Last Blog for this Journey.......I Have Seen the Good....and More

 

Thank you all for keeping tabs on me while I was on the road.

The journey was more that I could have asked for and talk about seeing the good!  My journey into goodness  was amazing, full of great people and wonderful experiences. 

I learned so much about myself.  I know how much confidence a person can develop.  I also know about faith and trust in the road ahead and what it holds for me.  I believe in angels and I felt spiritual guidance the entire way.  I am certain that many roads that were in my plan were not meant to be and I was guided elsewhere. Whenever that happened, something or someone great was waiting for me.  I asked God and the Universe to send me where I needed to go to learn and also where I was needed.  Therein lies the faith and trust.

 

Before leaving San Diego, Rose and I got to meet Heidi, my friend Anne's daughter.  She attends college at SDSU.  Heidi is a very kind and patient young woman.  Due to traffic, Rose and I were about an hour late.  Heidi waited for us and am I glad she did!  I enjoyed meeting her so much.  She is delightful.




When I saw "San Francisco" on the GPS and the sign below, I was so excited!  Almost back to the Bay Area.

I stopped in Hobson Beach State Park in Ventura County, north of Los Angeles.  I stayed overnight here with the beach just about 100 feet away from my RV.

Here is a spot where you can walk down a staircase and it leads right into the ocean.  Great place to sit.

 

This is a bridge going out to a little island.  Cool.

 

 

                            Oh yeah......I'm in California.

 

Here is the sunset from Hobson State Beach.  I caught a pelican flying across the sky.  Beautiful.  Feels like the sun going down on my adventure.

 

Last stop....Santa Cruz.  Headed to my sister Kathleen's house tomorrow in San Jose.  Can't wait to see her and the family.   I will then start making plans to see friends and check out the old neighborhood in Pleasanton.

 

 

Cheers everyone.....I enjoyed writing this blog and I hope you enjoyed reading it.  As I sip on this cosmo at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, I realize how relaxed I am, glowing from the fabulous experience.  I am thinking about how lucky I am to love, be loved and to have not only seen the good, but have found it in so many ways. 

Love,

Laurie

San Diego....and a Visit from the Queen!

This is Rose's solar-powered Dancing Queen.  She made a really funny video with the Abba video, "Dancing Queen" playing behind the Queen dancing back and forth. Hilarious!

 

 

Here is Rose, the Queen (by the biscuit) and me in a lovely Carlsbad Coffee and Tea shop.

 

 

This place is magical.  Self-Realization Fellowship has more than 500 temples, retreats, ashrams, and meditation centers around the world.  The fellowship offering all interested seekers the opportunity to come together to experience the power of group meditation, focused retreat programs, inspirational services, and to share in spiritual fellowship.

 

 

Since it is a place of reflection, I made sure mine showed up.

                                       Meditation Garden at the Self-Realization Fellowship

 

 

Peaceful walking path outside the garden

 

                                    Time to get Taya at school and then head to Old Town.
                                              Here is Rose driving with her fancy hat on.

 

The Queen came with us!

                                 
                                        Taya is so grown up. I was so happy to see her!

 

This is Lourdes.  We had a lovely dinner in Old Town.

 

 

 

This is "Stephanie" and "Jacqueline"....I asked them their birth names and they told me.

This is actually Maria Elena and Aris.  I commended them on keeping their culture alive and how beautifully they danced.  I wished them the best and hoped they teach their daughters and/or sons to dance some day.

This is the General Store at Old Town.  So much candy, so little time.

 

Two more days in San Diego and then I am heading up the coast of the beautiful state of California.

 

Love,

 

Laurie

Tucson, Arizona to........CALIFORNIA!

 

Touring Tucson a bit a found a place called "The Hut"

Nice little outdoor bar and a great band inside.

 

 

These are my friends at the bar Coco and Marina

This is Dave.  He has a thousand stories to tell.  I listened to about 999 of them. Funny dude.

 

Restaurant recommendation in Tucson, Caruso's.  Great Italian food!

 

This is my kind of store.  It also bears my travel name...."Hippie Gypsy"

 

 

Well, the A/C died in the RV and when I returned at 7:00 p.m. from looking around Tucson, the inside of the RV was 99 degrees. I tried fans, but they did not work.  The asphalt outside at the RV park was really hot and all the items in the RV were too.  I had to get a room at the local Holiday Inn just to get some sleep.  Slept in 75 degree room after a cold shower. 

I set my alarm for 4:00 a.m. so I could beat the heat and get to California.  After driving for a few hours, the sun came up this is what I saw...





 

 

In a Boston accent please.... "But it's a DRRRRY-EYE Heat"

What is it?????  What is the THING????

I had to pull in.

Here I am....I'm scared now.

A whole dollar??? Okay, I'll bite.

A bunch of old stuff soooo faaaaar.

A covered wagon, nice.  Indians standing guard seems a little odd.

I noticed some manikins inside this car.  I think I saw one of them move.  I moved on.

 

Remember these? I remember the one on the right!

 

Okay....ready??? It's time to see THE THING!!!

 

THE THING......AHHHHHHH!  OMG, it appears to be a mummified person found in the desert.  Well, I think someone got very creative with paper mache', dust and a lot of dirt.

 

 

This is a sign in a gift shop that tells teenagers to move out, get a job, pay your own way while they still know everything.  That will show those parents all right!!

  

 

Here is the elusive Jackalope.  The card says...

 

The reclusive Arizona Jackalope is a distant cousin of the more famous and plentiful Montana Jackalope.

 

The Montana Jackalope was an ill-conceived cross-breeding between jackrabbits and antelope.  Originally bred by ranchers for food, in the late 1880's some escaped from their pens and prospered in the wild.

 

Over the years, the southern migration of the Jackalope has resulted in the unique subspecies, the Arizona Jackalope, which smaller, quicker and can go days without water. Modern day Arizona Jackaoples enjoy night time feasting on grasses covering the vast Arizona golf couses. Reports of Jacaklopes taking golf balls off greens and hiding them in the rough are discounted by those who know them best.  HA HA HA HA HA

 

 

Great sign!!!   "Drive Hammered, Get Nailed"

Here is a stop in the desert.  So many tchotchkes, so little time.

 

I turned around and a dinosaur fight broke out.

This one wants in on the action.

 

After a harrowing experience coming over some BIG mountains, a few stops to let the engine cool down and 10 hours of travel time I arrived in.....

 

CALIFORNIA!!

 

 

At this RV park, there is a small estuary and a bully that is bothering the others.

 

My friend Rose picked me up and we went to the pier area in Oceanside and had some dinner.

Here's Rose.

 

 

 

Today I will visit with Rose and stay a few days.  I will head up the coast of the beautiful state of California as I complete this part of my journey.

Love,

Laurie