Warwick Castle, Stratford-upon-Avon, Oxford
Sunday, May 30th, 2010
You might say that Friday, April 2, 2010, was a full day. A bus tour around parts of England, a play in London’s West End Theatre district, two celebrity encounters, an ultra-famous grave, and a Hard Rock Cafe. And once again, this was accomplished on virtually no sleep. I barely had time to grab a croissant before catching our 8am bus out of the hotel that morning. So by the time we made our first stop at a Welcome Break rest station, I was famished. Read the rest of this entry »
You are probably wondering why the introductory photo in this posting shows Bob and me at a limousine rental desk. I can tell you that this spot had great significance and to find out why, you must read on. But while you are being held captive in rapt suspense, allow me to fill you in on the events of Monday, April 26, and Tuesday, April 27, 2010 (with a little bit of Saturday, May 1, thrown in for good measure). My home base for these two days was Bob’s house in San Bernardino, California. 
I knew that it would behoove me to bring along a large wad of cash to the Hollywood Show held at the Burbank Mariott Hotel and Convention Center on Saturday, April 24, and Sunday, April 25, 2010. The collector and celebrity show in Burbank must certainly be one of the largest in the country. The one on this date was the fifth one I’ve attended over the past five years (seventh total) and I must say that it was the best show I’ve seen to date. I usually pontificate on the greediness of the some of the celebrities, but I’m going to spare you that this time. After all, no matter if there were a few putzes in the mix, I came away happy…albeit much poorer. 
With a grand total of about five hours sleep, my night’s rest on Monday, going into Tuesday, March 30, 2010, held the record for the most consecutive minutes of shut-eye during the week of my London trip. Bob and I got up that morning at around 6:30am, got ready, and headed down to the continental breakfast in the basement floor of the Central Park Hotel. I was very disappointed that it was so skimpy. For some reason, I had expected the amazing buffet that we had gotten in Guatemala and I had seen in many of the hotels in Europe. But this week, I survived on a couple of buttered croissants and the occasional bowl of mushy raisin and bran cereal. 
On Saturday, July 18, 2009, my friend Bob and I made our most extensive visit to the Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood. I am certainly no stranger to this burial ground as I have visited it in