Disneyland with Casey and Saul

In June, our friend Casey and her son Saul visited us from Montana. Casey gets a Gold Star in my book because she is a faithful visitor despite having two children. Indeed, she has visited us everywhere we have lived!

Here is a great picture of Saul with one of the cutest and most perfect kitties in the whole world. Most kitties wouldn't let an energetic five-year old pet them but Stormy just sat there and basked in the attention.

Then it was off to Disney where Saul suggested we do the Buzz Light Year ride first. Since I had never been on it, I concurred.

It was an awesome, interactive ride where we could earn points by hitting targets as they flashed by.

Even the adults got into the game.

Then we did a little driving. Of course, Saul insisted he could drive.

And, shortly thereafter, we learned why five-year-olds don't get licenced. Actually, with a little help from mom, he didn't do too badly.

I confess that this was a real temptation for the person in the car behind them.

The Teacups reminded me of something: I am as old as the hills. Why else would I feel so gross after such a relatively mild ride? I felt terrible afterwards...

Then Saul took our picture--we were impressed that we were both in it.

Here is Saul before the Pirates of the Caribbean: happy!

It turns out that Pirates of the Caribbean is pretty scary!

I would say that is pretty reasonable.

So, we finished off our day at our happy place! What a perfect antidote: Its A Small World, After All.

Everyone felt better afterwards and went home happy!

Sespe Wilderness Camping Trip

There are so many exciting places to explore in Southern California. I feel like we could live here for years without exhausting the possibilities. A few weeks ago, we headed about three hours north to the Sespe Wilderness area, near Ojai, an artsy little town which could be a destination in itself.

We had hoped to stay in one of the National Forest campground but they were all full by the time we arrived. Luckily, hikers can set up camp along any of the wilderness trails in the National Forest so we decided to just hike 1/2 mile down the trail and find a place to camp. This picture is of Pat starting down the trail with a bunch of gear.

We found a comfy camping spot after a 15-minute hike and set up our tent.

Then Pat decided we had forgotten a necessity: our pillows. So, he ran back up to the car and carried them back down.

While Pat was getting the pillows, I contemplated my new hiking boots. I bought them for our upcoming trip to Scandinavia, and this trip was a rehearsal for them. The boots are, how shall I say it? A bit more substantial than I had anticipated. Let's just say they are Bad Ass! It seems like they will be overkill for the Norwegian hills...

After a peaceful night's sleep (thanks, pillows), we collected our gear and headed to another trail head for the day's hiking. But, before we could get started, I had to brew some camp coffee (we make it by immersing coffee filter bags pilfered from hotel rooms in boiling water). Yummy!

We ended up hiking 10 miles to two peaks: Reyes Peak and Haddock Peak. It was a beautiful day.

And my new hiking boots weren't too uncomfortable!

Pride Parade

Pat and I discovered soon after we moved to Long Beach that we lived in the Gayborhood. Being progressive-type folks, this was no big deal to us. However, once a year, things get really crazy: Pride weekend. The Pride Festival is the second largest event (right after the Grand Prix), and annually draws almost 100,000 people. Here are some pictures from the Sunday morning parade.

First came the flags representing different nationalities.

Then a whole bunch of floats.

And Disneyland was there, too. Actually, there were lots of big companies from Budweiser to Boeing.

And there were lots and lots of floats that made us want to cover our eyes!


It was also nice to see several churches in the parade.

And it wouldn't be a Pride parade without some drag queens. There was lots more to see; however, my camera was on the fritz. That may be a good thing... let's just say it was great entertainment!