We attended the Palm Springs Follies show on Saturday afternoon. If you were thinking that you might like to see it for yourself; I can only offer one piece of advice and that was given to me by our old Greek neighbor Nina, "Forget About".
If you are into a bunch of geriatrics trying to pretend that they are 20 again go ahead and give them your $80, if not, go spend it at the Casino.
I must admit that there was a lot of skin to be seen at the show, unfortunately it was all on the heads of bald guys!
Later that evening we went to Melvyn's for dinner, it's an upscale restaurant but I think that they overbooked and stretched themselves to breaking point last night.
The Bob Hope Open was taking place and consequently the place was packed.
Oh well!
We still love it and would definitely go again.
Later that night we went the Spa Casino, it was the first time that I have ever been to an Indian casino without being scalped!

Palm Springs

We came up to Palm Springs yesterday afternoon and met up with our friends Jim and Maggie Butler.
This afternoon we are going to a show called the Palm Springs Follies, a group of aging hoofers (No not hookers)
From the picture taken at sunrise this morning you can see why it's called Palm Springs.

Back Home

The trip back went well, the flights were on time and no hassles with traffic.
Thank you to all of the people in the UK who helped to make the trip the success that it was.

The visit to the Monument went very well, we had a group of nine and we discussed everything from exam results to John's testicular surgerey.Fortunstely we had a doctor in the group who could correct the story on the finer points of urology.
We did not win the meat draw or the domino card, Oh well may be next time.
Today we went to a country restaurant for lunch with a large group of the family members as a final salute to aunt Mary. There were three generations at the lunch, my cousin Elizabeth and I were the dinosaurs.
We decided that we should not keep meeting like this, there are not too many people left!

Friday

I must have take a wrong turn in Rancho Cucamonga first I was in Philadelphia then I passed the sign for New York... Go Figure.
Directly following the funeral the family had what I call the bun fight where all of the people who knew the deceased gather to have a cup tea and a ham sandwich.
The main purpose of this event is congratulate each other that at least it was not you.They had pictures of Aunt Mary with various other members of the family and guess who was featured to keep and eye on me?
After the bun fight (I don't drink tea) I decided to pay a visit to the local Harley store.
Most things at the Harley dealers are usually in two price groups EXPENSIVE and VERY EXPENSIVE.
Well this store out did them all they had a used Bentley for sale for the low low price of $212,800.
Tonight I'm off to the Monument pub in Penshaw.
More tomorrow.

I spent my first day in Durham adjusting to the language and the customs!
As our friend Erik from Belgium said upon arrival at Newcastle airport
"Norman, what language do they speak here?"
I went out this morning to get breakfast at about 7:00 AM and found a French (kinda sorta) restaurant with a sign on the door "OUVERT" well even my FRENCH understands that means "Open" however a young lady seated outside smoking a J said that they were not yet open. (I corrected for grammar and syntax) Really, I said, but the sign, well you know the story.
They open at 9:00 AM. OK you can have breakfast at lunch time; now you know what I mean about the customs.
Durham remains one of my favorite cities, the cathedral is 1,000 years old give or take a year or two.
I have included some of the classic views of the cathedral, and some others,enjoy.
There is a lot of renovation work (job creation) going on in the city. I have a picture of a guy operating a machine which is kinda like a backhoe only smaller.
My dog could have dug up the street quicker than this guy, and my dog works for treats!

More soon,
Norm
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Amsterdam

The flight to Amsterdam was totally boring which is just the way I like it.
We hit a few bumps in the road going over the rockies but other than that very smooth.
I just sat in the aluminum tube, drank Heineken and listened to Jimmy buffet.
Despite the fact that we came the long way, we got in on time, at one stage we were doing 700 MPH!
If I can ever get the pictures to upload you can see the proof.
When I got to Amsterdam, I decided to have a bottle of BUD.
The barman got confused and brought water! Then he said well it's almost the same thing.
TIP what TIP?
More soon,
Norm

Trip

Watch the blog for updates on my next trip.
I leave on Tuesday 1/11/11, from LAX to Amsterdam and on to Newcastle.
I am headed there for a family funeral; the twin sister of my mother passed away at 91 WOW!
It is always a sad occasion when you attend a funeral, however it can be tempered with the great memories you have of the person.
Immortality is being remembered.