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Jimmy and Eunice were our first clients. They
came to California both to see its natural beauty,
and also to explore the possibilities of buying
a farm in the United States. They were particularly
interested in National Parks, and, as lifelong
farmers, things that grew.
They started their trip visiting family in
Southern California, before beginning their
time with us. What began as a fairly straightforward
few days turned into an adventure that took
us all the way to Houston, Texas.
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HA! Where to begin. When Eunice's niece contacted
us about the the Tecklenburgs' tour, I had never
guided a tour. Our custom itinerary design service
had been thriving for nearly 3 years at that
point, but actually participating in our clients'
tours remained a future objective.
Special requests from Jimmy and Eunice changed
all that. The request for a driver was a new
one for us. I arranged one through a local chauffeur
service. When they changed their arrival time
at the last minute, and the chauffeur service
wasn't able to adjust (it was Labor Day Weekend),
I agreed to pick them up from Oakland Airport,
and serve as their driver for the first couple
days, until the chauffeur company could take
over.
That's when the fun began. Turns out that their
interests and needs hadn't quite been translated
properly by their niece, who prior to arriving
at Oakland Airport was the only person with
whom I'd had contact. Suddenly, the Tecklenburgs'
trip became a mountain of special requests,
starting with the correct spelling of their
name (I'd made dozens of arrangements under
the name "Pecklenburg") and continuing
with a complete, on-the-fly redrafting of the
entire itinerary.
Alas, I had bad news for the Jimmy and Eunice;
the chauffeur company could not adapt to the
sudden changes.
Ever charming and assertive, Jimmy replied,
"You drive us." I thought about it
a bit. I'd been enjoying the time I was spending
with them. They were appreciative of my efforts
to show them things I'd known all my life, and
I was really getting a charge out of being their
guide. I told them that, if it was okay with
Tess (my wife), I'd do it. The rest as they
say is historical documentary.
The Tecklenburgs had a wonderful trip. I discovered
my calling as a guide, and the "special
requests" continued. Two days into the
trip, Jimmy raised the idea of my driving them
to Houston, Texas, where they were planning
on flying to visit family after finishing their
time with me in Las Vegas. At first, I thought
he was joking. I should have known better. A
couple weeks later, after a whirlwind drive
through the Rockies, into the Great Plains,
we arrived in the Lone Star State, where I bid
farewell to the Tecklenburgs.
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Lettuce fields in the Salinas
Valley, where Jimmy discussed farming practices
with the locals. |
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A stop at Eagle
Creek Ranch in the Trinity Alps, where
we treated Jimmy and Eunice to a family-style
experience on my family's ranch. |
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An almond orchard belonging
to Jimmy's Godson in Chico, California. |
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A night in the shadow of Mount
Whitney (the tallest point in the "Lower
48" in the town of Lone Pine |
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Camp Manzanar, a camp where
Japanese-Americans were interned during
World War II. |
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Pikes Peak, Colorado, where
you can drive to the top of a 14,115 foot
mountain in the heart of the Rockies. |
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Meandering among the wheat
and corn fields in the heart of Kansas,
where Jimmy thought he might like to buy
a farm. |
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Jimmy and Eunice were just starting their 70s
when we had our adventure together, and weren't
terribly interested in a whole lot of rigorous
activity. In fact, they were primarily interested
in simply driving scenic highways and byways
to soak up as much of the beauty of California's
wilderness and remote areas (and eventually
of Utah's, Colorado's and Kansas's as well).
So, the Tecklenburgs' trip was light on organized
activities. There were a couple of exceptions
though:
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We arranged a flightseeing
tour of the Grand Canyon for them that included
a fixed wing aircraft flight over the western
canyon, as well as a helicopter ride to
the bottom of the canyon, where they took
a boat ride with the local Havasupai Tribe
on the Colorado River. |
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We set them up with a lovely
afternoon lunch cruise on Lake Tahoe. |
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| While Jimmy and Eunice weren't interested in
a whole lot of organized activities, there were
some other notable things we did during their
trip: |
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We took a tour of an almond
farm in Chico |
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We spent large amounts of
time searching for a bear (sadly, we failed
in this pursuit, but we did see plenty of
other wildlife). |
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We stopped often to have a
first-hand look at various farms and ranches.
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We drove to the top of Pikes
Peak in Colorado. |
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I took them to a Best Buy
in Carson City, Nevada, where they invested
in their first digital camera. This was
a major breakthrough into the technological
age for a couple from who'd spent their
entire lives in very rural South Africa.
Throughout the remainder of the trip, we
spent a lot of time learning how to use
the camera, taking pictures of just about
everything we could fit in the viewfinder.
My laptop came in handy for putting the
photos online so that their kids back in
South Africa could track our journey as
we traveled. |
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For Jimmy: As a lifelong farmer,
Jimmy is a lover of things that grow.
The highlights of the trip for Jimmy began
with our visit to the Redwood Highway
in Northern California. More than anyone
I've ever taken to see the redwoods, Jimmy
was absolutely awestruck by these giant
living things, and took extra time to
experience the solitude provided by a
grove of thousand year-old sentinels.
Along the same theme, Jimmy was exuberant
as we entered the Rocky Mountains after
a day of driving through Utah's desolate
Southeastern corner. He'd never seen anything
so desolate as Utah, and was overjoyed
to be back among the world of living things.
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For Eunice: I was
really amazed at how much Eunice enjoyed
our wildlife. The Tecklenburgs' home in
South Africa lies across a river from a
major game reserve. Since our journey together,
Eunice has sent me pictures of giraffes
and elephants taken from their own yard.
So, I was surprised at how she found such
seemingly ordinary creatures like deer,
coyotes and even squirrels so captivating.
Our stops in the Trinity Alps and Yosemite
were particularly memorable due to the abundance
of wildlife in each location. My only regret
is that I wasn't able to find them a bear. |
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For me: This trip has such a special
place in my heart that it's hard to pinpoint
one or two highlights. I think just the
true adventure of their trip from start
to finish, beginning with a simple day trip
from the airport to Monterey, and somehow
finding myself in Houston a couple weeks
later. |
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Spotting a family of mountain
sheep in Zion National Park |
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Learning the intricacies of
ordering food in American restaurants |
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Leaving Las Vegas. Their neice
was sure they'd love it; they didn't. Spent
one night, and headed for Zion. |
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Meet Our Clients |
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| Names: |
Jimmy
and Eunice Tecklenburg |
| Home: |
Komatipoort,
South Africa |
| Interests: |
Farming,
things that grow, wildlife, beautiful
scenery |
| Trip
Length: |
14 days |
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| Links
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| Route
Map |
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| Links
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| Images
from Their Trip |
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