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.
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.
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
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.
Our first vacation since the Covid era began was just in the next county, but it felt like a welcome return to normal!
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.
I went to Iceland in 2013, but this was Shando’s first time, so we decided to do the Bears on Ice event with a bunch of bears, almost all of whom turned out to be Americans. This was also my first time at the Blue Lagoon.
Airport Layover
Downtown sites of interest include a church that looks like an upright airplane…
Star Wars theme bathroom in a small cafe…
Seemingly permanent rainbow sidewalk…
Iconic opera house and nearby symbolic Viking ship…
and random murals and art.
Beginning our Golden Circle journey at City Hall.
Continental Divide
Geyser
Waterfall
The countryside we were kind of forced to see when our tour bus broke down!
Blue Lagoon
Us in London Gallery:
Shando Gallery:
Joe Gallery:
London Eye:
Architecture:
Bridges:
Art:
