The first full day in Palm Springs

We were told to expect old people, a city of people waiting at heavens door at the foot of a mountain in the middle of a desert - WRONG! This hotel is classy, full of young, beautiful people, including a high percentage of good looking gay boys! The atmosphere is very relaxed, the staff are friendly and very attentive, the attention to detail in the rooms and the beautiful garden/pool area makes you feel as if you have time travelled back to the times of the British Colonies and I feel as if I'm part of White Mischief as I did in Kenya. If you need to chill as I certainly did, this is the place to go - I totally love it!

.....and so onto Palm Springs

Never been here before and only came on a whim when all other places were booked. We are in this amazing little boutique hotel called the Colony Springs Hotel that was built by the notorious Purple Gang of the old mobster era of the USA. It really reminds me of a colonial hotel, a true oasis in the middle of the arrid desert - a wonderful find!

Laguna Beach

I love this seaside town, small, classy, full of wonderful little shops and eateries. We had planned to go back to JB's Pizza place but were lured by a wonderful little restaurant called i think 21 Market Street. The food and service was wonderful and I had my very first roast beef dip! It was to die for!!! Again the weather was incredibly hot for this time of year even by the coast but walking along the beach at least helped with the cooling down!

Chill Out day....

Chilled out by the pool, making the most of the heat then a bit of retail therapy!

Disneyland Day

Disneyland.....no queues, it was wonderful, straight onto the rides and in the case of the Star Wars and Matterhorn more than just the one ride!! Sadly two of our favourites were closed (the Haunted Mansion and Indiana Jones) but the park was so quiet it was easy to have other rides - the only downside was the heat - it was very, very hot for this time of year! In the evening we went to Tony Romas for a civilised meal. Three mignon steaks with blue cheese and onion topping - Alan had the ribs! Totally yummy!

First day in Anaheim

It seems SoCal is having some kind of heatwave, it's far hotter than I recall at this time of year - in fact it feels hotter than when we came in June a couple of years ago! First day so need to acclimatise and find our time zone so went shopping as usual and had lunch in the Alcatraz Brewing company - an old favourite of ours! Then only some real retail therapy with the purchase of my iPad - yippee!!!! Then a couple of glasses of red wine in the Marriot before turning in......tomorrow is going to be a long day.....in Disneyland!

California here we come....again!

I dont know whether it was the fact we were travelling on 9/11 or just not a particularly popular time to travel but there were no queues whatsoever in Heathrow, we upgraded to more leg room, had a very peaceful and uneventful flight, picked the car up and checked into the Red Lion, Anaheim just in time to go to bed!

The Land of the Vikings

...and this trip was totally unexpected. Alan won a weekend to Oslo, Norway. This is my firs trip to Scandinavia and I was very much looking forward to it a swell as not knowing what was in store (I dont like the cold). I need not have worried, although it was a bit wet one day it was certainly not cold. The people are friendly, the food is delicious, the scenery is amazing......the only drawback is the price of saying there but as we won the flight and accomodation we didnt let the price of a few drinks or meals ruin our stay. I have the best prawn open sandwich I've ever tasted, I found out about brown cheese (more like caramel ice cream) had one of the best burgers I've every had along with dining in the Hard Rock Cafe one lunchtime!!! What a trip, I've totally fallen in love with this place.....

Three years ago today I picked Brodie up from his breeder in Kemerton. He was a very gangly puppy and not the most attractive boy i've ever seen but in three years he has certainly done me proud, winning many prizes and being placed at pretty much every show he's attended.....and now he's a very handsome prince! It's not been the easiest three years what with losing my job, working for a year at a complete and utter hell hole then being unemployed again - not to mention losing Bailey and Harvey and Brodie not always seeing eye to eye (probably because they are such different in character). Brodie, however is a sweet, well behaved dog with a very sound temperament - just as mad as a box of frogs!!!

GSA Championship Show

This is my favourite show. I love the location, the committee and its so good to see all my friends in a more relaxed atmosphere than Crufts!

We did pretty well and after Harvey having a good day out and coming home with a couple of rossettes I have decided to take him to a few more shows - funds willing!