(Nick) This morning, the whole team woke up early, eager to get on with the days important events. After wrestling with the shipping agent for over two weeks, all the documents should now be in place for delivery and release of the wolf. The truck was being delivered to a trucking companies warehouse in Compton. As we had all heard our fair share of rap music in the past, this place seemed to be the spiritual home of all the gangsters of LA. Having heard so many dreadful things about carjackings in LA, this would be the place it would happen.

After packing all our stuff into our bags, and getting the rental car loaded up, we returned to the hotel to check the room and check out. Oliver took the lift, an art deco elevator, which none of us trusted, but didn't bother waiting for us. As we pressed the button to call the elevator and waited a little longer than usual, we heard a quiet buzzing coming from the shaft. We asked the guy behind the desk if it could be the lift, but he insisted that it was just a mechanical noise, despite this, we opted to take the stairs instead. Joking as we went that it would be hilarious if it was Oliver stuck in the lift!

As we got to the top of the stairs, we heard a quiet voice... "hello!?" it seemed to be coming from the elevator. It was Oliver, and he had been stuck in that tiny box for 10 minutes. We quickly rushed down to the front desk to get some help, and Oliver freed. The next few minutes were spent with an odd mix of fear for our brother, and amusement of his co-incidental predicament. Oliver was asked to open his door, but to everyones dissapointment only the internal door opened. This didn't help the situation, Oliver was half way between floors, and we couldn't open the external doors even with a crowbar. We all knew Oliver was terrified, to be honest, so were we!

After about half an hour of trying to open the door, a gentleman came up the stairs asking... "has he got out yet?", not an unusual question, as most of the residents now knew about Oliver's predicament, but this voice sounded more familiar. It was Oliver himself! He had been able to get the elevator to go down a floor, and then the external door opened automatically. After checking the room, we all decided that the stairs was the best option!

Heading over to Compton was not too hard, but when we arrived at the time we had initially been told the truck would arrive, we were disappointed to find that the driver hadn't even been sent yet. It would be at least another two hours before anything happened. We headed down to a burger van we saw, though I stayed with the car and documents for fear of the whole lot getting stolen, not that I could have done anything about it if they had a gun. As time ticked by, we jumped up at every P&O container, thinking it was ours, there were surprisingly many.

Eventually, over 3 hours later than expected, the truck turned up, and as the container opened, we could all see the look of horror on the warehouse managers face, the white ant powder everywhere. He was supposed to report us to the Environmental Protection Agency. Fortunately, after a quick inspection, we couldn't find the ants.

Dan started up the wolf, which fired up instantly after 3 weeks on the sea. He reversed the wolf and trailer out of the container and then went to sign the remaining paperwork required to release the vehicle. At this point, I got in the truck to drive it back round to the front of the warehouse.

As I drove round the corner, a huge lorry was driving towards me, and refused to go back himself. I reacted without thinking, and put the truck in reverse. after a couple of feet, I heard a bang, I knew instantly my mistake. The trailer had jacknifed. I felt so stupid, I had driven less than 20m, and I had crashed. Outside, Dan saw the damage instantly, although it was minor.

As we headed off, I drove the rental car, and Dan drove the wolf, as Amy was navigating with me, I led the way to the car rental and a fuel station. Traffic was in full flow, and I was trying hard not to loose Daniel. We were doing remarkably well, until I pulled off the freeway, at that time, Dan had turned his attention to Oliver, and off following me, and missed the turning. I couldn't get back on the freeway, and Dan had missed his exit, he didn't even have a map in the car!

Minutes later, we got a phone call from Oliver, he and Dan were in Venice, the wrong side of town, but a recognisable place which he could navigate from. Amy and I agreed to head on to the rental place, and unloaded our stuff from the car while we waited for Dan and Oliver to arrive 10 minutes later.

When the Wolf finally did arrive, the forecourt became the centre of attraction for the whole street, with at least 10 people pulling up to have a chat, and to wish us good luck, or to tell us their stories of their Land Rovers while we installed the new Engel Fridge into the trailer. It was an extremely tight fit, but a perfect fit when we finally did get it installed. Unfortunately, the batteries in the trialer were now useless, so we couldn't plug in the new fridge.

With the truck and trailer now loaded with our belongings, and the rental car returned, we headed out of LA, keen to get the expedition back on the road, and make up the lost time. The drive out of LA was identical to the one we had taken yesterday to pick up the fridge from our new friend Paul Reyes, owner of RoverHolic. Driving South through the US Marines base, we dropped in on Pauls house again, though we knew he was out, to deliver a thank you gift of some Belgian beers. Somehow we had found a liquor store which was a haven for these wonderful beers a few days before and thought they would be a nice gift.

That night, we pulled into a motel just outside San Diego, for a slightly restless night, eager for the challenges tomorrow would bring in crossing the border into Mexico.

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