The first order of business on my yearly trip to California to visit my sister is to stop into the In ‘N Out burger drive-in on Highway 49 in Auburn...THE Classic 50‘s American Drive-In hamburger...and look at the price! All their ingredients are fresh, and the milkshakes are fantrabulous.

The second order of business is to drop into the Gristmill Bakery and order from Kayla or Mikki my double layer cake with lemon filling and that yummy, gooey, creamy buttercream frosting! Mikki really knows how to bake cakes...she is a master. Then I pop in next door to the lovely Holiday Market and buy a gallon of milk!

The view from Sister’s deck...such a lovely home

Alex & Francesca after just meeting up, watching Captain Josh preparing the Ruby...the sloop at the back on the far right

The Bay Bridge

Two icons: the Ferry Building and the tip of the TransAmerica pyramid

Ooarrr! Cap’n Josh on deck!

Belting back from Sausalito

The Otis house...stunning

Mucho Mas interior and my margarita, tortilla chips, and salsa

Madilyn Clark’s rehearsal studios on Burbank Blvd

Are these glasses too cool (or goofy) or what? They always get a good laugh. The funniest 12 bucks I’ve ever spent

Just after meeting up with Alex, Francesca, Julia, and Fran and Julia’s mum, Denise (lying down soaking up the sun in the background) in Yosemite, with the freezing cold, but gorgeous Merced river coursing through the valley

My walk through the woods to the Village Store where I happened upon the couple trying to get it together and howling with laughter in the freezing cold water just left of the picture on the other side of the river

Half Dome

A bride and groom and their photographer immediately after their outdoor wedding walking through what has got be the most stunning meadow in the world

Used in many westerns...in the museum town of Columbia

My bedroom when the house was full...but I forgot about the automatic sprinkler system in the morning! Panic!

What has got to be THE best ice cream parlor in California...at Camp Richardson, Lake Tahoe

Francesca proudly showing off her first ringer, when she struggled to reach the post with the heavy horsehoes from 40 feet away, earning her much mirth. Everyone shut up after that!

Great restaurant in Calistoga (where my son had his first ice cream when he was 8 months old)...one of my favorite California towns, and check out this fabulous winery on the way to Sonoma! Part of the Taittinger group

Fallen Leaf Lake (foreground) with Lake Tahoe beyond

The Beacon...Sister’s favorite restaurant at Tahoe.

It is superb

Virginia City, NV

Enjoying a Blue Moon at the Bucket of Blood Saloon.

That’s Squeek in the background in the red cowboy hat knockin’ out the tunes...my fave, Scott Joplin’s “Bethina”

Ginny in hers

Philly in his

Chevy Sonic interior...absolutely PERFECT.

The radio is tuned to XM Elvis Radio!

The Nevada desert snapped through my closed window at 84 mph

The speeding ticket snapped at my desk in England at 0 mph

Mark Stetson with his two BAFTA’S whilst Oscar looks on, supreme in his wonderfulness

The view from Mark’s, looking northwest as evening rolls in over Los Angeles

The ritzy-titzy Pacific Dining Car on Wilshire in Santa Monica

Jim Dow & Richard Winn Taylor II

The magic cake box!

Minor frosting damage at the front of the cake from Boobs R Us Leadfoot revving it up on the M25 out of Heathrow, after 5,500 miles and 18 hours of perfectly flawless travel through the Gold Rush country of California, down highway 80 in super-traffic to Oakland, over the Bay Bridge and gobs more stop-and-start traffic through San Francisco and down 101 to the airport, through security, maneuvering up the isle of the 747, then across America, Canada, the Atlantic, Greenland, Ireland, Scotland, and most of England!

Oh! And of course off the 747 to go through immigration and collect all my bags and then wait for Herself who couldn’t find the right floor to meet me. The cake WAS perfect when it arrived at Heathrow until you-know-who got hold of it! Ha!

When you’ve got big tits, who’s going to get pissed at you, right? (well, maybe other girls, but no guys I know)

Virginia City, NV