Chapter 8: San Diego, California

After my wonderful trip in Santa Barbara I took a very interesting train ride to San Bernadino where my cousin Susan lives. I have been meeting a lot of interesting people on my journey and the biggest reason for that is that I walk around looking kinda lost and awkward with a huge backpack on my back, a smaller one in the front, my purse balancing nicely on one shoulder and trying to drag my 50 pound bag without wheels from one place to another... some people choose to stare, point and laugh (at least I made someone laugh, even if I was the joke) but luckily there is always a few - I will call them hero's - willing to help.

Some really good news is that I found a place to stay in Victoria. It's in a house with 3 other girls. They look like a fun bunch and I'm sure I'll have a great time staying there.

It has been so nice spending some time with family and speaking Afrikaans again. We decided to explore San Diego this weekend and make use of the great sunny weather. Here are some pictures of the fun things we did.

Sea World is definitely one of my favorite places to go to and I realized that my dream as a little girl of becoming a Trainer at Sea World hasn't totally vanished. What could be more fun than working with Whales and Dolphins?

Just hanging out with the polar bears.

Little Flipper showing of his 80 -100 teeth. There is something fishy about that!

Meeting the Shamu (killer whale) trainer, for me this is way better than meeting a celebrity!!

Ta-da!
The Killer Whale is actually not a whale but the biggest member of the Dolphin Family, it weighs between 3000 - 12 000 lb and their live span is 30 -80 years.

Sea Lions LIVE



Me and my cousin Susan



Too cute!



"You guys wouldn't mind if I take a quick nap, right, all this eating can be quite exhausting"



Kayaking & Snorkeling at La Jolla beach. Me indicating that I have 0 (zero) breath left.



Snorkeling among leopard sharks. Luckily they are not dangerous, because at one stage I counted 12 of them swimming around me. It was so exciting!

Enjoying the scenery...again..

and again...

...and again!

Chapter 7: Santa Barbara, California

The only words I have is 'WOW'! What an amazing trip I've had so far. This week I was just so thankful for being able to come on this trip and everything working out so well. I'm having so much fun playing around in God's amazing creation and spending time with people that I love so much.

Santa Barbara makes me think a lot about Stellenbosch, the beach and the mountains makes me feel so at home and spending time with my old flat mate Jen brings back so many great memories.



Jen, Michelle and I at a wine farm.



The road less traveled..



Trying hard to take a photo of ourselves in the wine cellar..



The house we got to stay in - Montecito



Close call - Rilley.



So, my friend Jen went to this great wedding...Michelle and I sitting at home thinking what to do with ourselves decide to go and "surprise" Jen (some people would call it crashing, but lets stick to surprising). We got dressed in the appropriate "black and white cocktail attire" and headed out to enjoy this wonderful wedding. (Don't worry we didn't stay too long) (",)



Michelle looking a little worried, after all, she does know quite a few of the people. And of course I'm loving it, cause I don't know anyone..



Enjoying the beautiful sunset.



Santa Barbara Waterfront



I spend a long time watching these birds in amazement. They dive into the water to catch fish, something I have only gotten to see on Animal Planet.



"I will meditate on the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works"



Fun with friends!



My friend Loren showing me around in the fire station, was very interesting to learn more about the life of a firefighter.




I even got to put on this very fashionable outfit.



Hats off - to all the firefighters who have the strength and stamina to run around in this heavy outfit and doing the extraordinary work you do. You guys are great! "They run in when everybody else is running out"



Me and Jen tried hard to find the little artist inside of us at '2000 degrees'.



Yogurtland - my new best friend.



Wonderful dinner at the Craig's house - Ryan getting excited about the crab legs!

Chapter 6: Colorado

Being in Colorado and in the Rocky Mountains just makes me want to bust out and sing...Sound of Music songs, yes, something like "The hills are alive with the Sound of Music".
Colorado definately has some of the most beautiful scenery that I have ever seen!

Seems like I have some difficulty getting to my destinations on the expected time of arrival, and this time my flight from Washington DC to Denver were 6h instead of 3h because of bad weather and the airport closing down. We had to stop at Pablo airport to refuel after circling around in the air for a long time, but sitting next to a guy from South Carolina wanting me to talk to all his friends because I have a funny accent, just made it more interesting.

I had a great time camping, hiking, playing tennis, running, cycling and eating smores around the camp fire!



Me and my American Mama - Peachy, when we were camping in the Rocky Mountains. We were about 25 people, was great meeting new people and enjoying the outdoors.



The starting elevation of a hike I didn't finish. Well I didn't really start it eather. It is called Long Peak and the finish elevation is 14,000 ft.

We started 3am in the morning but after 1.20 h I decided to do the brave thing, haha and turned back, I realized it was definately not the intensity of "Lions Head" that I was use to and I would have to do some more training before attempting such a difficult hike. The 2 people who did finish was out there hiking for 10h. Well done!

At least now I have a good excuse to come back and try it again.





The lonely walk back to the campsite...I was just so glad I wouldn't be hiking the rest of the day!




But...we ended up doing a 7mile/ 11.3km hike anyway, but this was more do-able for me!




The chipmunk eating a chippie, I love this picture.

Me and "Mama Peachy" at the lake.

Just enjoying the scenery!

Chapter 5: Washington DC

Welcome to Washington, D.C., home of the free and land of the brave! I know you are thinking I stole this picture off a website, but really, I took it myself. The view of the Capitol, which I could actually see if I stood in the middle of Beth's street, is just spectacular...



I've been doing so much flying on my trek to Canada, that I've been thinking a lot about airplanes...and what do you know?! I found the Kitty Hawk just today at the Smithsonian's Air & Space museum. I guess Spirit Airlines is probably a little better than the Kitty Hawk...but not much... it did only take me 12 hours to get from ATL to DC...unbelievable.



Hello, sir! What can I say, I love men in uniform! This is man number 4 during my time in DC. You think I might be crazy for this, but really, it is interesting to me because in South Africa we do not have men in uniform, no uniforms really, and I do enjoy the formality and the pride in which America takes in their men (and women) in uniform.



In the wild...at the Natural History Museum...reminds me of the bush...well, sort of.

I didn't go to the top of the Washington Monument, but I did go to the roof of a building on Capitol Hill (The Heritage Foundation where my friend Emily works), and I had a spectacular view of the city for free and without a line! All of the buildings in DC are very short for a big city, but that provides for amazing vistas. No buildings are allowed to be taller than the US Capitol.

Here I am at my first event on Capitol Hill, Tennessee Tuesday, a weekly breakfast held for Tennesseans and hosted by Senator Bob Corker and Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee. My friend Beth works for Senator Corker and allowed me - who looks so much like a Tennessean - to attend the breakfast, provided I didn't speak. No, not really, but she did bend the rules so that I could come. It was in a beautiful room in the Russell Senate Building...and here I am, practicing my Rotary Speeches...

Me and Beth

Here we are at the Library of Congress. The child on the left symbolizes the USA, with the child motioning everyone to come in. The child on the right represents Africa, placing his hand on the country he is from.

One night we went to hear the Navy Band perform on the US Capitol steps. We took a picnic and enjoyed the show on the mall. It was a beautiful evening with wonderful company and music. Beth said it was her dream to have a picnic and listen to the band play while lying on a quilt on the mall -- so we made her dream come true. I had fun too.

Pacific Blue - In Real Life

National Geographic Society - saw some really amazing photographs.

At the Waterfront in Old Town Alexandria with Emily (left) and Beth (right).

Iwo Jima Memorial - My aunt had been telling me about this monument, so we just had to go and see it for ourselves. It's much bigger than I thought it would be and very impressive.

Me and Father Abraham. President Lincoln that is. I learned a good deal about him this week. He has many great quotes that I've read this week, but I have to say one of my favorites is a conversation he had with his son:

"You should learn more than I ever did, but you will never have so good a time." (Lincoln on learning that his son Robert planned to attend Harvard Law School)

and another:

"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave or half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall. But I do expect that it will cease to be divided. And will become all one thing or all the other."

The World War II Memorial. Beth and I toured the city on bicycles and stopped here on our route. Both of her grandfathers fough in WWII, so this Memorial is very meaningful to her. Of all the memorials, this one made the biggest impression on me because the creators took a lot of time, to remember specific aspects of the war and to remember the leaders of the time and the heroes too.

The White House