chance, check out the website (link on my Hippy's Haunt's page) - we went on most of the rides on offer, and each one leaves you with an adrenalin rush second to none - and I must admit to enjoying (almost) every single one. Goliath (the World's tallest ride) did nothing to alleviate my fears, but the faster Scream ride more than made up for it - if any of you get the chance to visit this part of the world, make sure you reserve a day to come here!

As the day wore on, I begin to realise that my phobia was borne out of a safety aspect - the rides that have "over-the-shoulder holders" are fine - no matter what speed. It's the rides that have the lap bars that scare the hell out of me - I have no other explanation, but I do feel nearly brave enough to face my biggest fairground phobia - the Tea-Cup ride at Thorpe Park - maybe one day!!

One thing about the day which was rather odd - we'd spent an average of 30-45 minutes queuing for the main rides during the day, but as soon as the sun went down, the park virtually emptied, and we had much less hassle queuing - a good tip there for anyone who visits in future. We left at about half 9, so it was a long old day - but well worth the drive.

I can't remember what we did on the Sunday, or indeed for the rest of the week. I do know it was Jemma's last week - the five weeks she was here just flew-by - we had such a great time, and I do wander if it'll be like that when we're both back home - I hope so! I don't think there's anyone I know who I would've enjoyed being with more for five whole weeks than Jemma. All the things we've done together were just the best - if, when I get home, our relationship is only half as good as it was out here, I'll count myself very lucky!

On the Tuesday, we went round to Ryon's for the evening, ate dumping cake (yes, dumping cake!!) and played speed-scrabble and Cluedo (which I won, of course!!). We had a wicked time, and it's a shame that Jemma and Kathryn (Ryon's wife) hadn't met sooner, as they got on really well - in fact we all did!

Arnie won the Governor elections too - it'd be like Roger Moore becoming Mayor of London!

On the Friday night we went out for a meal to a nice restaurant down by Newport Harbour, then went down to the beach for a wander. We saw an amazing sight - as the waves came crashing down towards the sand, a brilliant blue light lit-up the wash. It looked completely artificial, as if lights had been installed under the sea, but it turned out to be a natural occurrence - a dude in a donut shop told us when we asked, but I can't remember what he said it was. I hope to go back there to take some photo's, so when I do, I'll post them here.

END OF DAY 42