So here we are back in the land of the free, home of the brave. It’s a family visit to see grandchildren and family here in California.

Flying in from Heathrow was the usual torture where I brew up a headache on the steps going up to the plane and keep it brewing for the next 10 hours or so until we land.

It does not appear to matter which airline you choose, if you fly economy, you get a cramped little seat and meals on wheels type food. At least New Zealand Air who brought us did not seek to dress up the food as if it was fine dining like Virgin did to us last time. Macaroni Cheese Pie did have the word Luxury in the title but it really was one of the most unusual pies that I have come across, and it’s not luxury.

A word of advice if you do come to L.A. Immigration kept us in a queue for almost 2 hours. It was a special sort of torture to be herded in queue makers in an overheated immigration hall for such a long time. They have automatic passport checking machines but you still have to look into the eyes of a real immigration officer before being allowed in. Admitting that I had a real English apple about my person made it worse, our bags had to be re-checked and scanned just in case there were more of these dangerous imports in our luggage. Nothing quite as dangerous as an uneaten Granny Smith.

So, we’ve been here a few days now, where temperatures are akin to a good summer’s day in the UK, so we are no longer complaining.

I’ll be writing all about it in the coming days.