My Kokwana:

I lived with kokwana (Shangaan word for grandmother) when I was working in South Africa last summer. And she is AMAZING. Moving into someone’s home when you don’t speak each other’s languages is extremely difficult. It was awkward at first- I wanted to ask if it was okay to use something, but of course I had to find someone to translate. Or mime it. We fell into a routine and as family members came to visit our home, I learned more about this woman who I called Essi, and eventually called kokwana. Even though she lives in a poor village, she housed refugees when she was younger. She has raised independent, strong daughters who have gone on to college- one even lived in London for five years. Her oldest granddaughter is on her way to study at the University of Cape Town this year, hoping to become a doctor. She is a pastor and highly respected in her community. And she’s stern. She doesn’t crack a smile often but when she does and she lets out that deep-bellied laugh, it makes it all the more sweet. She loves watching WWE wrestling and says the funniest things. She raises two of her granddaughters and it is easy to see why her kids have been so successful. Though she runs a tight ship at her house (seriously- she’s stern), the warmth and love that emanates from her home is pure joy.

Meet Virginia:

First meeting Virginia in 2008, with her grandmother

Virginia is a completely different situation. She is a 17 year old mother that had big dreams, high hopes to finish school, and is a beautiful girl inside and out who has survived unthinkable hardships (ie kidnapping, physical abuse, abandonment, and most likely sexual abuse). She is now married to a man who is part of a gang and has a baby. And though she is lucky that the local hospital could perform a C-section on her tiny frame, she was still having trouble doing housework two months after giving birth due to a slow recovery. She has given up on trying to go to high school and is focusing on being a wife and a mother. I first met her in 2008 when a friend of mine in the village told me that her friend had a bright granddaughter who had come to live with her and wasn’t in school. Going in search of her on this last trip (it took three days to find her) led me to her beautiful smile and warm hugs. And of course, tales of her recent situation. Even with her sad eyes, she beamed every time she looked at her beautiful baby and I will never forget that smile. And her strength.

Virginia this past December. Isn't she beautiful?

Nomonde:

Nomonde lived through apartheid. She met her husband while visiting her cousin in prison. He was jailed for protesting. She not only survived apartheid, but threw her efforts into developing a restaurant in her home. It took years, but she finally got it up and running and now can send her youngest son to a better school. I still will never forget her telling me, that even if she had $1 million, she would never move from her township. She is so proud and a lovely woman to spend a day with in Cape Town.

Hakuna kama mama is a Swahili saying that means “There is no one like a mother.” It’s true. And it’s just fun to say :)

Because Stella and I had found such a stunning sunset in Hermosa Beach the night before, Emily and I were hoping for a repeat. We weren’t going to make it to Hermosa in time for sunset, so we stopped in Venice Beach. I had heard that this area was a little more artsy, but the contrast coming from Santa Monica was like night and day. \

We rushed out to the beach to watch the sunset and found a large circle of people playing drums and other small instruments.

Musicians on the beach (taken by Emily)

We wandered past a man on stilts dressed up as some swampy creature.

There were people on rollerblades and skateboards everywhere.

And then of course, there was the clinic that could solve all of your medical problems…

And while the sunset in no way compared to the one I saw at Hermosa Beach, it was still pretty.

Clouds that look like birds

As we left Venice Beach, we caught sight of this mural on a building near the beach.

Emily and I had a fun time walking around. Venice Beach is certainly a great place for people watching. Have you been?

Snapshot from Emily's 35 mm.

When Stella and I first got to LA, we tried to follow directions to an overlook for the Hollywood sign but failed miserably. Emily flew in just a few hours before Stella needed to be at the airport to fly out. At the top of our list of activities to do together? Get close to the Hollywood sign!

We followed new directions that we found online and ended up at the perfect spot. We of course took some jumping photos and enjoyed the views of the sign and of the city.

Those few hours went by so quickly and before we knew it, we had to head back to the airport to say goodbye to Stella. Luckily, we shared one last lunch at In-N-Out (which would not be complete without a few laughs along the way).

We used this address of a park to find the view of the Hollywood Sign:

3000 Canyon Lake Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90068

However, the official Hollywood Sign Trust offers other options as well.

Back in October, when I was in Los Angeles, my at-the-time-unborn nephew had yet to be named. Emily and I took the task very seriously of assisting in picking out the perfect name. My sister and I, while being very much alike, have a few key differences between us- including baby names. I’m a little more out there while my sister prefers the more traditional. She told me I could help her come up with baby names as long as I didn’t suggest anything like ‘Olive’ (the name of the little girl in one of my favorite movies Little Miss Sunshine, and also a name that I happen to find adorable… even though I hate olives). I relented and respected her tastes. On part of our drive from LA to San Fran, Emily and I made a long list of names that included Drew, Joseph, Max, etc, with a few names that she might find edgy, like Aidan (of course we would draw inspiration from Sex and the City because we played it on repeat during late nights working on studio projects in college!). 

However, while strolling down the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Emily and I decided to provide a few comical choices for the name game. Some names we picked because they’re funny/ridiculous, while others because they will forever provoke an image of a particular person… I mean who can hear the name Leonard and not think of The Big Bang Theory? Emily and I excitedly moved from one star to the next, finding the perfect names to document. I never got around to sending these options to my sister (no surprise there since I’m writing about part of the road trip six months later), but now I hope she will take a look and at least have a laugh or two… at the mere thought of naming her son Merman. After all, she’s safe since my handsome nephew was born in February and she went with one of my top choices (in the traditional category that is), Alexander. (Side note: I’m calling him Xander… because that just makes him sound a little cooler.)

Dramatic sunset at Hermosa Beach

Maybe this should have been titled, ‘The Most Amazing Sunset I’ve Ever Seen (Surprise! It’s not in Africa)” because I always brag about the sunsets in Africa. But while staying in Los Angeles, Stella and I asked my friend’s mom, our host, where to go for dinner. One of her recommendations was in Hermosa Beach, so that we could watch the sunset and overlook the water. We get unbelievably lucky with a magnificent sunset. Earlier in the day it had rained, and the clouds still lingered in the late afternoon. We walked out to the pier when we arrived, and slowly the colors started to appear. Check out these photos from Hermosa Beach and see just how stunning and dramatic the sunset was for us. Even our host confirmed that it’s one of the best sunsets she has seen while living in L.A.

Stella sticking her toes in the water- too cold for me!

Sunset on the pier

Under the Hermosa Pier

Emily landed in Los Angeles on the day that Stella was due to depart. Originally she was scheduled to fly to San Francisco, but we found a cheap last minute deal so that she could meet me in LA instead. Luckily, their time overlapped for about 3 hours or so, and we made the most of it! Emily and I met in design school, so our first stop of the day was to Frank Gehry’s Walt Disney Concert Hall. Though they do offer tours, it is free to walk around on your own. Unfortunately, the main hall was closed for some auditions, but we still got to see some of it.

The front desk- made of stacked, recycled glass

When Stella and I headed for Los Angeles, it was bittersweet. We had many good road trip memories to laugh about, but she was also flying out two days later. We drove the beautiful coast of Highway 1 and rolled in around dinner time. My coworker in South Africa offered up her mom as a host for us in L.A. Her mom was a great host and took us to a Brazilian restaurant in her neighborhood as soon as we arrived!

On our agenda the following day was to hit up the must-sees of Los Angeles. We tried to get close to the Hollywood sign but had poor directions, drove down Rodeo Drive, and of course stopped at Hollywood Blvd’s Walk of Fame. My first trip to the Walk of Fame was when I was 14. My best friend and I were recently obsessed with the movie Pretty Woman and hoped to see a Vivian walking down the street (we never did). This time, Stella and I searched for our favorite stars and stopped at Mann’s Chinese Theatre, although apparently it is now being called by its original name Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.

Stella and Dean Martin in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Grauman's Chinese Theatre

Shirley Temple :)

Stella & Jason

Germans love David Hasselhoff's music so Stella had to snap this shot

And who doesn't love some Betty White?!

And two days later, when Emily flew in, we made an equally entertaining trip to the Walk of Fame:

Emily had to fight a crazed foreigner off to even get close to Michael Jackson's star

Emily and my mom are huge Celine Dion fans. So we took this photo to pass along to my mom:

Emily and Celine Dion

And we took this photo as Emily recalled being grounded when she was younger and stripped of her ticket to go see Celine Dion. She has never gotten over it ;)

Emily cries over her lost opportunity to see Celine in concert

The Hollywood Walk of Fame runs 1.3 miles down Hollywood Boulevard and has over 2,400 stars along it. It’s crowded, and tourists are everywhere, but it was of course a fun time!

This photograph turns out to be one of my favorites from South Africa. I can’t help but smile every time I see it. Our village was set about 5 km. down a dirt road off of the main tarmac road. We could use this route to drive to town, however on one particular day, my coworker and I decided to try an alternate route. Though it was about the same distance to town, it cut through other villages and took us on back dirt roads. We wanted to get better views of the mountains that surrounded our beautiful region so we made a few stops along the way to get out and take photos. Satisfied after a couple of stops, we continued driving through villages and were busy chatting, when I yelled to my friend to stop the car- immediately. I saw this boy out of the corner of my eye, and it put an instant smile on my face. She of course stopped, threw the car into reverse, and this boy and his friend eagerly approached us. I rolled down the window, showed him my camera to see if I might be able to take his photo, and he flashed a grin. His toy car is made from scrap metal and the wheels are probably bottle caps. And while most kids I know would throw out the plastic that holds canned drinks together, this boy used some ingenuity and fashioned it into a mask. Doesn’t that just put a smile to your face?

Abe & Alan are Full House fans

“If you’re going to San Francisco, be sure to wear flowers in your hair…” ~a song Stella had us listening to again and again on her San Francisco CD.

If you saw my road trip map, you noticed that I drove from San Francisco, down to LA, and back again. Stella was flying out of LA and really wanted to go to San Francisco. So we stayed in SF, then drove down to La where I dropped her off at the airport and picked up my friend Emily before we headed back up to SF.

I did my college internship in San Francisco and really, really love the city! It’s one of my favorite places in the States, and a city I would love to hang my hat one day (if only it were not so damn expensive and would get really hot in the summer, it’d be perfect!). Stella and Emily had never been to San Francisco, and I think everything touristy about the city is great, so I was more than happy to spend some time here.

Sunset from our friend's house in Berkeley

San Francisco also happens to be a city where I know a lot of people. Sadly, even spending over a week there I didn’t get to catch up with everyone. But I did split my time staying with two friends I met from my job in South Africa and got to catch up over meals with people I met at my internship.

Amy Winehouse Memorial in the Haight

Stella and I had about five days in the Bay area. We explored Chinatown, Haight-Ashbury, Fisherman’s Wharf area, several parks, and did a daylong bike ride that included biking the Golden Gate Bridge and visiting Sausalito. Biking through the Presidio and across the bridge is one of my all time favorite things to do in the city. However, this was my first experience biking downtown as well, and it was one of those ‘We’re not in Kansas anymore’ moments. I guess you get used to biking in traffic if you live in the city though. We had a great balance of sightseeing and exploring during the day, and catching up with friends and cooking at home in the evenings.

Stella biking the Golden Gate Bridge

Stella was surprised that they would actually post these signs.

On my return visit with Emily, we essentially had two days to spend in the city. We spent one of them sightseeing (yet it ended up raining most of the afternoon) and having a nice dinner in town with a friend and we spent the other day with our friends and ran the Golden Gate Bridge.

Emily gives a wave while running the Golden Gate Bridge

Another reason to love SF- I found a hamburger phone & sunglasses with a mustache

It was hard to say goodbye to friends we stayed with and friends that we barely had much time to catch up with, but it was so great to be back in the city and to be able to share it with Stella and Emily. As Emily and I left San Francisco to head up to to Sonoma, it took us over an hour just to get out of the city. Thank goodness for public transit the other days. We stopped for one last photo-op of the bridge before saying Bon Voyage to San Francisco.

Alan going solo now since Abe went back to Germany with Stella

Goodbye for now

Sunset with Golden Gate Bridge in the distance

A few things to note if you’ve never been to San Francisco:

1. It does have a lot of hills, but San Francisco is a very walkable city. Wear comfortable shoes and take time to explore on foot.
2. There is no shortage of sightseeing activities in this city: Visiting the winding Lombard St, biking or running the Golden Gate Bridge, feeling like a hippy in Haight-Ashbury, visiting the overlooks and Alamo Square (think Full House), taking a day trip up to the wineries, checking out the Fortune Cookie Co. in Chinatown, taking the ferry over to Alcatraz, riding the Powell St. cable car, and strolling through the Golden Gate Park are just a few of them.
3. If you would like to visit Alcatraz, book in advance! It’s really difficult to get tickets otherwise.
4. Maybe I realize this more coming from a city that is not nearly as diverse, but take advantage of eating some of the magnificent cuisine that the city has to offer. Because it has it all!
5. Parking is a total pain. This is the first time I’ve ever had to deal with having a car in the city. (And I don’t plan on driving here again- I’d hire a California moving company if I come back.) When I stayed with a friend south of San Francisco, it was fine, but when I was staying in the city and over in Berkeley, I was at a loss at to what to do with my car. I ended up paying to leave my car at the North Berkeley BART station under the Airport/Long-Term Parking option. It is worth noting that you must pay for this and print your slip out online in advance! You cannot pay for this option at the station (I had to learn the hard way). For more info on that, check here.
6. You can buy 1, 3, or 7 day passes for the public bus system in San Francisco, however we found with as much walking as we wanted to do as well, that we were better off paying each time we took the bus. But if you are interested in purchasing a pass, you can check it out here.
7. And finally, while the city is quite expensive to live in, so many of the activities are either cheap or free. Plus, it has plenty of affordable hostels in the city (which is where we got a big discount for the bike rentals). So, if you haven’t been to San Francisco, you should go!

The above post on was made possible by North Travel Insurance. Access comprehensive travel insurance for Australians traveling to San Francisco, including travel insurance for Australians already overseas.

Abe & Alan (and Stella in the background) at Sea Level in Death Valley National Park

One very good reason why you should not go out the night before you drive out of Vegas? The heat of Death Valley! I think Stella and I were both grumbling about how Vegas had gotten the best of us as we hit the road for Yosemite. But as we neared Death Valley, we realized it lives up to its namesake, and I was miserable.

This post marks the longest day of the US road trip to date. After brunch with my friend Diana, Stella and I left Las Vegas around lunch time. We had marked out the best route to get to Yosemite and would be crossing Death Valley.

Amargosa Opera House and Hotel

Where are we?
Our map did not show that we would arrive at a junction. Maybe we took a wrong turn, or maybe our map just wasn’t that detailed. But, we found ourselves in the tiny town of Death Valley Junction, staring straight ahead at the Amargosa Opera House and Hotel. I’m not gonna lie- when we pulled in, it looked creepy. This tiny town looked abandoned to begin with, and there were only one or two other cars in the parking lot. We pulled in and hesitantly walked inside for directions. The few people seated to our left upon entering turned out to be the only customers at the hotel at the moment- and they were ghost hunters trying to connect with people from the past. Then we met a normal enough guy who turned out to be Marta’s right hand man. Marta is an opera singer and performer who owns the hotel and puts on shows in the opera house. If you click the link above, you can read more about her life and how she used to be a star on Broadway. She’s also a talented painter and painted in the interior of the opera house herself. According to this gentleman, she has a cult-like following and people love to come see Marta perform. We had a great time talking to him, and he even weathered the storm when we practically annihilated him with the ‘You’ve lived out in this desserted town for how long?!’ type of questions. He gave us directions to continue on to Death Valley, and we set out again.

Abandoned town

Death Valley: Morbid name but for good reason
We went through Death Valley in September. In the US, this month generally signifies temperatures starting to cool as we transition into fall football weather. In Death Valley, that is true as well, however when the average daily high temperature in July is 115 degrees, then when the average daily high in September is 106 degrees you can consider that cooling off as well!

It’s hot. And it’s dry. Average rainfall in Death Valley is just under 2″ per year. It is the hottest, dryest, and lowest place in the United States. Not much can survive in Death Valley under these conditions. I wish I still had the Death Valley National Park newspaper, as it had some fascinating information in it. One thing I do remember is reading about the kangaroo rat. It can survive its entire life without drinking a single drop of water! Its body metabolizes the starches and fats from the seeds it eats to get all of the water it needs to survive. How crazy is that?!

Entering Death Valley

There are people who actually live in this place (no judgment) but I’m not sure how. We stopped midway through Death Valley to grab a bite to eat. There was lodging, a convenience/souvenir store, a little restaurant, and a gas station (where gas was almost $6/gallon since it’s the only place around to get gas). What a life. When we picked up the park newspaper, it warned about car accidents in Death Valley. Not even 20 minutes into the park, we saw a flipped car. There is no cell phone service. When we stopped at the visitor’s area (no building, but just some signs and a place to pay park fees), there was a phone there to use for emergencies. And when we stopped to grab food at the place I mentioned above, we overheard employees talking about someone who didn’t show up to work because she got into an accident- and she was coming from a different direction so it wasn’t the same person we saw. Windy roads, high speeds, and little traffic- a bad combination.

Dantes View

Dantes View:
We drove out of our way, up to a lookout called Dantes View. If we were going to drive through Death Valley, we thought we should at least have a look around. The drive up was really windy and slow-going, but the view was pretty spectacular.

Dantes View

Back on the road, we saw what we never expected: rain!

So it didn’t last long, but the clouds that followed are exactly how I imagine doomsday to be. I couldn’t get over how dramatic the sky looked!

Dramatic sunset

Is this what the apocalypse will look like?

Sunset storm over Death Valley

We saw signs that recommended you turn your air conditioning off, and even at high speeds, as soon as we rolled the windows down, we were hit with a wall of choking heat. It was evening, and it felt like a blazing hot summer day outside. We saw bicyclists as we drove out of Death Valley and realized these bikers were in some sort of relay bike race. I couldn’t get over why anyone would ever desire to bike Death Valley- not only is the heat bad, but they are climbing mountains. It also slowed us down a bit, because it was completely dark out and we spent the entire evening passing bikers on windy roads.

Yosemite camping is full???
The hours between Death Vally and Yosemite seemed to stretch on, and when we arrived at the park after midnight, we found all of the campgrounds were full. And, there was a good 60 degree temperature change! It was freezing. We had no choice but to keep driving, because there was nowhere to camp. We stopped at one place on the other side of the park to try to get a room- it looked like a dump and the lady said a room would be $100 and only if we paid in cash. Because that doesn’t sound creepy or anything. We found a campground around 2:30am, set up our tent on a sloping campsite, and tried to sleep despite the cold. What a day!