Destination USA

We've received provisional confirmation of our holiday booking to the US in May (a couple of weeks later than we'd originally planned to go). We're going with Toni's folks to visit the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas and San Francisco (you can view our full itinerary here).

This delay means we'll probably bring forward the date we place our house on the market - hopefully by the beginning of April it'll be up for sale (and next door will have moved out - fingers crossed on that score).

Just to ensure this year is kept interesting we'll be going to Canada again in September with my folks - worked out a rough itinerary on Friday night that takes in Calgary (two nights), Canmore (three nights - it's just down the round from Banff in the Banff National Park, but much cheaper), Revelstoke (one night), Kelonwa (two nights), Hope (one night), Victoria (three nights) and Vancouver (three nights) - 15 nights in all. We would have squeezed it into 14 nights, but it works out more convenient to come back on a Tuesday when we can arrive in Blighty at around 1.25pm as opposed to 6.25am! By then, of course, we hope to have moved to Colchester, so it may be that we can leave the car at home and take a train to Liverpool Street, cross the underground and then catch the Heathrow Express from Paddington. That proved remarkably hassle-free last time - I guess a lot will depend on how much luggage we take with us...

Spent a thoroughly enjoyable night last night with my great mate Cav and his fiance Clare. They get married at the end of May, and the rescheduled holiday means I can go on Cav's main stag weekend at the end of April. They've also asked me to do a reading at the second service, which I'm honoured to accept. Cav suggested an unabridged version of Death to the Daleks, but I'd prefer to do the original Daleks novelisation by David Whittaker. I'll get my Edwardian frock coat...