Day 1- Ocala National Forest, Florida

After our overnight flight and a nap in the car while waiting to check into our hotel in Daytona Beach we drove an hour to Ocala National Forest for some exploring.  The recommendation I got from the forest ranger on the phone (this was before congress went on strike) was to do Lake Eaton Sinkhole trail.  It is an easy hike, just about two miles long, but provides spectacular sights in the sand pine and scrub oak forest.  

The name of the hike comes from the 450 foot wide, 80 foot deep sinkhole, a common occurrence in Florida since the limestone that the state is made of dissolves easily with water.  It is only a matter of time before the land that sits on top of the limestone collapses after thousands + years of percolation accompanied with erosion.   This sinkhole is dry but its soil is rich and therefore so is the flora and fauna.  

After the sinkhole loop trail we continued an additional 2 miles or so on to Lake Eaton trail.  Lake Eaton is another one of the hundreds of sinkholes in the state.  

Deer moss is sprinkled across the forest floor and looks like something from a fairy tale.  It is called deer moss because deer eat it (when there is no other food available) but it is actually a lichen, not a moss.  Since it has no roots it gets all of its moisture from the air.  

Pink lichen.  

Lake Eaton is full of alligators but none that we could see.

Some pig.

This spider looks like it is thinking about something.

We have only been in Florida for half of a day and are already satisfied with our trip.  We are lucky it stopped pouring down rain so that we could absorb the sights of the humid subtropical climate.  

Lets go Padres

Don drove down from LA to take us to a Padres/Dodgers game.  He has been a Dodgers fan since 1952.  He was not the only Dodgers fan at Petco Park today.  I think there were more Dodger fans than Padres fans.  And Dodgers fans are the worst!  

Don asked me before arriving what we call our 'Dodger dogs'.  I had no idea.  

For the record, they are called 'Friar franks'.  

Also, it was decided that they are not that good.

Fred loves his new baseball shirt.

I love Petco Park.  The view is incredible.  

Lets not talk about who won, winning is not important it is how you play the game.  But lets not talk about how we played the game...

We had a great time and we will leave it at that!

Cleanup Day at Dixon Lake

Every year on the third Saturday of September Californians ban together for the state's largest volunteer event, California Coastal Cleanup Day.  Last year 770,000 pounds of trash was removed from our beaches, lakes and watersheds.  Since I am a regular at Dixon Lake I thought it was the perfect location to participate at.  Marla, the girls, Jessica and I pulled trash out of the lake that looks clean when you are jogging by but lurking in the reeds is (WAS) lots of garbage.  

There is a children's bucket decorating contest that the girls are going to enter.

Give a hoot!  Don't pollute!

Elle was super excited about the event.  She is such a caring citizen.  

Marla thought that she got a sweet job, marking down all of our trash findings instead of cleaning.  But she quickly realized she had the toughest job of us all as we were shouting items to put on the list simultaneously.   

These were just the recyclables that we found.  It is incredible that people could drink a beer, or a soda, or whatever and then absentmindedly toss it afterwards.

After volunteering we went to Baltimore Snow (the best snowball place ever), and then hit the pool.  What a great way to spend the last day of summer.   

Volunteering for CAREM

After work today I rushed down to Mexico for an interview at el museo comunitario de Tecate.  They are such an amazing organization.  I am so happy that they want to work with me as much as I want to work with them.  Their mission is to identify, protect, preserve, restore, and present to the public the historical and cultural heritage of Baja California, Mexico. 

I start on Sunday as a volunteer for the museum.

El Mejor Pan supports the local community.  Just another reason to go, besides the fact that they have perfected pastries.  

Sandias.

This is my selection, for dessert and for breakfast tomorrow (Marla and the girls are coming over).

Instead of Los Amigos 2 I stopped by the original restaurant, Los Amigos (which is just blocks away).  

The wait was much longer to walk across the border than last time, there was one person in front of me.

I walked back to the car with empanadas to give to the parking attendant who let me park for free since I was just staying for an hour.

I love Mexico.  

Julieta Venegas en concierto

Julieta Venegas is incredible.  Born in Tijuana, and made famous in D.F., she plays the guitar, piano and the accordion.  She sings, and writes her own music and lyrics.  This is the third time I have seen her in concert and she never ceases to amaze me... and she is so dang cute it is ridiculous.  

I love date night.  Fred and I had a drink at the House of Blues, but then decided to go for a walk and ended up stopping in at Ghirardelli's for a small treat.

9 pm is late for a work night, too late for moshing and crowd surfing for sure.  

Museo Comunitario de Tecate

This is the point of no return when heading into Tecate by foot.  I already walked through one turnstile so there is no going back without going through the US border inspection station.  

The main purpose of this visit was to see el Museo comunitario de Tecate, and to see how the return border crossing would be without a car.  

The museum covers 15,000 years of history of the indigenous Kumiai people.  All of the information is available in English and in Spanish.  

Reading about the way of life of indigenous people is a sad reminder of the current societal plight- the separation between people and the land.  The Kumiai connect with and appreciate the plants and the animals, and have done so for thousands of years.    

The museum's self guided tour ends with a photography exhibit.  

This is Tecate in the 1950s.  

I then walked to the taquería that Fred and I found last time we visited, and got a quesadilla with beans and avocado.  I decided that I would stroll over to the Tecate Brewery to see if they had tours since it was Saturday (and to get my complimentary beer!), only to discover that they close at 2pm on Saturdays so I could not enter.  They also have tours by appointment only.   This is good to know.  

Since it was over a hundred degrees outside I thought it was time to end my Tecate walking tour.  I went to El Mejor Pan de Tecate and stocked up on donuts and empanadas and bread and tortillas.  

This place is incredible (although it was no relief from the heat outside).  

I had to get one of these for Fred.  

My whole trip lasted about three hours.  When I entered the inspection station at the border I was perplexed and pleased that there were zero people in line in front of me.  I am a huge fan of Tecate and look forward to many return trips to come.