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!

5K Smack Down

Several months ago, Pat and his graduate assistant, Steve, decided to compete against one another in a 5k as an incentive to get back into running shape. They agreed that Steve (since Steve is at least 15 years younger than Pat and only a year removed from collegiate competition)would give Pat 2 minutes on the race, and the winner would buy the loser breakfast. So, last Saturday, we drove up to Hermosa Beach (a new beach for us) for some exciting race action!

Here is the pre-race picture. Pat kept saying that he might not survive, which might explain his expression! It should be noted that both Pat and Steve claimed that they didn't train for the race and were pretty apprehensive. I can corroborate Pat's claim--he really only ran a few miles a few times a week in preparation.

Can you find Pat at the start of the race? Hint: he is on the right hand side.

When Steve came by me, he looked great and had a big smile on his face! He was 1:10 ahead of Pat. He finished the race in just under 17 minutes, but, alas, it wouldn't be enough to earn him a breakfast.

Often, Pat looks like he is in serious pain during a race but this time he looked really relaxed. At this point, he was only about 100 yards from the finish. He finished in about 18:25, which I consider amazing since he really doesn't exercise very much. I wish I could reel off a sub-19-minute 5k just like that!

Some of the runners from Pat's team came out to cheer the guys on. That's J-Rod on the right and Naveed on the left.

Anza Borrego Camping Trip

Over Easter weekend, Pat and I headed off to Anza Borrego State Park, which is the largest state park outside of the state of Alaska. It also happens to be the desert. When we arrived, we were very lucky to get the last tent site in the campground.

Since it was very windy, we decided not to set up our tent but to do some hiking right away. This sign greeted us at the trail head along with a disclaimer that "people have died of dehydration on this trail." We thought that was unlikely, since the entire trail was only 1.5 miles long!

It did look pretty dry though!

Despite the "dangers" we headed off.

After a mile and a half, we came to Lost Palms Oasis. It was very beautiful but there were about 100 people there, which made it less appealing.


It was shady and cool beneath the palms. Right after this picture was taken, Pat disturbed a rattlesnake, and it gave him a scary warning. I do have a picture but I don't have it with me. I will try to post it later.

We then left the maintained trail (and all those pesky people) behind and followed the creek along a series of small waterfalls.

Here is the view back down the canyon.


We kept coming upon more and more oases, as we went. They were lusher than I expected.

I always forget to get pictures of myself. So, here is one.


We rounded a bend and could see Mount Baldy far off in the distance.

More palm trees.



When we got back to our campsite, the wind was still howling. I had to cook dinner in the back of the car. Luckily, I am an old pro at this.

In the meantime, Pat had a heck of a time setting up the tent. Eventually, I went over to give him a hand. Once erected, the tent was a champ. It didn't blow around at all unlike several of our neighbors'.

One final story about this weekend (without pictures):

We got up early Sunday morning and were tickled to see that the Easter Bunny had visited the campside beside us, bringing two young girls huge baskets and stuffed animals. As I made some coffee, I heard someone come traipsing noisily through our campsite. Instinctively, I turned to see who/what it was. You can imagine my surprise when I saw a stout, younger guy (perhaps 20ish) in a red flannel shirt march by with a shotgun slung over one shoulder. Guess what was in his other hand? Yep, pretty obvious. A dead bunny rabbit. The guy shot the Easter Bunny! The woman next door looked at me and mouthed "is that legal?" I said "NO." She went to get the rangers while I watched to see where the guy was headed. About 45 minutes later, the rangers escorted him out of the park.

Balboa Island & Dana Point

The day after my mom and I went to San Diego, we headed back down the coast to Newport Beach to do another Volksmarch, this one on Balboa Island and Peninsula.

First, we walked over a bridge onto Balboa Island. Each house had a dock (usually with a nice boat) out front. I took this picture of mom on the "public dock," the only one that riffraff like us are allowed on!

And one lovely house had a dinosaur out front.

Then we took a ferry (for $1 each) across to Balboa Peninsula.

The ferry could hold three cars at a time.

We also did a Volksmarch in Dana Point which is another beautiful area. First, we walked to an overlook of the harbour.

As you can see, it was a beautiful day.

The houses were stunning and the lawns manicured.


Eventually, we walked right on down to the ocean where we stopped for a rest before hiking the whole way back up to our car!