Category Archives: Travel

Genealogy, Media Appearances, Memoriam, Travel

Catalan Magazine article about my parents

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A woman in Catalonia wrote me to ask for permission to do a story on my parents, who I mention on my blog lived in the northern part of Catalonia near Girona and the French border. Our entire family lived there but my siblings were so young that they do not have as clear memories as I do. I know the picture of my parents featured in the article was one cherished by my mom. On this same cement slab is where I learned how to ride a bike. We lived there from 1975-1977, when we moved to live on base in New York City on Governor’s Island. I remember celebrating the American Bicentennial on base in Spain. It was quite a culture shock to move to NYC. The article is written in Catalan, a Latin-based language of the region of Spain where we lived.

Here is the original photo:

Enjoy!

Travel

Ohio June 2022

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We went back for Shando’s annual Nelson Family Reunion for the first time since Covid. We also spent time in Cleveland and Columbus.

In Bucyrus we visited Shando’s mom’s grave. Sadly his Aunt Pat had passed since our last visit.

In Columbus, it was Gay Pride Weekend and we got to see some quaint neighborhoods like German Village. The woman who offered to take our picture made us kiss for the camera after confirming we were a couple.

We hung out with one of Shando’s high school friends, Minda, and her family (we forgot to take pictures) and we also hung out with Shando’s cousin Doreen and her daughters, granddaughter, and son-in-law (pictured below). There were lots of interesting things (fairy village in the yard) in the German Village and mall (French Bulldog mannequins) we met them at.

Another night, after driving through a treacherous rainstorm, the air cleared and we had a big dinner with a lot of his college friends and their kids in Cleveland.

Birthdays, California, Travel

Nevada City Trip

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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.

California, Nature, Travel

Coastal Drive and Palm Springs Visit January 2022

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Our drive down to Palm Springs via the scenic route whenever possible (especially during the daytime) with a stop in rural, coastal Santa Barbara County.

My parents lived in the Lompoc area before I was born, and my dad is from Monterey originally, so it’s always particularly nostalgic to stop in Central California, where I still have a ton of relatives on my dad’s side. Pebble Beach has this amazing Monarch Butterfly Grove. We were there when most of them were still asleep, but it was still a nice place to pause on our trip down.

Santa Barbara County is magical. I forgot to take pictures of us having tea with Oprah, Harry and Meghan, but you can imagine they were delighted to receive us again. It was great seeing the kids too.

While I was working Shando took a hike in Palm Springs:

Had dinner with good friends Richard Kraft and James from BC.

I also ran into the identical twin brother of my friend Rob from Princeton, New Jersey (they both live in San Diego now). He happened to be in town at the same time as me. I had never met his brother in person. Unfortunately the picture is out of focus, but what a small world!

Crow on a palm tree in downtown Palm Springs

Art, California, Travel

SoCal Trip October

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This was our second vacation/road trip since the beginning of the Covid Era. We spent a long weekend in Palm Springs and drove back and forth so we could bring our own kitchen, not have to mask up on a plane, etc.

We did get to see our good friends from the Bay Area Ken, Kevin, and Rich who now live in Palm Springs. Of course, they tried to convince us to move down, but we don’t see that happening. We want to keep visiting often though!

On our way back we stopped for milkshakes in Valencia, a very cute town. However, that was not a good idea for my tummy I soon found out. We made a pit stop in Santa Barbara as we took the scenic route home, but sadly sunset happened so quickly it wasn’t all that scenic for much of it. I still think on a Sunday evening it’s faster to travel that route than being backed up on the 5, but it was a good nine hours.

Daughter, Pets, Travel

Alex First Post-Covid Visit

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Alexandra and her boyfriend Davy visited us for the first time since the start of the Covid era. We drove around to the Bolinas area and stopped in a very cool wooded park downtown nearby, then went on to Mount Tam’s lookout. Eventually, we went to the beach and enjoyed a beautiful evening with our two younger dogs and our guest dog Fluffly. We stopped for a snack in town as well. It was a lovely day with sightseeing in some of the corners of California many rarely venture to.