We’re getting ready to float down the Russian River next week at Lazybear! I’m so pleased these two floaties survived the fire in January and seem to be intact and retaining air. We wouldn’t want to have them deflate when we’re an hour or two downriver!
We weren’t planning to drive through the Santa Ynez Mountains, but there was a detour on the way back, so we made sure to check out a few of the vistas that we had never seen before on the way home.
We worked from the Palm Springs area this week and I got to have lunch with a dear old friend, Jim Fagelson, who was on the Board of a gay parenting organization with me in the late 1990’s/early 2000’s. It is now called Family Equality!
Shea really wanted a coffee (iced) on a very hot day in Palm Springs. We went to Koffi, which has a brilliant garden and view behind it at this location. Thereafter, in 104 degrees Fahrenheit, we strolled down the very “deserted” streets of Palm Springs. On the Walk of Fame, we took a picture with Ross Matthews, who is a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race, a show that Shea enjoys.
These pictures are actually in Cathedral City, by the Palm Springs border.
Today was apparently the first really hot day of the year here. At 110 degrees Fahrenheit, the dogs did not go outside much during the day, of course. We had a lovely warm evening outside to make sure they remained comfortable.
As we continue our meandering down the coast we are enjoying Morro Bay, Cayucos, Cambria, Los Osos, San Simeon, San Luis Obispo, and Pismo Beach itself.
We didn’t know it would be that weekend, but it was very cool.
We started the trip down the coast and had enough time to make a few pitstops. This was Shea’s first time on 17 Mile Drive. Snoopy and Bonnie have been amazing and getting lots of beach time in. We made it to Pismo Beach right before dark. We almost took PCH all the way there, but there was a road closure due to a mudslide that forced us to go all the way back up to Monterey and take 101 down, but it was lovely the whole time. Shea really enjoyed some of the non-touristy nooks and crannies I showed him in my dad’s hometown of Monterey.
We HAD to do it, thanks to the kindness of a stranger. I am still looking for Point Shea!
Obligatory Lone Cypress shot, the pièce de résistance of 17 Mile Drive.
Obligatory Bixby Bridge shot.
Wonderful reunion with my friend and former co-worker Debra Dixon Anderson, who was pretty much my “work wife” for at least a year. I hung out with her and my friend James (aka Buck) and Debra’s REAL husband, Rick. Brought Snoopy and Bonnie to Montara beach (very dog-friendly) . I suspect it was Bonnie’s first time ever at the beach. She and Snoopy were perfectly behaved and stuck close to me even off-leash. I so enjoy showing people from the East Coast and other places who appreciate the beauty of where we live, and this was just a small sampling of one of my happy places. More pictures and edited video to come!
If I had been thinking correctly, I would have brought the beach chairs and waterproof folding blanket from my car, but still a wonderful memory that I will cherish.
Had a fantastic experience here in Washington DC for the Tobacco End Game Summit. I found my people from every corner of the USA and from several other countries trying to save lives by fighting an industry that has the PRIVILEGE to PEDDLE POISON. Where is the outrage at 8 MILLION preventable deaths a year?
I took a few other days here in DC to see museums and I got a start by going to the National Gallery. What a gem, and what a reminder of how beautifully this French-inspired city was laid out. I was so reminded of wonderful times in Paris when I sat in the drizzle on the National Mall. I saw incredible works and experienced zen in the halls of this most gorgeous building as well. I’m sure the pictures won’t do it justice.
Americans have so much to be proud of in our society with the right context put to the art of our culture, and that was very clear in the depictions of black and indigenous Americans, even though the gallery was very heavily European-influenced. Reading the fine print and discovering what is behind art history reveals so much. I hope to see a variety of museums while I’m here.
