be sure to wear, some flowers in your hair...

hi - dana here, the photographer. i'll leave most of the lengthy writing to miss kathy,

i'm just here with your eye candy...

the night before justin & i headed out of rdu, ava knew something was up..

and in the meantime, she had the sweetest look on her face... had to post this one.

getting into SFO on aug. 7th...

this guy is my new hero...

on the BART on the way to the hotel... the laughs begin.

and we arrived @ hotel des arts ...

to check in to the jeremy fish room #412 the first night...

amazingly beautiful. and in a great part of san fran! justin looks so purty in that room...

and kathy grinning in the jeremy fish room..

goofballs at our best!

oh p.s. we like it dirty.

anywho, then we headed down to the irish bank, around the corner from the hotel from some grub...

after lunch, we walked around to take in some of the "sights"... including... BEARS!

(one of my favorite shots of the trip so far in fact)

a bit more of san francisco to come... stay tuned!!

On the Road!!!

We left Concord, CA at 10:45 a.m., yesterday...only 45 minutes behind schedule and set out for Tahoe City, CA. Initially, I was extremely tense (for those of you who know me, this should come as no surprise). The traffic was relatively heavy going through Sacramento; the Garmin lady was giving me lip and Gramps was not in the mood to settle down.

I was thrilled to see the landscape change from arid and mediterranean to alpine in a few short hours. It was nice to see "real" mountains--- bigger and more impressive than Mt. Diablo and its surrounding foothills. I think we got up to about 6,200 above sea level. I realize that the drive through the Rockies is going to dwarf that experience very soon, though.

We stopped in Truckee and at Lake Tahoe and were completely impressed. Great towns, nice people, gorgeous scenery. I've never really experienced mountains, ski towns, etc. It definitely seems my speed...

Jettas are small cars

Well, first thing's first: always underestimate the space you have available when packing. All of this time, I was thinking I would have the perfect amount of space in the Jetta for packing the remainder of my stuff. Not so much. I had room for about half of it. Maybe.

My roommate Jim took one look at me having my mild panic attack and said something saintly, "Don't worry about it, just go." So, once in Charlotte there will be even more shipments of what few things I own.

Jim and Kim are goooood people. And Volkswagen Jettas are small.

Touring SF and one day to go...

I stood outside a wonderful restaurant tonight and soaked in the ambiance of the downtown streets. I was just off of Grant, not far from the Chinatown Gate. There's a plethora of great old buildings, populated with retail stores and swanky restaurants, overcharging due to their locations.

There's a gentleman who always plays the saxophone on the corner, in front of Fresh. It's beautiful. The night I decided to take the job here, I paced, up and down the street---on the phone with friends, while he played in the background.

I won't see San Francisco in the evening as a resident again, after tonight. It's definitely a bit bittersweet---I wish I understood what it was that kept me from being happy here. There's no denying that this is the most beautiful place I've ever lived. I wish that I could have made it work. I guess I should really say, I wish that I had liked it enough to make it work. I can do pretty much anything I set my mind to, but I couldn't bother to set my mind to making it work here. Beauty, in and of itself, is an empty value when it comes to finding a home. I guess I wasn't able to find much soul out west, unfortunately.

Tomorrow, I'll drive into the city to pick up Justin and Dana from the hotel and we'll finish their whirlwind tour of the San Francisco. I'll drive them by Pier 39 and then drive them over the Golden Gate Bridge. It's been ridiculously fog free while they've been here, so hopefully that will keep until Dana gets some good pictures. I'm going to see about driving them through the North Bay before driving back to the East Bay, so they can see Marin County and all of that.

It's a nice feeling to know that 48 hours from now, we'll be on the road.

Healthy? On a road trip?

I have been attempting "healthy" unsuccessfully, for a while now. I love to run, but I tend to over do it when I train. After about 6-7 weeks, I get an injury or illness, get out of habit, blah, blah, blah, excuses, excuses, excuses. I also do an okay job at healthy eating, some of the time, but never quite go all the way.

So while we're on the road, I'm going to challenge myself to eat healthy foods and to be as active as humanly possible. I think the only days we intend on driving all day is on the way to Austin, so the activity part shouldn't be much of an issue. Also, we're going to be traveling through some of the most beautiful hiking areas, so I know neither one of us will want to give up the chance to get off of the beaten path. Considering that Dana is a fastidiously healthy eater, I won't even have to think about that part. I'm hoping to learn all of that from her by osmosis, by the end of the trip!

Of course, most of the people who are reading this know that I won't give up my drinks. I have my standards, after all.

Which way do we go?

The plan, in my mind at least, has always been to go in a general easterly direction, across Nevada to Salt Lake City, UT. At some point over the weekend, I got it in my head that maybe we should go down the Pacific Coast Highway instead, through Monterray, Carmel and Big Sur, down to Santa Barbara.

It would definitely be more direct to go east to Yosemite and across, but I just know how stifling the heat is going to be away from the coast.

From what I understand, Salt Lake City has a terrific art and food scene to explore, plus I'm fascinated by the idea of the Bonneville Salt Flats, however boring they might make that portion of the drive.

Big Sur or Yosemite? Yosemite or Big Sur? I suppose we're just lucky that those are the options we have to choose from.

Decisions, decisions...

It's almost here and it's all coming together

I woke up Monday (yesterday) feeling half-crazed. One week until we leave.

Dana and Justin get here Friday, so sometime in the next day or two, pictures and videos are going to start appearing. She's got an agenda for the visuals, from what I understand, so we're all in for a treat, I'm sure.

We're both stressing a little. She's got work to complete before she leaves town for 2 weeks. Yesterday she got up early and did two separate photo shoots on the beach and I believe she tied herself to the computer for the day editing. I've got to pack what little I have left here, get the car worked on and continue to occupy myself. It's funny; we're coming at this trip from two very opposite perspectives. Once we're together, though, life will be grand.

We're kind of good together, Dana and I. We've done the attached at the hip thing that friends do, but we've also gone months without talking much at all. I tell her just about everything, in the end, though and she always takes care of me...I hope she feels the same. Dana and I are kinda like guys with each other, come to think of it. It's a very face value friendship, which I appreciate. If there's something to say, it's said; if not we're moving on, thank you very much.