The last time I visited Oceanside, in northern San Diego County, was a decade ago. There was a lively restaurant, The Flying Pig Pub and Kitchen, which survived COVID (that I did not revisit this time) and a lone little Victorian cottage, the “Graves House” sitting in an empty, weedy beachfront field. More popularly known […]
Our short but harrowing lift, from La Bella Palermo to the car rental agency, was thanks to a hair-raising ride by our very own Parnelli Jones. Our taxi driver seemed both skeptical and disdainful of the fact that I, a “woman of a certain age,” would be sharing the driving in Sicily with my friend […]
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Some of the best unfiltered water I’ve ever drunk cascaded over broad gravel bars along the Canning River – surging down the North Slope of the Brooks Range in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Northeast Alaska. Three friends were paddling in a raft, while I paddled in a one-man pack raft on our way […]
Here are some images capturing only a few of the highlights from my Japan travels earlier this year. Of note was a visit with Hiroshima bombing survivor Sadae Kasaoka, who spent over an hour with us, and seeing the “Atomic Bomb Dome,” a surviving building that was the Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall. There was […]
They behaved like rambunctious children – playful, and inquisitive. They’d also never seen a kayaker before. Three-month-old northern fur seal pups were almost knocking me out of my kayak while paddling around Point Bennett on San Miguel Island. May and June are an exciting time to be on the Channel Islands National Park. There’s anticipation […]
The Nature Conservancy contacted me about a “re-discovery” of a rare and endangered lavender daisy on Santa Cruz Island, called Saints’ Daisy, last seen there 59 years ago. The discovery was by Santa Barbara Botanic Garden’s [SBBG] Rare Plant Field Program Manager Sean Carson, who, with his colleague John Knapp, Senior Island Scientist for The […]
I love Sicily— and not just because I am half-Sicilian! The food markets, the array of amazing architecture, the people, the scenery… Palermo is a vibrant port city, from its underground catacombs to the heights of Santa Rosalia, and from amazing fine art collections and museums to eye-popping churches and restaurants of the highest caliber […]
If it’s good enough in this century for Madonna, Sir Paul McCartney and Zendaya, (whom I just missed by a day) – and in the past century frequent visitor Winston Churchill, as well as U.S. Ambassadors Joe and Rose Kennedy, Rudyard Kipling, H. G. Wells, W. B. Yeats, and other political and literary movers and […]
One of the things I love most about living in California is the diversity and abundance of floral life throughout the year. Taking road trips is a hobby of mine, and I especially adore the drive from Santa Barbara to San Francisco Bay. I’ve compiled a list of 10 amazing flower walks that can be […]
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I traveled to the Hawaiian Islands for eight nights and visited four hotels this past spring for three reasons: 1. To see my dear friend of half a century – the amazing octogenarian artist, Dr. Masami Teraoka and his family who live on the island of Oahu, while reporting on my tourism stops. 2. To give […]
It was another 2:30 am wake up call to drive from slumbering Carpinteria out to the Carrizo Plain National Monument. I was chasing another breathtaking sunrise in partly cloudy weather, another hopeful moment with whatever grassland fauna revealed itself. Although it would’ve been real easy to sleep in, wildlife waits for nobody. It would’ve gnawed […]
My cosmic arrival, after a short flight from Honolulu, on the scarred and traumatized island of Maui, began auspiciously with my Uber driver Giuliano and his purple unicorn. A lanky, charming lad, the yoga instructor/wellness coach said he was “into shamanic sounds healings.” Giuliano and his talisman (along with a crystal heart dangling from his […]
…and I say that with all due respect to one of the smartest and cleverest birds on the planet. I’ve also known, for years, that I’m up against a most formidable opponent. Having guided a kayak tour at Prisoners Harbor on the north side of Santa Cruz Island, I returned to my backpack tucked away […]
My seatmate on Alaska Airlines from LAX to Puerto Vallarta was Jeremy, a South African who made his fortune developing software for Wall Street and had become a U.S. citizen. He was traveling with 16 of his best friends to celebrate his 60th birthday in Punta Mita, Mexico. I was heading for a special culinary […]
