Five Weeks Out: The Happenings

Oh holy moly. I'm starting to spaz out now, I think. Just over a month now, peeps!

From what I can remember of the past week, it's been a pretty good one. But these weeks are tricky things. Every day is a tricky thing because it feels jam-packed full of things and entirely too slow, all at once. Every night I go to bed exhausted, run off my feet, my head in a haze from everything I did that day. And every morning I wake up wondering why I'm still tired, because I really haven't been that busy, have I? (It's a fat lie!) Why is it that when I'm crazy busy my mind goes into defense mode and I really, truly forget everything I've done? Does that happen to you? So when push comes to shove, my list of accomplishments this weeks is pretty huge. You know?

Here it is:

-Work has finally slowed down. Eight hour days instead of 12-14. It's nice. (I hate my new cubicle, though.)

-I had a root canal on Monday. (So the tooth pain has stopped. Crown and fillings in two weeks.)

-My back and neck are well on their way to being better, thanks to my amazing Chiropractor/Bro-in-law, Dr. Eric Westover.

-I ordered a new lens for my camera, which will mean better travel photos during my trip. I'm pretty excited about this one, and you should be, too!

-I sent my passport off to have some pages added. I realized I had less than ten open pages left and that just won't do with extended travel. (Especially when some countries are page-hogs. Seriously, Egypt? Why do you need an entire page? I'm lookin' at you, too, Jordan!) Forty-eight blank pages, here I come!

-It is time to prep my big video editing computer to sell! That means transferring all files to my tiny travel laptop (and a hard drive) and doing a full wipe of said machine. (suffering from separation anxiety, big time)

-I designed my "blog cards" to match my new blog design and sent them off to be printed. I should have them next week and I'm really excited about them. They're super cute!!

-I found a great windbreaker on sale at REI. Added it to the growing pile of things to pack. I plan on spending most of my time in warm places, so I will not be taking things like a heavy jacket or hiking boots (or any closed-toed shoes save a pair of sneakers, for that matter). The windbreaker and a zip-up shell will be my go-to items for blustery days.

-Oh, I cut my hair. Again. Well I didn't do it. My stylist did, like two weekends ago. It's short. WAY short. And I love it! I've been working my way up from mid-back length hair for a few months, knowing I would need something easier to travel with. Here's what I ended up with:



Other news:
My uber-talented and altogether stellar sister went back to work for Apple
this week. Kind of amazing. She's loving it and I'm so excited to see
her so very happy in her job.

And here is what I need to do these days, but have completely managed to avoid so far:
-Complete an entire online course in five weeks. One that I suck at. Way bad.

-Sell the odds and ends that I've been putting off, vases, pictures, decorations, end tables, etc. (very time consuming)

-I'm also contemplating (finally) listing my Jeep for sale. Sadface!

-My list of other odds and ends:: replacing a rather worn credit card (wouldn't want it to stop working abroad), buy travel insurance. Insure my electronics. Arrange a safe deposit box to store my backup hard drive in case of emergencies. Switch all bills to paperless/e-bills. Deactivate local commute tags, pre-paid parking cards and other commute accounts (bridge tags, train passes, etc). Cancel my HSA savings account (to save the monthly fee). Talk to my offices' financial advisor about whether or not I'll need to transfer my retirement fund out of the office fund while I'm away...


And here is an entirely gratuitous photo of my nephew, Rhys, because, well, he's adorable and we had fun taking photos and playing with hats the other day.

What are you up to this week?

8 Weeks Out

8 Weeks from today, I'll sail away from LA and leave behind the US for the unknown... which is only kind of true, because I know exactly where the cruise ship I'm leaving on will take me. ;) But beyond that... I have no clue, and I love it!

Postings will be scarce from here until I leave, but my bestie, Mary reminded me that I should post at least 1x per week just so I can remember what this time is like later on, so here goes. (Thanks, Mares!)


I've got zillions of things to do, for my upcoming trip and for life, in general:

-Vaccinations and medication (5 weeks out)
-Work, work, work
-Pack up what I'm keeping (a gradual process that will only be completed in the last week)
-sell my car (again, not doing that until much later... as  much as possible)
-Don't forget to eat, breathe, sleep, work out and brush my teeth daily.

I'm working 30-40 hour workweeks right now and the stress is crazy. When I'm stressed, my body responds in all kinds of whacked out ways. My spine alignment, hips and ribheads all go out. Way out. So far out that my chiropractor kind of freaks out and the ribheads press against my lungs, making it hard for me to breathe. In the past, I've mistaken this for panic attacks, but now I know all I have to do is see my Chiro. I usually go once every two weeks. But when I'm on vacation I don't need to go at all, even with all of the unusual activity, flights, bad beds... my back seems to love it! This week it was so bad that my jaw was even out of alignment!

I've already begun to miss my sister and her kids. I'm spending tons of time with them, whenever I can find a spare moment between working and packing. (So I'm not getting enough sleep.... I'll catch up on the boat!) I'm not sure it's a good thing, but I can't help myself. Technically I should probably be dialing down the number of visits to distance myself. That's just not going to happen. Love those faces!

Speaking of my sister, she will soon be returning to work (sadly, a necessity for their family, and pretty standard in California. Dual income families are the norm out here) and I'm excited to share her employment news with you all when it becomes official!

My blog redesign is well under way! I've just seen a preview design and let me say, I LOVE IT. It's really going to change the way this space looks/acts/feels/functions.

Happy Travels!

The Great Photo Purge of 2013

Geezer moment:

I remember back when those digital cameras were nothing but a craze! A fad! Film was the only true medium and it was never going to go away. All those digital yahoos were in for a rude awakening soon enough...

End...

I resisted buying a digital camera long after they became mainstream. Prices were too high and quality too low. When I finally broke down and bought one back in 2002, it wasn't the greatest, but it was rugged and durable and even water/weatherproof, which was a must for my ocean-going, rough-and-tumble lifestyle. I wore that camera out, dropped it in bodies of water, rolled it around in sand, beat it against rock walls... and I reveled in not having to pay to develop film!

But the downside of being on the verge of a moment is that the systems you develop for storage and cataloging and general use become outdated very quickly. When iPhoto came along with my brand new mac laptop, I was exstatic to have an easy photo management solution. Being a creature of habit, I've stuck with iPhoto for far too long. And my photo library became a blob-like creature, growing exponentially, wild and untamable and perhaps detrimental to my (mental) health, recently reaching some 16,000+ images!

Streamlining my image library has long been on my to-do-someday list.  Given the fact that very soon I will be selling off my video-editing MacPro and with it will go all of my massive amounts of hard drive space, that someday became now four days ago. I broke down and purchased Adobe's Lightroom.

I debated long and hard between aperture and Lightroom and it was a difficult decision, both programs are solid and offer great features. But as much as I love Apple's hardware, being in the video editing industry, I've fallen prey to their flippant software product backing one too many times. (Final Cut Pro, when it switched from 7 to X, the complete discontinuance of Shake and Server...) Adobe, being solely a software company, seems to stand much more firmly behind their software, and that (along with the file hierarchy system of Lightroom vs Aperture) was the tipping point for me.

So for four days I've been purging my ridiculously over sized photo library. I'm only halfway through and I've deleted thousands of images. Thousands!

I'll be quite happy to load up my streamlined library on my travel laptop when this is all done, and especially happy to check off one more (unexpectedly large) to-do from my countdown to travel list.

My shrinking iPhoto library...

How do you manage your digital photos?

Please Declare Your Destination

The following is based on the actual phone call I had with my medical provider today.

The phone call went something like this:

Kaiser: Hello this is such-and-such from Kaiser Permanente's travel department, I understand you'll be traveling in September and will need vaccinations and medication?

Me: True.

Kaiser: Your first destination is the South Pacific?

Me: Yes.

Kaiser: Where specifically? We will need a list of countries and cities, in the order you'll be traveling.

Me: That list doesn't exist.

Kaiser: Pause... Okay, when you get a better idea of where you'll be going, you should call us back.

Me: No, you don't understand, that's not going to happen. I don't have a list, I have ideas of where I'll go, but I won't know where I'm going until I get there. I can give you a list of the places I'm thinking of going. Let me pull up a google Map...

Kaiser: Uh,

Me: Okay, The South Pacific: New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Tonga, Tahiti, Fiji, the Marquesas...

Kaiser: Which cities?

Me: No clue. After the South Pacific, SE Asia. Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia.

Kaiser: Which cities? Will you be going to rural places?

Me: No clue, and maybe?

Kaiser: ...

Me: Then India, Parts of Africa, probably Kenya and South Africa.

Snippy Kaiser Lady: Well, we don't really work this way. I don't think we'll be able to help you, but I'll submit your request to our travel nurses and they'll contact you within four to five weeks of your departure.

Me: Great. Sounds perfect. Thanks for your help.

What I was thinking: This really is not all that difficult, lady. Put on your thinking cap and use your brain. I've done this before with Kaiser and it's never been this ridiculous. Oh great, I'm going to have to make a million phone calls until I finally get to talk to someone who is familiar with what I'll need in various regions of the world. Fabulous.

Okay, so most people actually know where they're going when they leave the house to travel. All I know is that in late September I'll leave the US. In late October I'll arrive in Sydney. Beyond that, I'll have six months to figure the rest out.

This trip is about spontaneity, about going wherever in the world the proverbial wind blows! Sure, it's probably important to have anti-malarial medication whilst traipsing around the jungles of Thailand, which is why I called Kaiser in the first place. And so far they're just not very cooperative with people, like me, who don't have a set plan. Maybe when I actually talk to a travel expert, it will be a bit easier.

In my experience, people who don't travel are always really, really resistant to even the idea of travel, so maybe that's what I encountered today.

So what would you do? Perhaps I'll make up a list of all the possible places you'd go? But I fear if I did that I'd end up with an entire suitcase just for medications. And that's ridiculous, just like the phone call was.

The Yearly Monterey Getaway

I started writing this post back in Febrauay. FEBRU-freaking-RARY.

For some reason it just got away from me? Back then, I felt like I was fighting for my life, practically. I caught a cold back in November and by February it still hadn't gone away. Waking up in the middle of the night on this particular trip to Monterey, drenched in sweat from breaking yet another fever from the sickness that wouldn't go away is what inspired me to finally go to an acupuncturist, and get well. And it worked.
I know, random. But it's important you should know this about me: I am random. Maybe. (?)


Original, unpublished post, written in February:
It's becoming a yearly thing, going to Monterey. And if you've been to Monterey, you'll know that is a really good thing.

I had one goal during this trip: I wanted my sister to have a restful, relaxing weekend. She's had a rough year, with a tough pregnancy which ended with an emergency c-section and was followed with thirteen weeks in a NICU (thankfully) tending to her twins. The twins are now a healthy 17 and nearly 20lbs and thriving. (June update: weights pushing 22 and 30lbs now!) And the emergency time is officially over. It was time for a little bit of relaxing and pampering. Sister's rock-star of a husband and amazing mother-in-law graciously agreed to watch the chilluns, allowing us to take off for a couple of nights.

Monterey is a little slice of heaven. Tons of people go there for the aquarium, which is very cool, but I haven't been in my past two trips; there is so much else to do in Monterey! Or not do, if you're in the mood to not do much.

I booked this year's hotels with mileage. I had to use two separate hotels as I had to split the mileage balances between two accounts, so we had a nicely varied weekend.

We started off near downtown, at Casa Munras hotel, a visually lovely property with a great, relaxing spa. Spa treatments, an easy walk downtown, amazing oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from our other favorite Monterey hotel, The Portola, (we stayed there during last year's trip) a long walk along the beach, and did I mention the spa treatments? Heavenly!

Overall, if you are looking for a centrally located, affordable hotel, Casa Munras is quite nice. But our beds were as hard as rocks and the walls were VERY thin, and neighbors NOT QUIET. Not a recipe for a good night's sleep. I'd pick The Portola over Casa Munras any day.

 Relaxation alcove at the Casa Munras Spa

 Outdoor bar and grill

--
 As nice as day one was, the absolute highlight of the weekend was our night at the Monterey Hyatt Regency. I've stayed at this property before, and had an absolutely lovely time and was really excited to go back and take my little sis. If you're ever in for a relaxing weekend in Monterey, stay here.

The Hyatt Regency is located about five miles away from the historic center/downtown area, which means you'll need to drive and park when you venture to the pier or cannery row, but this hotel is more of a destination in and of itself than simply a place to lay your head at night.

What can I say about this place? The pictures on Hyatt's website don't do it justice. And since I didn't take any photos the entire weekend (feeling sick as a dog hinders my artistic inclination, go figure), I can't either. (All photos in this post by Kelly Westover.)

 Wonderful, comfortable bed. I wanted to live in it. Forever.

 When I grow up I want a bathroom like this. It's just so... perfect in every way.

Think: sunrise over a perfectly manicured golf course. Fog rolls through the trees and across the green and the rays of sunlight filter through the clouds, creating an ethereal glow. Sparkling pools and hot tubs and fire pits beckon you to make use of the beautifully landscaped property. When you're tired, comfortable beds with crisp, white down comforters will lull you to sleep... I could go on and on and on. I could easily spend a week vegging at this resort and just enjoying the ambiance.

But I guess I'll have to wait until next time. To quote my sister as we drove away, "Hasta La Vista, Heaven!"



I'd count my mission a success.

Hiking the Lost Coast Trail

If you like Backpacking and you're looking for an out-in-the-middle-of nowhere trail, check out the Lost Coast trail. About an hour north of Fort Bragg, California, off-road from HWY 1, you'll find Sinkyone State Park, a state park so remote that it's mostly left alone by the state, which means rugged, challenging conditions. Starting out at the Car-camping-friendly Usal beach campgrounds is a 22-mile long trail that is a backpacker's paradise.

 Just one of the gorgeous floral species along the trail.

 My travel-pal, Heidi, trying to hike through a blackberry bush that had taken over the trail-proper.

You Should Know:
-This trail is one-way. There is a shuttle service for hire that will pick you up at the end of the trail and deliver you back to your starting point, or you could just hike the whole way back.
-Depending on how fast you hike, plan on around three days to hike one-way.
-There are no established water sites and no trash collection bins, so bring a water purifier (there are creeks) and haul it out if you packed it in.
-You'll need a bear-proof canister to store your food in.
-Make sure you fill up your gas tank before heading off-road. It may only be six miles in to the trailhead, but driving that six miles takes about forty minutes. 4x4 vehicle recommended, especially in wet weather. (And this place normally has around 300 days of rain per year.)
-Pack for cool, wet weather and bring long sleeves and long pants. Even if you manage to avoid rainy days, the weather changes quite rapidly here and the trail conditions can be extremely overgrown with prickly plants.

NB: I seem to have developed allergies to Northern California this year. So if you're an allergy sufferer, do not, under any circumstances, forget your allergy meds like I did. This place set off my allergies like nowhere I've EVER been!

There Are Worse Places to Wake Up...

 ... Than an off-the-beaten-path campground on the Northern California's coast.

Even the Roosevelt Elk would agree, it seems, as they had no problem making themselves right at home among the campsites.

But first you have to get there:

California State Park's directions to our campground told us to look for mile marker 90.88 and turn. 

Well, the mile marker wasn't there, but after we drove too far, turned around and went back, we saw this spray-painted on the road.

 Six miles of dirt roads and forty minutes from hwy 1, and you'll find yourself at Usal Beach.

 This is what Jeeps are for.

 Home, sweet tent.

Usal Creek outlets to the ocean here, creating an amazing contrast of eco-systems and providing the perfect place to encounter gorgeous Roosevelt Elk. (The largest breed of Elk in the world, they can weigh up to 1,200lbs!)

These campers woke to a campsite full of Elk.

Seals play in the waves.

 Sunrise over the hills.

 The buck that decided to have a rest... about ten feet from my tent. He was soon joined by about eight friends.

 Hanging out in Usal Creek. Loving life.

On My Mind // A Little Less than Four Months

I'm officially under the four-month mark in my countdown to full-time travel! These are some things I'm thinking about lately:

- I worry about my upcoming cruise. Not the actual cruise, but about things I probably shouldn't worry about at all. I'll be sailing on a ship I worked on eleven years ago! The thought of that floors me. I enjoyed nearly every moment of working on cruise ships, but if I'm being completely honest, there were as many tough times as there were amazing.
One of the first things I learned on ships was to never, never, ever, ever burn bridges. I mean, never on ships, the community is simply too small, too intimate, too circuitous. Be genuinely nice to everyone from the laundry guy to your cabin steward to the Steiners and Casino workers. Everything will always come back to you. Being on ships is like being stuck in a giant karma wagon, but the scale of earnings is multiplied by 100 over what it would be in life on land. With that rule in place, I made a lot of friends. And I came away from five years on ships disliking only two people with a burning passion, for reasons beyond my control (think: abuse of power, narcissism and blatant disregard for others).
I worry that one of those people will be on my cruise (working). I'd love never to meet that person again. Ever. But I don't worry about this enough to change my plans.

-This past year has been a BEAST. Absolute mayhem from two days before my birthday last year until now. 3-month premature twins to re-done root canals to mysterious, death in the family, lingering illness to barking dogs to cancer, emergency neurosurgery and strokes, holy cow! I'm so ready to close out this birthday year and start a new chapter!

Due somewhat to all that has happened this year, but mostly due to my own shortcomings, I failed to finish my correspondence course before it expired. Gah! It's the last class I need to finish my degree, and I think it might kill me. Maybe. I need to buy the course again, but I might be too intimidated...

- I will miss my sister and her kids more than I could have imagined was possible six years ago. In a really good, but bittersweet way. A person can change in so many ways in six years. I've been quite closed-off emotionally for a long time and this time with my sis and her kiddos has helped me learn to love again.

- I think my next phase of life (full-time travel) will be quite possibly the biggest challenge I've ever faced, and not because of the travel, but because of who I want/expect myself to be while I travel and the standards I'll hold myself to.
I want this experience to be about more than travel. I'm not quite sure what that will entail yet, but I'm working on it.


What's mulling around in your mind lately?

Sunset over the San Francisco Bay was amazing this past Wednesday! Loving this warm Norcal Spring!

Perfectly Portable // Sleep Sheet

Product Review: Cocoon Silk Sleep Sheet

I purchased this product after stumbling upon it on Amazon. I didn't think I'd really need it, but I was willing to try it as it seemed that everyone who had one *LOVED* theirs. Plus, I was venturing into countries and travel modes that were a bit more basic/rough than I'd previously experienced.

Best. Purchase. Ever!

If you call yourself a traveler (read: not a tourist), you should already own one of these. Feeling finnicky about that camel-hair blanket in that bedouin camp in the Middle East? Scratchy, dusty sheets (or no sheet at all) in a much-overrated hotel in Turkey? Out comes the sleep sheet.

The sheet is shaped much like a sleeping bag, but the raw silk is stretchy and breathes, while keeping you comfortably warm in temperate climates. Weighs less than a pound and packs down into a small pouch (included) about the size of a six-inch sub sandwich. I pack mine into the top/hood section of my backpack.

Care:
-Wash on gentle, cold water. Air dry (Dries very quicky. Seriously, don't dry this in a dryer, reviewers who have done so have ended up with shredded/ruined sleep sheets.)
 

*This post is in no way sponsored by the manufacturer. All views are my own.

Treating Yourself While Traveling // Petra

Sometimes when traveling, I need to get away from the brutality of travel. Sure, travel is exciting and glamorous and fun, but it can also be exhausting, trying, and anything and everything can just go completely wrong! Every traveler is bound to reach the point where they just need a break, need to take a few minutes and get back in touch with who they are and what they're doing, because it's all too easy to get caught up in the romance and the whirlwind of discovering new places and ways of life.

For me, indulgences are location and circumstance-based: For instance, in Cairo, Egypt I indulged my sore, cracked, dry feet with a pedicure in an upscale resort. (Best ~$10 pedicure of my life!) In Paris, my friends and I bought ourselves the most beautiful long-stemmed roses I'd ever seen. In Greece I indulged by spending an entire day sitting in a cafe by the marina of a tiny island, eating pastries and greek salad and surfing the internet. (After having dislocated my thumb and being stung by a Jellyfish in the span of a couple of days.) San Juan, Puerto Rico always means a trip to a certain clothing shop is in order, and Rome is a constant indulgence: Italians. Gelatto. Pasta. Ancient Ruins. Italians. Repeat.

You get the picture. Travel is OH-SO-FUN, but it can be overwhelming, disconcerting and exhausting, too. I'm not complaining, but it's important to retain a sense of balance within one's self, even when doing fun things like travel.

My latest trip to the Middle East (Israel and Jordan) called for an indulgence of it's own. Enter the Moevenpick hotel, Wadi Musa (Petra), Jordan.

The back story: After a brutal day in the hot desert sun, miles of walking and a positively disgusting dinner the night before, (at a restaurant suggested by a local, the first time such a suggestion has NOT been a winner... It happens!) my travel girls and I were ready for a bit of refinement and the guarantee of an excellent meal.

(Tip: Food in the Middle East can be tricky, especially spoilables like dairy and meats. If you're visiting during "high" season, fresh foods shouldn't be an issue. But if you're traveling during the off season pick places that look clean, have a good number of patrons inside, and try looking them up on tripadvisor.com)

The Moevenpick hotel is perhaps the poshest hotel in the valley. In stark contrast to most places in Wadi Musa, the Moevenpick is beautifully appointed, immaculately clean and well-kept, and boasts excellent, wonderfully-trained staff; a wander around the lobby had my group breathing a sigh of contented appreciation. The best decision we made (aside from visiting Petra) was to enjoy a meal at the Moevenpick's 5-star restaurant.

Trust me, if staying in this little bit of luxury isn't doable with your budget, at least treat yourself to dinner at the Moevenpick after a long day wandering Petra Park.

Beautifully presented, delicate takes on the region's most loved dishes. 

Your palate will be delighted!

NB: On the horrible photo quality: Someone famous once said "The best camera is the one you have with you." The iPhone was all I had with me for these pics.

Do you treat yourself when you travel? If so, what do you like to do?

Faraway Fantasy Friday: Marquesa Islands

When I first came up with the idea to take six months off, the plan was to focus on Italy and walking the Camino de Santiago. But then I pushed my trip back from April (this month!!) to September, and everything kind of... changed. I decided (because of the time of year) to start with Australia and the South Pacific and then head over to Europe in the Spring...

And from there, everything has continued to morph and twist and change, and today, I'm not convinced that I'll make it out of the South Pacific at all!

So many amazing little plots of land and white sand and azure water to explore! So.Many! Fiji alone has something like 300 islands!

I mean, really... I may have to hop on a sailboat as a crewmember for a while to explore all of those places. I just may.

Today especially, I'm dreaming of the Marquesa Islands, one of the most remote places left on the planet. Exactly one passenger ship sails to most of it's 15 French Polynesian islands. (A container ship converted into a no-frills, 200-passenger ship, which also delivers supplies to those islands, talk about multi-tasking!)

The total population for those 15 islands hovers right around 8,000. 8,000! Sounds like heaven to me! (I really enjoy solitude.) This is pure polynesia, one of the last vestiges of unspoilt (mostly) culture on earth.

I'm kind of obsessed with the Marquesas lately. A little bit. Okay, a lot.

This photo of Nuku Hiva is courtesy of TripAdvisor 

This photo of Nuku Hiva is courtesy of TripAdvisor

Where do you want to be today?

Checklist Checkin: 5 months

There is a lot to be deconstructed accomplished before I can up and leave for my world-wide gallivant. I'm happy to say that I am well on my way!

Here's what I'm currently working on with five months to go:

-The great escape plan: Cruise booked. (Still need to book accomodations in Australia for when I arrive.)
-Lease termination: In the works. This is a bit painful because I currently live in the sweetest location, with the most ridiculously affordable rent, which is why I've lived here for six years. Getting rid of my place is not a decision I came to lightly.
-Sell my Car: Okay, I haven't done anything about this yet, it's too early. I still need to get around for the next five months. But I've come up with a game-plan. I'll try and sell my car myself in early September. If it hasn't sold by the time I leave, I'll take it to a dealership and sell it.
-Savings: On track. (Knock on wood!)
-Cleaning out/clearing away: I took a pretty substantial chunk of old clothing out of my closet a couple of weeks ago. Filled up two huge lawn and leaf trash bags with beautiful, hardly worn clothing. Yah, that was painful. I've also taken a first dive at paring down my huge book collection to just the essentials (classics and useful university books). The rest will go to the local library.

But most importantly, I'm doing my darnedest NOT to make plans. I want to be able to wander on this trip, to be flexible and just "go with it". And I'm a planner. This is a lot harder than it sounds!

Are you planning something big? 
Is it under-way? 
What stage are you in?

 Look familiar? That's a page from my finished/printed travel calendar project!

Caesaria

In hindsight, if I could have spent one more night anyplace in Israel, I would have given myself an overnight at Caesaria, and one full day in the park.

Easily my favorite stop of the trip, Caesaria, or as all of the signs spell it along the freeways: Quasaryya (the locals pronounce it KWaysaar-ya, don't forget to roll the "r".)

But we all know that I have an affinity for ancient Roman towns. And oh, Caesaria is such a lovely example of a quintessentially Roman town!

From the amphiteater overlooking the sea to hippodrome and public baths with their AMAZING mosaic floors, this place is truly a wonder.

 One of the first sights from the entrance gate, the Amphitheater

 Shows are staged today in this restored amphitheater. Gorgeous view and a show! 

One of the restored mosaics, and pools at the Palace.

 Public Bathhouse

 One of the amazing mosaics at the PUBLIC Bathhouse. The detail!!

 The long, flat stretch is called the Hippodrome. It's where chariot races were held.

FAQs:
Get there: By renting a car. It's located 45 minutes (driving) north of Tel Aviv. (Two buses, 76 and 77 also run to Caesaria.)
Cost: Normal, adult admission: 36 NIS (Around $9 US)
Bring: Sunscreen, plenty of water (You'll do a lot of walking)
Allow: 1 full day if you're an explorer. For just the general gist, allow 3-4 hours.
Misc: There are restaurants of many varieties near the medieval section of the city, most are quite pricey. For a less expensive option, try the pizza/gelatto shop. Yum!

Caesaria's official Website

The Dead Sea/And the Radio

Twice in the holy land, my small group of travelers and dared to rent a car. Twice, we took our lives into our hands and faced middle-eastern drivers head-on (sometimes literally), venturing out of the bounds of Jerusalem. I was our driver.

And I'm rather proud of the fact that not one of the ridiculous amount of bumps, scratches, scrapes and other damage to our cars was caused by yours truly. Not bad for the girl who's boss said she was going to total her rental car while on a work assignment in NYC. (Not a scratch on that one either, thankyouverymuch!) In fact, I came to think of myself as a reincarnated Israeli driver, so suited was my own personal driving style to their crazy no-boundaries and no-personal-space-existsts way of driving.

I'm not sure I should be so proud. But I am.

Many of the more than 1,500 kilmeters I drove while in Israel were spent alongside the Dead Sea. Sometimes the highway was high and twisty, sometimes low and desert-ous. There were spots where you could see an older version of the same highway, now obsolete and growing back into the unforgiving terrain, sinking lower and lower into the salty, rich earth. There were segments covered in fields of Palm trees, being farmed for harvest and transplantation to other places in the region. The stretches of the sea furthest (NORTH?) are divided into slices by large mounds of salt. Long, white salt walls allow harvesting of minerals for nearby factories.

Israel is a place I would have LOVED to have XM radio. I WISH I'd had XM. Or Satellite. Or a stereo cord to plug my iPhone into the car stereo with. Because, my friends, driving 1500 miles with only local radio stations full of The Call to Prayer, Arabic news (possibly?), some kind of angry preaching in Arabic (again, ?), miles of static, and sometimes, a classical station. (Hallelujah! And boy oh boy am I ever grateful to my 6th grade teacher, Mr. LaRue for teaching me to love classical music!)

So amidst the long lengths of radio silence, mostly just along the Dead Sea, my mind created it's own soundtrack each of the four times we drove the length of that body of salt water. Every time that beautifully blue/green deathly saline oasis appeared, The Lumineers began to play their perfectly appropriately named song.

"Like the Dead Sea/You told me I was like the Dead Sea/You'll never sink when you are with me/Oh, Lord, like the Dead Sea
Whoa, I'm like the Dead Sea/The finest words you ever said to me/Honey can't you see/I was born to be, be your Dead Sea"

Funny how songs can make certain memories really come alive.

Exploring San Francisco: The Golden Lady

Happy New Year!

And now that's done, back to blogging:

One time when I was a teenager my Mom made me join the Girl Scouts because the lady up the street was the Den Mother, or whatever they're called.

Holy terrible idea, batman! I hated it. The snotty girls in the group hated me. It was a mutual hate-fest. BUT, we did a couple of things that were good life experiences, and then I never went back to Girl Scouts again. Oh, and I sold A LOT of cookies because I was that kid whose Dad took her sell-sheet to his chiropractic office and all of his patients bought cookies. Yup.

But I digress...

Thing one that I remember doing with that crazy group of scouterly girls: Filming a fake news spot at a local news station. I wanted to be the camera-woman, but I didn't know the lingo, so I thought the cameraperson was called the Anchor-person. Uh, yah. So I was stuck doing what I REALLY didn't want to do - being ON camera instead of BEHIND the camera. Yuck. I learned that I did NOT want to be a news anchor that day. Amen.

Thing two I remember: walking across the Golden Gate Bridge. It was probably for some kind of fundraising thing, but the point is, that was my first up-close and personal experience with the Golden Lady! And let me tell ya, that is one long bridge! Or at least my thirteen-year-old self thought so when I was walking across it and then back again.

Nowaday, as a bay area local once again, The GG is something I don't cross unless I have to, for three reasons: Traffic. Toll & Tourists.

But I do admire her from a distance, from Crissy Field or emerging from the Caldecot Tunnel on the Berkeley side, or from the deck of a sailboat on the bay or from Alcatraz. GG is a San Francisco fixture, an icon, a warm-fuzzy on a foggy day.

 Sunset over GG. Shot taken from Alcatraz island.

The Facts on the Grand Ol' Gal:

-Named for the Golden Gate Strait, which the bridge spans, or "Chrysoplae"as Captain John C Fremont christened it in 1846. The Strait reminded him of the Golden Horn Harbor in Istanbul, Chrysoceras.

-It took four years to build the bridge, which opened in 1937.

-19 men fell into a safety net that was suspended under the floor of the bridge during construction. Those 19 men unwittingly joined a club called the "Halfway-to-Hell Club."

-There are 600,000 rivets in each tower.

-GG is the 9th longest suspension bridge in the world

-Contrary to popular belief, GG is NOT painted every year. It's orange lacquer is, however, continuously "touched-up."

-Sadly, GG is the #1 place for Suicide in the world! The count was over 1200 by 2006. In 2008, voters approved a measure to install safety netting under the bridge, but it has yet to be completed for lack of funding ($40-50M)

-The bridge has been crossed by nearly 2 billion cars to date.

-The Bridge was not originally intended to be orange, but silver. The orange color was originally the primer for the bridge. Once the primer was finished, the architect liked the way the color complemented the hills so much that he convinced locals to keep it. The color not only complements the surrounding hills, but it also aids with visibility on foggy days, which are very common in the Bay Area.

Facts gleaned from: http://goldengatebridge.org/research/facts.php

Google & Israel: A Love Letter

"Google hates Israel." The innkeeper woman in front of me declared in an exasperated, authoritarian tone. "Didn't you ever watch the film Masada?" She then demanded, aghast at the lack of knowledge (stupidity) about Israel's geography displayed by me and my friends. "It's on the Dead Sea!" She exclaimed. "The Romans needed water! How could you miss that?"
We returned her queries with blank stares. We were trying to negotiate our way out of paying for a second night at her inn as our plans had just been screwed up and we needed to change them.

My recent trip to Israel went off with exactly one hitch. {and one threat of impending war and death, but, you know, that's another story altogether} And it was somewhat of a doozy of a hitch, or rather it would have been had my group not been so ready to just go with the flow and move on.

Earlier that day we'd been in Jerusalem. Earlier that day we'd rented a car and taken just about every wrong turn possible trying to leave the city, finally letting the member of our group with an uncanny sense of direction shut off the iPad GPS and DIY our driving experience. So after an hour of driving around the suburbs of Jerusalem, and, quite frankly, some of the most unexpectedly lovely scenery in the open land around the city, we hit the open road and headed North. North to the Sea of Galilee. North to Tiberias and eventually a tiny artist's colony called Tsafed. Or Tzvat. Or Safed. Or Tzfad. Everyone spells it differently. No matter the spelling, we were going there, and from there we would travel slightly south to Masada fortress and then drive three hours south to Caesaria before returning to Jerusalem.

Except, Google hates Israel. Apparently.

You see, prior to leaving the United States, as any responsible travelers would do, my friends and I combed Google maps for routes and timetables and ideas for our trip. And we decided that we could, in one three-day side journey from Jerusalem, cover the North of Israel, including Galilee, Masada and Caesaria. (Slightly north of Tel Aviv.)

The marked spot is where Google deems Masada to be. Just below the Sea of Galilee. Supposedly about thirty minutes driving from Safed/Tzfat/etc.

Except Masada is not in the North of Israel. 
Not even close. 
Google Maps fail.
True story.

One of the main problems here is that the spelling of names can be very creative in Israel. That's what happens, I suppose, when you translate from Arabic and Hebrew to English, aka, from squiggles to proper letters. (That's humor right there, BTW.)

"MESEDA. It's M-e-s-e-d-a. Not M-a-s-a-d-a. Google has it wrong. Masada is south. Meseda is in the north," Decried the innkeeper woman! "Meseda is a colony of..." the woman waved her hand next to her head "very religious people. A cult. They are very patriotic, they serve proudly in the army. But they are very secretive about their lives and religion."

Meseda was definitely not the Masada we'd intended to visit. Masasda: the amazing ruins of a Roman city fortress atop a massive hill, and site of a mass suicide that inspires the Jewish people to this day. It's kind of a big deal, Masada. Meseda, not so much.

Masada is located adjacent to the Dead Sea in the SOUTH of Israel. (FYI, you'll have better luck finding it with Google maps if you search for Masada Fortress, and not just Masada. It's around thirty minutes south of Ein Gedi.)

The "A" on this map is where the actual Masada is.

Open plans, insert monkey wrench.

You may want to get that case of spelling confusion in Israel looked at, Google.

In case you were wondering, the innkeeper didn't let us out of our second night's reservation (which we didn't use), but she did only charge us half price.

Jerusalem: The Western Wall

My first encounter with the Western Wall was completely unexpected. After a day of wandering around old Jerusalem, looking for a way into Temple Mount from the Muslim Quarter (don't try it), my travel companions and I happened upon a security checkpoint, which are not uncommon in the Middle East. We shrugged at each other, slipped our things through the xray and walked through metal detectors. Once through, *BAM* there we were. Seemingly the heart of traditional Judaism. The place hummed with vibrancy, spiritualism and anticipation. The wall itself is nothing especially exciting. It is a wall, a very old wall. Were it not for the circumstance, for the regard paid by onlookers and the big setup of partitions and crowds of people humming, singing and chanting, a visitor could pass by "THE WALL" entirely, not having a clue that this particular wall is the only remnant of the Temples of Solomon and David in Jerusalem.

Immediately after entering the square beneath Temple mount, a group of Israeli soldiers gathered, nearly under my nose and began to form up for a photo. I took the camera from an at first suspicious soldier, but then very friendly when he understood I meant to take the photo for him. Afterward, the soldiers were very accomodating and posed for several shots for me. After the photo, they all joined in a circle and began singing, dancing, and shouting. I was struck by the patriotism, the pride these soldiers had for their nation and traditions.

Visiting the wall itself seemed almost akward. Being surrounded by people who cherish this wall so much, it seemed almost as an intrusion to approach the wall, to touch it and to simply observe.

Did you know that Jews will not enter the Temple Mount? They regard it as holy and do not want to walk where the Holy of Holies once stood, according to their traditions. So you'll see Jewish people at the Western Wall, but never directly above it, on Temple Mount.

 Women touching the Western Wall. The slips of paper in the cracks are prayers. 

The wall is divided into two sections - one for men and one for women. 

 Washing before approaching the wall.

 Sunset at the Western Wall.