We had not intended to travel to the USA in 2014. Now we are.

We changed our mind after a visit to Rayls only brother who is 72 and recovering from an aortic aneurism - in nearly killed him but he was lucky and although he can't walk at present he is mentally fine and alive. The message we got from Kevin and his wife Jill is for us not to put things off - you just never know what's around the corner.

Then along came a real cheap fare with Virgin Australia - $1300 return to LA - I was mulling things over when eldest son Ryan thought he might want to come along and so we have taken advantage of the cheap fare and we are booked.The three of us will arrive in LA on 15th March and we depart 4 weeks later.

Few days in LA then Ryan is going to fly to Chicago for a week and we thought we might go with him, he can spend time with his mates and we might hit the road for a week - Michigan, maybe down a bit, Rayls would like to do a quilt shop in Paducah KY.

Then back to Vegas and a week to 10 days doing the Colorado/Utah parks, some we did before but they are so beautiful we will do them again. Back to LA a few days then home.