We stopped by Camp Richardson on the southern side of Lake Tahoe where I used to camp as a kid in the 1970s and 1980s. My grandfather worked there from the late 1960’s to the Eighties.
Coyote puppy and mom when we were hiking near Nevada border in South Lake Tahoe.
Downtown Truckee:
Shando found a rental in Nevada City so we decided to explore this corner of northern California that we weren’t that familiar with for a long weekend in celebration of his 50th birthday. It turned out to be a lot more interesting than we could have imagined with a very gay-friendly atmosphere. The entire downtown area was swarmed with rainbow flags and great little shops that we enjoyed patronizing. Shando took some great portraits of flowers and the park and we took some nice ones of ourselves if I do say so myself. I’m using some of the ones Shando took of me for my profile pictures.
Our neighbors Shelee and Kathi have an awesome house with great views from unincorporated Vallejo. They hosted the potluck on May 14. I went back for John Fox’s re-election campaign kickoff a few weeks later on June 4 and remembered to take pictures of their fabulous back garden as well.
Vallejo Gay Network periodically flies kites down there. This was our first time attending.
During the months where it is light in the evenings, VGN organizes these bocce ball events in the beautiful Highland Park here in Vallejo. The bocce ball courts were recently renovated so it’s very much appreciated and we intend to make good use of them. The park is gorgeous, as well as the views as the sun comes down. It’s safe for our dogs to mill about and the fun and camaraderie are always there for us humans too. This was one of the first VGN things we did after Covid since the potlucks were put on hold. This outdoor activity was really refreshing for so many of us. Tom had the wherewithal to have us take a group shot this time, so here is the result!
This fire was probably another person flicking a cigarette after coming over the bridge into the hillside that seems to catch on fire very regularly. Fortunately, it did not get too close to homes and no one was hurt before a number of fire stations put it out. Regardless, we’re very happy that Glen Cove got its own Fire Station #26 back, in large part due to the work of the Glen Cove Community Association.
Meanwhile the SAME DAY in Benicia there was another fire that I could see from the Glen Cove Waterfront Park.
This was our third trip since Covid and our third road trip, all of which were to Palm Springs, so we’re probably done until at least Autumn. Hopefully we’ll be venturing to other places by plane again soon for the first time since Covid. When in Palm Springs we usually visit with our Bay Area friends so this trip included seeing Kevin and Kenn again.
This includes the last pictures of Bella, sadly.
Foster Dinky with her mouth tumor is also featured here:
Pictured with Monte is our friend, former housemate and dogsitter John who watched our dogs while we went down to Palm Springs again. He took some great pictures of the gang.
This was Snowball and Peanut’s first trip to the Bocce Ball with Vallejo Gay Network, but all five dogs enjoyed the attention and outdoor trip.
The other pictures are of our dogs at home and include some guest dogs that were in the pictures with us and our own dogs and fosters.
Our next-door neighbor town within Solano County is Benicia. Like our Glen Cove neighborhood it’s on the water and has amazing views of this lower part of the Sacramento Delta feeding into the Carquinez Strait, San Pablo Bay followed by San Francisco Bay and then of course the largest body of water in the world, the Pacific via the Golden Gate Bridge. These kayakers have great views and plenty of guts since this does have large ships coming in regularly!
