My Wanderlust Adventures

The month of September was a world wind for sure. I spent the first 14 days of the month in Georgia, traveling from Savannah, my hometown, to Brunswick, and then to Atlanta. Had a great time with my parents and some extended family who traveled from all over for the yearly Labor Day cookout at my cousin's house in Georgetown. I had not seen many of them in about five years, but most of them I had seen when I was last in Savannah in 2008. The last night in Savannah, I gave my parents a surprise 50th Anniversary Dinner which was really nice and they had a great time. Seeing the smiles on their faces was well worth all the planning that took place prior to leaving Los Angeles.
I returned to LA for about two and a half days before going to Chicago to meet with my two best friends, one that lives there and the other flew in from Philly. We had not been together like that in many years and it was great. I have loved those two women for over thirty years and I look forward to thirty more years. I am truly blessed to have them in my life.
Walking the streets of downtown Chicago was great. The architecture and the food was mind blowing, and I tried to savor ever moment. As exciting as Chicago was, the few days I spent in Mackinac Island was the real treat.


My girlfriend and I drove up to Michigan, in the Upper Peninsula, and took the ferry over to Mackinac Island where here family has a summer house. The skies were so beautiful along with the beautiful fall colors, and great lighting, made it all picture perfect.

On the way to San Francisco my daughter and I spent a moment in Ventura, California, then I took her on Hwy 154 to Solvang, California, which is a community with Dutch influence. I had driven to Solvang before but really wanted my daughter to see it as well.

Then we were off to Cambria, which is such a beautiful small town. The people there were genuinely nice and warm. It has a population of about 6,000 with a median age of 54. Now that sounds like a place that I could live. We stayed at a really nice place called Creekside Inn, which is within walking distance to the downtown area. All of the businesses there are locally owned, no chains and that was really great to see. There was a yoga studio owned by a really nice lady name Vivian, a tea house, several places to eat, art galleries, etc.

We decided to eat the first night there at this quaint little place called Wild Ginger, and the food was great. It was tasty and presented beautifully. Most importantly the owner Debbie was a great host, with a big personality, that I just loved.

The next day we had reservations for Tour 1 at the Hearst Castle, that was only 8 miles or less from Cambria on California Hwy 1. It was definitely a site to see. You wonder at times why as well as how people live this lavishly. This is the former home of William Randolph Hearst.

William Hearst inherited this 250,000 acres from his mother, which included the original 40, 000 acres that his father, George Hearst purchased in 1865. In 1919, William Hearst solicited the services of an architect by the name of Julia Morgan, yes a woman, to build this estate, of which it would take 28 years.

William Randolph Hearst was also the grandfather of the infamous Patty Hearst, (Patricia Campbell Hearst)

After leaving the Hearst Castle, we decided to go back to Cambria, have lunch and to get gasoline so that we can continue on Hwy 1 to San Francisco. It was a good thing that I filled the gas tank before continuing on Hwy 1, because once you get on it there is no getting off. The drive was absolutely breathtaking.

To see more photos you can click on the above photo and it will take you to some of the photos taken along the way.

It doesn't look like I am going to make it to Tanzania this year, but it is a trip that I so want to take. Hopefully I can make it happen by the end of next year.

I am trying to continue to explore the country that I am in. There is so much beauty here to see.

Tomorrow I am on my way to San Francisco by driving up the coast on Hwy 1 with my daughter. I have been wanting to take this trip for some time now, and I am going to finally get the chance to do just that, with the one that I have the most fun with.

We will stop in Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo before spending the night in Cambria. The next day we will tour the Hearst Castle before moving on up the coast.

We will cruise through the
north-central coast to San Francisco staying in Daly where I am looking forward to meeting a relative that I located through Ancestry.com. She is actually the granddaughter of my great great grandparents on my mother's side.

We regret not being able to get tickets to Alcatraz, which is something I have been wanting to see most of my life, but I guess it will not be on this trip. I had a friend tell me that she didn't enjoy the Alcatraz visit, because she could sense the hurt and pain that took place there. She knows that I am also sensitive to various energies, and believes that my missing out on Alcatraz was not by accident.
So we are planning to take in some of the many attractions on and from Fisherman's Wharf. I hoping to have a host of great photos to share when I return.

The Ghost Tour on the Queen Mary was quite interesting. It is actually more of a show, than the telling of the ghosts that possible haunt the ship.

This photo is of how the water poured into the galley after the ship collide with the HMS Curacoa, which mis-judged the speed and zigzag of the large ship and they collided.
The HMS Curacoa was cut in half, and 331 to 432 crewmen died. This was the most tragic accident in the history of the Queen Mary.

The Ghost Tour wants you to believe that the souls of these crewmen still haunt the Queen Mary.
The fact that this picture came out of camera with red overtones was a bit spooky to me. I used a flash unit to light the photo as it was quite dark in the bow of the ship.

I have been steadily researching ways of getting the best bang for the buck with this first extended trip . My purpose is to see some of the country, become proficient in the language, live among the locals, assist in some of the community efforts, and go on a safari. I have known for some time that safaris often costs thousands of dollars, which makes it impossible for the average Americans to take part in.

I discovered that if you plan your safari from within the African country it is less than half the price. Yes more than a 50% savings. I had been told this by my husband who is from Tanzania, but it was amazing to see.

Going though an organization like Art in Africa you can participate in one of the Adventure Programs as opposed to R & N Xplorer safaris. There is a major difference in price, about four grand of a difference.

Art in Africa covers most of the base that I want to cover with this trip. The only thing that is lacking is extensive language instruction. It appears as though they only offer Kiswahili classes for one week. I can get that much at home, and I intend to do so.

Most flights leaving from the states travel through Dubai, but I hear that going through London may be a cheaper option. Therefore I have been searching that route as well, but have not found it to be much cheaper. I feel like I have only touched the surface of researching this trip and I will keep on until I find what I am looking for. I am told that the best time to take a safari is after the long rains which are between March and May. After May everything starts to get green again and the animals once again emerge to feed.

All comments and advice are welcomed here. I will keep you posted as I continue to research and narrow down my trip.

As many already know I intend to travel as much around this world as I possibly can. There was a time when I thought that I could just pick up a backpack and go, but I am not sure if I can or even want to do it that way anymore. I believe that I need a degree of comfort.

I am trying though, being the spoiled American that I am. I have downsized my life considerably, and realizing how much I can actually live without, but there is more to do and I am steadily working at it.

The reason that I have wanted to travel has now become a need. The need for enlightenment and growth, the need to see the beauty of this world, its physical beauty in its landscape as well as the spiritual beauty of its inhabitants. I also have this aching need to find ways to give back to those that require so little, things that I can do as an individual, I want to be my brother's keeper.
Documenting this through photographs and words will show others what is possible in this life.

I am going to take it slow by immersing myself into a few cultures by going to a language school, which will give me the safety net that I feel I need to get started. I will learn a language, live among the locals, and have unscripted tour guides. Sounds good to me.

Tanzania, Africa is where I am going first. Initially I thought it would be better to go to a place with a culture and language that I was already quite familiar, i.e., Spain or South/Central America, but my going to Africa will give me the culture shock that I may need. I don't intend to be shocked at all because I will do my research and learn a great deal of the language before I go.

However, this text book knowledge will be corrected and realized through the experience of being there.

February, Black History Month, is the month I just happen to see this black history exhibit that is being presented by Tavis Smiley and various sponsors. It is entitled, America I Am: The African American Imprint. The exhibit debut in Philadelphia and is traveling all around the country, and it is presently in Los Angeles, California. I remember reading about it last year and looking forward to seeing it, but I honestly had forgotten all about it until this morning.

I assumed that the exhibit would be housed in California's African American Museum. Well it is not at the African American Museum, it is actually at the Science Museum, which is still in Exposition Park along with the Natural History Museum.

I arrived at the Science Center at exactly 12 noon, along with bus loads of school children. I should have known that this would be the case because it is a Wednesday and early enough in the day for the kids to go to the museum and get back to school in time to go home.

However, it was not as disruptive as you might think. The staff there had it all under control. If you do want to avoid lots of kids, then I am told that later in the day during the week and Sundays are the best time to avoid large crowds.

The exhibit was well worth the $9.50 admission. It was beautifully done, with a great deal of authentic pieces. One of the things that touched me the most was to see some of the clothes of Frederick Douglas, as well as a few of his original books. They also had one of Malcom X's original hand written journals, and it was legible. They even had the bench and key from the jail cell occupied by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in Birmingham, Alabama, where he wrote Letter from a Birmingham Jail. It shows a picture on the back wall of Dr. King sitting in this cell pensively peering through the bars, the worn bench was sitting in front of the picture, and this was all enclosed behind some jail bars, as the key was displayed on the wall outside of the cell. This sort of tugged at my heart, but also made me very proud.