“This is home, I’m finally where I’m belong, where I belong, yeah this is home.” –Switchfoot

That is so true. It feels so good to be back home. Although it is a bittersweet feeling. The trip was amazing, I would never ever regret it, but I couldn’t do it full time. Always moving around for my whole life. I would meet lots of people and see lots of places, but I wouldn’t make any strong lasting friendships, and I would always have to leave them. This is why I’m happy to be home because it is where my heart is and where I feel the best and the most right. Not to mention loved. So I thank God for my experiences and I thank him for bringing me back. Hallelujah, Amen.

 

William Randolph Hearst, Newspaper editor, art collector and lord of a private museum. When he started building in 1919, the plans looked quite different then from what his house looks like now. His architect, Julia Morgan, one of the first female architects, was always changing her plans according to his changing mind. The rose garden that was never actually a rose garden, but was instead substituted for a large outdoor pool. The pool was enlarged and changed three times. And the layout was shifted to accommodate the statues and roman ruins arriving from Europe.

The ranch is situated on the highest most central peak in San Simeon, California. Giving a view of the coast as well as the lighthouse, and anything within 40 kilometres from all directions. Hearst wanted to be able to see all that he owned. Most of the animals in the private zoo roam the land, such as indigenous and foreign grazing animals as well as wild tropical carnivores. A two and a half kilometre pergola hugs the hill and weaves past many of the animal shelters. Beautiful grapevines and fruit trees caress the pergola as well as dot the landscape.

The ranch has 168,000 square feet and is artistically filled with all of Hearst’s most prized possessions, his antiques and art collection. Collecting has been his passion since he was a boy. Tapestries, statues, paintings, Persian carpets, lamps, urns, you name it. An Egyptian statue is slightly out of place, but defiantly antique. It dates back to more than 3500 years ago. The entire residence is the perfect showcase for his renascenc mind.

Hearst certainly knows the meaning of expensive taste, 24-karat gold tiled floor in the indoor pool. Gold gilded ceilings and mouldings in the guesthouses. Guest houses that the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Bob hope, Winston Churchill, and Marilyn Monroe enjoyed, as well as countless others who came to visit during the summer weekends. Even children sometimes came with their famous parents to enjoy his summer home.

Unfortunately, Hearst left his castle, as the locals call it, for the last time. A stroke this past summer forced him to the city hospital. He was insistent on returning. However, another stroke prevented that. The doctors have concluded that it is unsafe to ever return again. All though it has been nearly two decades since Hearst started building, he claims it still unfinished. No doubt it will never be fully satisfactory to Hearst’s ever changing mind.

Black, white and grey
Orca and bottlenose,
Leaping, walking, splashing
eager to please.

Black, white and yellow
Empire, king and macaroni
Waddling, diving, swimming
Squabbling.

Black, white and ivory
Sea lion, beluga and polar bear
Sleeping, resting, lumbering
Gigantic.

Black, white and grey
Commerson’s dolphin and shark
Shy, playful, dangerous,
Ominous.

Red and yellow, black and white
They are precious in His sight
How I love all the animals in the sea.

Who would’ve guessed?  That in Disneyworld there was a place that depicted many different cultures from many different countries.  An eiffel tower, an Aztec temple and the Canadian Rockies. All side by side with a Mission Spaceway by Nasa and a GM race track thrown in.  And who could forget the fountain displays full of leaping water, backwards waterfalls and a water and light show choreographed to classical music.

I thought that the ride, Mission Spaceway, was brilliantly done.  The ride took you into space.  I’m sure that a real take-off would make virtual reality seem smooth and pleasant.  Nevertheless it was still a test for the stomach and they provided you with barf bags as a precaution.  The entire ride was making it to Mars, and having a safe landing.  There were buttons to push and steering to be done.  I have a slight inkling, however that they didn’t have any effect on the ride.  Throughout the experience feelings of turbulance, 0 gravity, G-force, spinning and hyper-sleep all put you through the motions of being an astronaut.  It ends with a congratulatory, Good Job team!

Walking through the marketplaces of Mexico, UK, France, Italy, Morocco and Germany, just to name a few, was like walking the globe in one day.  The Disney enhanced versions were great, for Disneyworld.  They felt as if it was just a shadow of the good, sellable highlights of each country.  It gave me just enough to leave me yearning for more, a travel bug in the making.  The only problem is that some people are satisfied with that, the partial truth and don’t feel the need to explore and taste further.

I feel that as a whole, Epcot Park in Disneyworld was a pleasant surprise and a satisfying change from the rest of Disneyworld.  It drew on the importance of a world community and global awareness.  The fireworks rocked too.

An occasion of a lifetime, something not to be taken for granted. Allthough we only did one thing to taste the unique lifestyle of the Amish, it was a very enriching experience to have dinner with an Amish family. It’s a business that’s not called a business. This family takes anywhere from two to eighty people into their home and serves them a heavenly dinner. Technically they aren’t allowed to charge a fee, but they are allowed to accept donations. The meal was delicious, it consisted of lighter-than-air bread (homemade of course), thick and smooth mashed potatoes, crispy and tender chicken, and rich shoo fly pie (a huge hit here). Their refrigerator and oven ran on gas. Super bright oil lamps hung from the ceiling. They were wonderful hosts who answered many questions and queries. My only wish was to have stayed longer and spent more time with the Pennsylvanian culture, but I always say that.

Verdant View Farm is a bed and breakfast, an enjoyable, entertaining experience you shouldn’t miss. This comfortable country home is set in Amish Lancaster County. The folks who run it, Don and Ginny Ranck are a very kind and welcoming couple. The farm is a perfect place for children, they will have a blast learning about farm animals and helping feed them. Try your hand at manual milking, or you could cuddle with the adorable kittens. Pet the gentle goats or let Roscoe the rat terrier save you from territorial geese. If you aren’t a real farmer person, then you can savour their delicious breakfast and then check out the little town of Letitz. It has many antique and specialty shops. Or you could bike down to the National Toy Train Museum. There is something here for the whole family.

            “Please don’t go, you’ll get killed!” cried Coloured Eyes.

            “Ah mon belle fille, don’t you want freedom and liberty from those dogs?” his eyes lit up with a burning fire. “Don’t you want our sons to grow up in a city where they can be proud to be Metis? Not be harrased our disadvantaged? Then I have to fight. Do not worry everything will be fine.”

            So Coloured Eyes held herself together as Georges and 16 year old Pierre left. The shiny rifles were proudly slung over their shoulders, and their polished boots scuffed the dusty road. But as soon as they were gone, she sat on the floor and wept. Clutching her other three children tightly. The youngest asked innocently.

            “Mama sad? Where Papa go?” at this Coloured eyes remebered her duty as a mother. She cooked supper for the kids, but didn’t eat anything herself. The children went to bed easily, probably realizing that she wasn’t behaving normally. After though, Coloured Eyes didn’t know what to do with herself, to worried to sleep yet to agitated to do anything constructive. Finally she picked up a half finished basket to try to occupy her mind.

            The next morning Coloured Eyes woke up in the chair by the fireplace with her basket in her lap. Wearily, as if the weight of the world was upon her shoulders she made breakfast for the kids. Then all of a sudden the air filled with the sound of gunshots and cannons and the windows rattled and shook. The war had begun. Not long after Coloured Eyes ran to the village square to hear of any news. The children were left at home with the door barricated and locked. Unfortunatly nobody there knew much of what was going on but still they managed to talk. She had no care for that.

            Again sleep escaped Coloured Eyes that night. She slipped out of the cabin and fled to the comfort of the wood. Here she prayed to the spirits of the earth, she prayed for the protection for all the Metis and for victory, that they might finally be free. Coloured Eyes stayed untill the early hours of the new day. Her tormented soul greived. She had never been in favor of war.

             The day passed much like yesterday, the roar shaking everyones hearts and homes. Then in the evening, her neighbor Mrs. des Blanche recieved her husbands body in a casket. The whole town mourned, for she wasn’t the only one. At least ten bodies were brought home that evening. Great news was brought along too though, the message spread through the town and a newly found hope helped comfort. The Metis appeared to be winning.

            That night Coloured Eyes slept peacefully, knowing that her family was safe, at least for tonight.

            The next morning, however, Coloured Eyes awoke to the sound of heavy banging on her door. She quickly opened it and put a defiant look on her face. But the changed as soon as she saw who was standing there.

            “Georges! Is the war over?”

            He quickly embrased her, but then his expression morphed into fear.

            “Non! You have to evacuate to the outskirts of town and set up camp. Take as much as you can, the house and feilds will be lit on fire.

            “What? But why? And Georges, where is Pierre?” she had just realized that her son was not with her husband.

            “Do not worry mon belle fille. He is fine. Everything will be explained later. For now just hurry.”

            So Coloured Eyes packed up everything she could but she wanted to take so much more. Common sense eluded her, she was not certain of what they would need. Finally she finished, she set out with her children, not a moment to soon either. The second she had crested the little hill near her house, Metis men came rushing by with torches and set her corn feilds ablaze. The fire danced around the house and consumed it. Even her beautiful garden was ravaged by the red flower.

            At the edge of the town many wigwams and canvas tents were set up. Just as she had expected there was a group of Metis women gossiping around a fire. Her children  had disappeared to go play with their friends. As Coloured Eyes drew nearer, however,an unusual hush came upon them, anxiety knotted her stomach.

            “Is there something amiss?” she asked.

            “Oh dear! Don’t you know?” Madame de chanter replied. “Pierre he… your son… his body was brought back, not an hour ago.”

            “What? But, but he was, I mean Georges said, he, really? My baby? Why? How?

            “As he was setting a torch to one of the houses a bullet caught him. It was quick, I’m sure he felt no pain at all.”

            Coloured Eyes collapsed to the ground and wept. Then suddenly Georges was there holding her, comforting her. But nothing could bring heim back. Rage coursed through her veins . To hurt every single one of thes, those hatful pigs who killed her baby

            “Mom fille, we must hurry, flee. The Metis lost the battle. They will come after us. We will go west. To new lands.”

            “Leave? Our whole lives are here! What about Pierre? We have to bury him properly!”

            “We can’t don’t you see? They are coming at this very moment. There is nothing we can do for him but we can save ourselves and our children.”

            In her heart she knew he was right. So they took what little they had and moved to the praries. Georges and Coloured Eyes lived long and prosperous lives. They made sure that their children and grand children never forgot who they were and the story of their ancestry.