Many of their friends are going on Disney vacations in the summer break and it seems our kids feel a bit left out by being the only one’s who have not yet been to visit Mickey Mouse. They have been to Portaventura in Spain though to see Woody Woodpecker – and that is where James cut his eye open on one of the slides.

While we cannot do that it sounds like a great idea and  destin florida vacation rentals look like they are just the medicine for people suffering from that seasonal disorder syndrome. I have been told that going there at this time of year means you have to go elbow to elbow with other tourists all looking for some warmth and sun – I could handle it I think, anything to get away from this bitter cold weather!

We got lost so many times, ended up on rural roads, farm tracks and private drives that in the end we gave up and got out the good old road map. At least it doesn’t talk at you in some annoying voice!

It is so sad to think – to know – that there would have been a good number of people on that plane who would have been nervy flyers and then to have been involved in what they would have been sitting there dreading…

Still, it is well known that the trip to the airport in the car carries far more risks than the actual flight and to be true there are thousands of planes criss-crossing the skies all the time without incident. All the same, as the news trickles in about this latest disaster people will be considering going on Caribbean cruises  in bigger numbers than before. I look at it this way – that crash will not be the last one!

I remembered it well; Fairmount Resort was THE place to stay at when visiting the Blue Mountains. Celebrities from overseas always made for the beautiful spa overlookin the Jamieson Valley – it cost a packet to sta there even for a weekend. But now hard times have fallen on the Fairmount since it was taken over by an asian company.

They have sacked most of the local Australian staff and employed Korean’s who cannot speak a word of english and who have no idea how to clean a room, or change a bed, clean the beautiful Delta fauctes or sweep a floor. This is one reason why Australians are big on ‘Australian owned’.

The resort is now a filthy establishment with broken down facilities and a long line of very unhappy customers. Fortunately local tourism concerns are doing something about this; the resort has been removed from all tourism listings until the new owners get their act together. I hope it works – it is bad enough when foreigners take over something inherently Australian but when they make a mess of something that was once wonderful it is almost unforgiveable.

Back when he was doing his shows in the 60’s and 70’s booking a cross America trip was an arduous ordeal; today you just use a system like Westgate and they do everything for you in one hit.

I like what Whicker has been saying about todays batch of travel presenters and he is correct. His shows were full of information and culture – today a presenter only has to look good in a bikini to get a job presenting a travel show!

We tried to get the kids out to school this morning despite the snowy conditions and decided to check out the snow reports on the TV just as a precaution. Good job we did as seeing the cars lined up for miles past the exit signs on the motorways and back streets were phenomenal. We decided to keep the kids home instead.

We also got a call from our old neighbour that a severe storm hit our previous address resulting in the loss of four large trees – sounds like the weather is following us!

We have been out around the sales lately and picked up some great bargains including two area rugs and two beds – also a dryer as the weather here will be wet for some time to come.

This was on La Rambla and the blankets had strings attached – obviously so that the guys could gather up their wares and make a quick getaway…

But of course the bags were not ‘designer’ and they were replica watches rather than the real, authentic, expensive type.

Make sure you dont fall for this type of thing when you travel – Gucci bags cost a lot moe than 30 euros!

Okay, you might think that it is a bit ‘hick’ but I’ve been a Waltons fan since I was a small kid and still love to watch the show.  But Virginia is not the easiest place to land in immediately from Europe. Plan is to drive from NYC to North Carolina and take in the Outer Banks seaside region – maybe rent a condo for a few days – and then drive onto Virginia from there.

Of course the last stop will be Walt Disney World in Orlando…I told you I was a big kid!