2021

Despite the blow dealt by Covid-19, my travels survived. Our world is still a beautiful place, worthy of exploration even if limited by mask and distancing requirements. My latest trek began in Ventura in a 1995 Miata, top down, roaring along the edge of California’s coast to Santa Barbara, up San Marcos Pass to Paso Robles. Our last hotel stay before the Covid shutdown in March 2020, Paso Robles Inn had welcomed us and offered us a discount when the whole thing was over. Well, it still isn’t over, but vaccinations are providing a confident feeling to travel, so once again my husband and I found ourselves in an upstairs patio spa room at the Inn, filling us with belief that normalcy may return someday.

The room has a microwave, refrigerator, and giant double sinks in the bathroom, so after an in-room breakfast, we headed across the 46 back to the coast. We were greeted by blooming sourgrass, blue skies on a sunny, warm day. Ragged Point, the last stop before another 45 minutes up Highway 1 comes to a screeching halt, since once again, the highway washed out above Lucia. Ragged Point Inn delivered a fabulous patio lunch with views up the coast served with an excellent wine selection. We vow once again to stay here for a night or two someday, but drive back to enjoy the new Elephant Seal trails along the coast to the lighthouse, and with views of San Simeon’s Hearst Castle, still closed due to Covid.

  • Ragged Point View

South Africa, 2019

From Cape Town to Johannesburg on a Gate 1 Tour Nov. 2019.
After two twelve hour flights, Cape Town was a pleasant surprise, followed by a boat ride in hippo infested waters, on to Cape of Good Hope, penguin beach and a baboon jam in the fynbos native plant area. All this, and we haven’t left Cape Town yet. Our hotel, the Protea Hotel Victoria Junction was within walking distance of the V&A waterfront, Cape Towns’ shopping and dining area. No, it isn’t overrated. The crafts market is a must, and we ate some of the best tapas ever at a restaurant overlooking the waterfront with the best people watching ever. They also served delicious pitchers of sangria.

Welcome to my travels

I began my travels at the age of three on a road trip with my family from Missouri to California, and I have been making lists and on the move ever since. I visited all 50 states in the USA and Puerto Rico too (a place on my “happy to revisit” list). Time is ticking away, and I must explore my home base of planet Earth. When there are flights to the Moon, I will be on the waiting list.

I love lists and booking trips almost as much as the trip itself. According to Applied Research in Quality of Life, planning your trip can make you happier than taking it. There are places I am happy to exclaim, “I have been there,” while being relieved to know I will never have to go back, whereas other places call me back over and over, like Great Britain, France, and Italy where I find an excuse to stop in on my way to visit other places. However, my main goal is to add new places to my list, like a birder searching for that next bird.

My lists are organized by year, but I also have lists by cruise ships and who I traveled with, and a list of countries visited, plus a short list of places I want to visit before I die, because visiting them after death is no fun at all. My favorite countries list is alphabetical, not chronological. I have visited 92 countries as of Dec. 2019.

I write Yelp and Google reviews on restaurants, hotels, and other attractions under the names “Debra “D Kay” R.” on Yelp with over 600 reviews and 4,000 photos, many of which have been chosen to represent a business, and “D. Kay Renick” as a local guide on Google with over 2,500 contributions and over two million views of my photos, much to my amazement. Over 300,000 views of my enchilada photo at Castañeda’s Mexican Food restaurant in Cathedral City, CA leaves me flummoxed about the impact of my photo posts. I mean, it’s just an enchilada, although a very tasty one.

I travel more than half of the time, but do spend the other half in the Central Coast and Palm Springs, California areas during the other half. Both locations are photogenic as well. My goal is to share the beauty, interesting places, and unusual cocktails of the world.