USA, Los Angeles – March 2007
Dogrose

Well here I am at last, on the first stage of our 3 month journey into the unknown.
We arrived in Los Angeles on Wednesday the 14th March after a grueling 11 hour flight. It’s the first time I’ve flown with Virgin Atlantic and I will not hesitate to use them again. The cabin crew were great (much more accommodating than the BA crew that we had when we returned from the BVI last year) and the plane itself was roomy and as comfortable as you could expect from the budget sector.

The first couple of days here were spent lounging around and gathering my remaining braincells together. It was great to see my son and his family again, the first time in the 9 months he’s been working here.
We didn’t plan on doing much on this leg of our trip as we’re only visiting for a few days before we move on to Belize. We intend to spend longer with them on the return part of the journey.

Once my feet (and head) we’re firmly back on the ground Helen, my daughter in law, took me shopping and I got my first glimpse of some of the toxic looking food on display in the supermarkets. I had steeled my self to the fact that I wouldn’t be able to avoid GM foods to the degree that I can in the UK, but luckily Helen, has the same standards as I do on the quality of ingredients and knew where to buy Organic produce.
Still, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the diversity of food stores and eateries. After living in Dumfriesshire for the last 4 years and having to drive 12 miles to the nearest takeaway, I just wanted to try everything and to hell with the consequences!
In the few days I’ve been here I’ve worked my way through Japanese, Thai, US and Indian. If I stay much longer I’ll have to buy a complete new wardrobe and be paying for two seats on the plane!

Apart from shopping we went to a bar called ‘The Londoner’ to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. My son has made it his local and I could definitely see why. It was only a small bar but the characters that frequented it were larger than life.

We also took a day out to Venice beach, where I purchased a mini traveling saxophone and before anybody asks – no, I don’t know how to play it, the nearest I’ve got to a wind instrument is sharing a bed with my partner after he’s been eating brussels!
Unfortunately the weather was cold along the beach, even for a Brit, and we all had to buy sweaters. There were no muscles on display either, they were all hiding inside . . . whimps!

Other than that I’ve been just plain lazy, enjoying some quality time with my family, lounging around one of the many pools in the complex (unheated and freezing), sitting in the hot tub next to the pool (hot enough to boil clothes) and pretending to be health conscious by going to the gym (twice).

My next entry will probably be from Belize in a few days time so ….. watch this space!