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.
Beaches and Mountains of Santa Barbara
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Cathedral City Life-Work Balance Week
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!
Downtown Palm Springs
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.
110 Degrees in Palm Springs
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.
Continuing down the Coast
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.
Pismo Beach Car Show
We didn’t know it would be that weekend, but it was very cool.
Started Coastal Trip
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.
Carquinez Summit
For the first time I hiked ALL the way up the hill to the point in the Glen Cove neighborhood of Vallejo where pme cam look down on the Carquinez Bridge and back at the toll plaza with Napa, Sonoma and Marin counties in one direction and Contra Costa in the other. Snoopy and Bonnie kept up incredibly well while tethered to each other on the tandem leash.
This picture was from a separate hike we took four days later:
Information and Education Days
I’m very proud that I got to meet with my State Assemblymember Lori Wilson with a coalition that worked with the American Heart Association to talk about commercial tobacco in District 11. We also met with a representative from State Senator Bill Todd’s representative on the same subject. It’s so important that we acknowledge that tobacco is legally peddled POISON that becomes the leading cause of premature death in the United States and that our kids are still being addicted with the industry’s targeting. Where is the outrage? Our future generations will look back and ask.
Lori Wilson meeting (best photo):
State Senator Bill Todd staff meeting:
Sacramento Tobacco Legislation Gathering Begins
The American Heart Association has an “Information and Education” day annually for tobacco control issues with various state senators and assemblyman. I’m proud to have been asked to be the lead for AD11 (Lori Wilson) and SD03 (Bll Todd).
