MARCH TO REVOKE 8

DAY 32 - CASTRO TO THE CA SUPREME COURT!

2008-12-21T21:28:00.000-08:00

PICTURE UPDATE: As mentioned on Day 31, we had friends (David and Lisa) fly in from OHIO to join us as we reached the CA Supreme Court. Lisa has known Tracie for about 23 years and she met Valerie soon after Tracie and Valerie became a couple. Lisa has in a lot of ways been like family for Tracie - THANK YOU GUYS!!

DAY 32 - We started our day at the corner of Castro and Market. Kelly (from SF Pride) joined us and got the crowd going. There were several people that joined us to walk the last 2 miles of our 450 mile trek! It was very exciting and a little weird knowing it was the last day. You'll notice someone is missing... Matt has been with us for the last few days and planned to join us this morning, but was having difficulty parking. He caught up to us after a few blocks and you'll see him in the next few pics with the pink umbrella.

A representative from Mayor Gavin Newsom's office presented us with a Certificate of Honor before we started our last mornings walk.

On our way, we stopped by the LGBT Center at 1800 Market. We were greeted by staff and supporters, some of whom joined us for the rest of the march.
We had a group of 25-30 for the last half of our walk. We chanted some, got to know new friends, and shared stories about what we've all been doing to defeat prop 8.

When we got to the steps of the City Hall, we were immediately greeted by familiar faces. Chris, Lisa, Carol, Jill, Melissa, and Sandy (people that we met over our 32 day march that drove up for our final walk). It was such a wonderful experience having met them over the past 300 or so miles and then having them come to the final day!! We also loved meeting new people and having them join us was an honor.

Molly McKay, Media Director for Marriage Equality USA, had been emailing and talking to us about our arrival at City Hall. She put together a beautiful welcome!! Thank you Molly! Here she is at the podium introducing us before we each said a few words.

Molly had invited MANY organizations and individuals to join in the welcome party. Those that participated were: Ana Damiani from Senator Mark Leno’s office who gave us a Certificate from the Senator; County Board Supervisor David Campos who gave us Certificates from the City of San Francisco; MCC Minister Lea Brown; San Francisco Pride Board Member Kelly Hart; SF LGBT Center Director of Community Development Roberto Ordenana; Polly Shrek from Children of Lesbians and Gays Everywhere (pictured below); Danielle Askini from One Struggle, One Fight; Cat Kim from Join the Impact SF; Vicki Kolakowski a local civil rights hero and attorney; and Matthew French social anthropologist and fellow walker. She ended the festivities by presenting us with a Marriage Equality umbrella that says "Let Justice Roll Like the Rain."

After the speakers, we walked from City Hall to the steps of the Supreme Court. While we walked we sang Marriage Equality Christmas Carols led by Molly (in the santa hat below).

WE MADE IT!! We reached the steps of the California Supreme Court ending a March that began on the corner of San Vicente and Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood 32 days ago!

When we have faith and courage.

When we take hold of a moment in history.

When we confront the challenges that face us.

Amazing things can truly happen.

Thank you to everyone that took part in this amazing journey with us.

A NOTE OF CLARIFICATION....

2008-12-20T11:27:00.000-08:00

Sarah, who has been coordinating media for us from L.A., has been posting media related events to the blog. All other posts (daily updates, pics, etc.) were written by us, Tracie & Valerie.

Arrival at the Supreme Court!

2008-12-19T18:34:00.000-08:00

From San Francisco's ABC-7, footage of Val and Tracie's arrival at the California Supreme Court, their moving statement, and the wonderful supporters who rallied with them!

The San Francisco Citizen reports that Val and Tracie "were joined by a crowd of over 100 supporters today as they made it literally to the steps of the courthouse."

They presented a statement of courage, persistence, and love outside the Supreme Court just as the Yes on 8 campaign presented their filing to the Supreme Court, which revealed the chilling news that Yes on 8 will indeed seek to invalidate the 18,000 same-sex marriages that occurred in California this summer.

From the ABC-7 transcript:

Valerie Paget and Tracie Jones are a married couple from Los Angeles who five weeks ago began a 450 mile march across California as part of a movement to revoke Prop 8.
Their journey ended Friday as they were greeted by gay marriage supporters at the steps of San Francisco City Hall.
"When we have faith and when we have courage, and when we take a hold of a moment in history, when we confront the challenges that face us, amazing things can happen," Paget said.
Paget and Jones' marriage was recognized by the state of California in May.
Their marriage would be invalid under Prop 8.
Sponsors of the measure Friday filed a legal request to nullify marriages of all 18,000 same-sex couples who exchanged vows before voters passed the gay marriage ban."

Special thanks to Molly McKay of Marriage Equality in San Francisco for making today happen in style! Thanks to Lilia Tamm of the Courage Campaign. Thanks to all of the hosts, wavers, supporters, suppliers, and blog commenters who cheered Val and Tracie forward.

Val and Tracie, it's been an honor being part of your team. You amaze and inspire me. Tears of admiration and joy, and a big hug.

-Sarah

DAY 31 - SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO TO THE CASTRO!!

2008-12-18T20:32:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow (Friday), we will be walking from Castro and Market to Polk, which will take us right in front of City Hall for our rally at noon. We will also stop briefly at the LGBT Community Center at 1800 Market Street.

DAY 31 - The 3 of us (Valerie, Tracie & Matt) set off this morning from South San Francisco ready for rain or shine... Matt was ready with some style.

We went through the town of Colma, which has no less than 8 cemeteries. We passed one after the other after the other. So we made our own headstone.

The farther we got into the city, the more surreal it felt. (we look a little tired, huh?)

While we walked, we sang Marriage Equality Christmas carols. . . . "all I want for Christmas is my civil rights..." Sometimes Matt made up his own words. :)

We met many supporters along the way. One guy, Rick, came up to us because he'd seen us walking and he handed us a bag with bananas and cookies. Thank you Rick! We also want to give a shout out to David and all San Francisco skaters!

When we came over a hill and saw the city, we shared a moment. It was quite a feeling and quite a view.

Once we got near the Castro area, we felt more and more support... we loved this house and we love that it's still up this long after the election!

We actually reached Castro Street!!

After walking 31 days for 400-450 miles we had one more huge hill to climb! It's definitely worth all of the aches and pains to know that we are standing up for such a fundamental right for so many people - for dignity, equality, and validity... we all deserve that.

What a beautiful sight! We can't wait to see Milk at this theater sometime this weekend!

Our dear friends, Lisa and David, who flew in from Cincinnati to see us reach the Supreme Court/City Hall tomorrow, joined us for lunch at Harvey's. In the excitement, we did not take any pictures... stay tuned. It was great to see them and have them come all this way!! Thank you Lisa and David - we love you guys!!

See you all tomorrow at the rally - either in person or in spirit! And know that you all had a part in getting us here. Whether you honked, fed us, texted, put us up for a night, blogged, donated, walked with us, or gave us the oranges, wine and nuts that we're eating as we write this - you are as much a part of this as we are. It is for all of you that we walked. It is for the 15 year old that emailed us saying she did all she could to defeat prop 8, knowing that her own parents were voting for it. We all have a role to play, and the community we have developed is a strong one...as long as we keep showing up.

DAY 30 - SAN MATEO TO SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO!

2008-12-18T07:11:00.000-08:00

DAY 30 - We started out in San Mateo - STILL on El Camino Real. We walked into South San Francisco!

Here are Matt and Valerie, bright and shining - ready for another day of walking!

We had a beautiful, not-a-cloud-in-the-sky day.

At some point during the morning, Matt and Tracie had to use the bathroom BADLY and there wan't one in sight for blocks. Along came a man named John - he turned around to come give us some lunch money. When he pulled up next to us, he asked if we needed a shower or lunch or anything (we're pretty sure we showered that morning... we weren't THAT "fragrant"!) Well, he lived a few blocks away and gave us a ride to his house so we could all use the restroom. Then he showed us an old Victrola and played an old one sided record on it. Wow! It was very beautiful.

We've been walking for days along El Camino Real - Matt took this picture of us with one of the historic bells.
We also met Jay. He said that he drove for blocks trying to catch up with us, but because the traffic was going so slow, he had a difficult time catching us! He finally caught up to us, hugged us all, thanked us for what we're doing, gave us some money for the journey.

Another beautiful person that we met was Maria. She pulled over on the side of the road, handed us some bills with a $5 showing, apologized for not having more money to give us - then she told us that she and her partner had been together for 18 years and want the option to be married. We later found out that under that $5 was a very generous sum. Maria, thank you doesn't seem sufficient, but thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

It was a bit exciting and surreal to reach South San Francisco! After walking for ONE MONTH, and having no time to really reflect on all of these wonderful experiences, it's a little daunting to actually be on the edge of our destination city.

We had to run to the middle of the street several times to get picture of the city signs. This picture is Matt stopping traffic for us to get across safely.

Tomorrow, we'll actually be walking into the Castro area! Unbelievable!!

And thanks again to Carol and Susan for hosting us a 2nd night in their home! They sent us off with a wonderful breakfast and very warm wishes.

LOCATION FOR THURSDAY

2008-12-17T21:31:00.000-08:00

We are having technical difficulties... can't get the pics to load for day 30. We walked from San Mateo to South San Francisco. We'll keep working on loading the pictures and blog.

Wanted to make sure everyone knows that we're walking tomorrow from South San Francisco on El Camino Real to Mission to Delores to 26th over to Castro and then we'll walk up Castro to Market!

Can't believe we're this close!

DAY 29 - PALO ALTO TO SAN MATEO

2008-12-17T18:49:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow (Wed), we'll be walking on the El Camino from San Mateo to South San Fran!!

DAY 29 - We had a few people join us today and got a little more love from the peninsula. An ambulance must have been trying to drum up business because he set off his siren a few times quickly in support, almost giving us each a heart attack! It was LOUD! A woman who does a radio talk show on a progressive station (960AM) in SF pulled over and asked if she could interview us one night this week..... stay tuned!

We received a phone call from Nancy in the morning about joining us for part of the day. She showed up bearing hot drinks!! It was a cold, wet morning, so we were very thankful!

Shortly after Nancy showed up, Jeffrey from HRC and Don with Marriage Equality also showed up. They all walked with us for awhile. Don gave us ribbon shaped pins that are the colors of the rainbow. We added them to our collection on our backpacks.

We stopped for lunch at a little taqueria on the El Camino that was DELICIOUS! We give it 2 thumbs up!

After lunch we were joined by Matthew from LA. He has been emailing us since we left LA, wanting to join us but having finals, etc. So he joined us today!! We were very happy to meet him and have him with us!

The 3 of us went to Nancy's house for dinner after walking. She picked us up and delivered us to our cars and insisted we join her and her family for dinner while she found us all a place to stay for the evening.

This is Sachiko (she gets her exquisite chef skills from her dad) - she's making delicious pot stickers.

Here's the whole group: Valerie, Keoki, Sachiko, Luis, Nancy, Matt & Tracie. We feasted on a wonderful meal of green beans, pot stickers, tofu and broccoli (I know there was more but don't remember it all!). THANK YOU Nancy and family!!

After dinner, we (Valerie, Tracie, and Matt) headed over to our hostesses home for the evening. Carol and Susan readily agreed to host the 3 of us and made us feel right at home. We are standing in front of their wedding pictures (from 2004) and cards. They did get remarried this year also. They brilliantly said that straight people get married and hope to grow old together, while gay people grow old together and hope to someday get married. (we didn't say goodbye because they've agreed to have us one more night)

We were offered one other place to stay tonight, with Kim, and we just wanted to say thank you to Kim for offering to have us and we are very sorry for your loss. We walked with you in mind today.

DAY 28 - PICTURE UPDATE

2008-12-17T18:43:00.000-08:00

Day 28 - we stayed with Ray in Mountainview. Here he is with his 2 adorable babies. Ray fed us some great Chinese food and opened a bottle of wine that he bought in Bolivia and was saving for a special occasion. It was all delicious. Thank you Ray for the warm hospitality and fantastic, special wine!

DAY 28 - SUNNYVALE TO PALO ALTO

2008-12-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will be walking from Palo Alto on El Camino Real to the San Mateo area.

DAY 28: Today was a bittersweet day. You'll see that we ended in a very supportive and encouraging environment, but the beginning part of the day was pretty devoid of support. We had been told to expect great things from this area of our state - "oh, once you start going up the peninsula, you'll have SO much support." Well, we had more support in Atascadero, and most people's response to that is "where is Atascadero?" We figured one of 3 things must be happening: 1) there's some type of "no honking" ordinance that we don't know about or 2) everyone was grumpy because it was raining or 3) people here are not outraged enough about the passage of prop 8.

Something we have noticed in our travels is that in the smaller, more oppressed communities, we were typically welcomed very enthusiasically. In larger, seemingly more progressive communities, we were often greeted very luke warmly. It seems that those of us in more progressive areas have grown somewhat complacent in the fight for equality. Just an obsevation.

Here we are on day 28 ready for rain. We had to change in and out of our rain gear several times throughout the day.

We entered the city of Palo Alto, home to Stanford, today. A woman from Pennsylvania stopped us to sign our petition and give us some lunch money. A man from Santa Cruz came out of a restaurant to talk with us and to sign our petition.

At 2:30-3pm we arrived at Embarcadero and El Camino for a rally with the Raging Grannies! They were a blast! We sang Revoke 8 Christmas carols. They gave us the gift of "equality" wrapped up nicely with a bow. Several tv news stations were there NBC, CBS and the local Spanish station. And a Raging Granny Groupie gave us some wonderul rings that she'd made. The Grannies welcomed us VERY warmly and enthsiastically - Thank you Raging Grannies!

After the rally, we were treated to coffee by Sandy and Melissa (2 friends who drove down from SF) and they delivered us to our next destination. We spent some time swapping stories and very much enjoyed getting to know them. Melissa also came bearing presents! Thank you Melissa and Sandy!

[Update: More photos of the Raging Grannies and Val and Tracie in Palo Alto here! -Sarah]

THANK YOU SAGE

2008-12-15T20:01:00.000-08:00

Today, Sage had to "resign" from helping us with our logistics and lodging. So today we say good-bye and thank you. She has been involved in this journey from the beginning and she will be sorely missed. THANK YOU SAGE!! We're thinking of you and wishing you all the best!

DAY 27 - DAY OF "REST"

2008-12-15T19:16:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow (Monday), we'll be walking down El Camino Real from Sunnyvale to Palo Alto, ending at Embarcadero and El Camino for a rally with the Raging Grannies at 3pm.

DAY 27 - We took a day off from walking to work primarily on compiling our video clips. Jill drove up from Paso Robles to help (meaning she did all the work!). She sat in front of the computer for more than 12 hours, very patiently weeding through our hundreds of amateur video clips!!!! She put together our short YouTube video that you can now link to from our blog. She also weeded through MANY more video clips to compile for a larger project. THANK YOU JILL!!! You rock!!

We also took the opportunity to take care of "administrative" duties. We made new signs - our old ones are sooooo faded. We caught up on some email, etc. Even spending all day, we only put a small dent in everything there is to do for the final few days. We also got some help from Katie and Ben in doing a new flyer to announce the rally in San Francisco. THANK YOU KATIE & BEN!!

At 3pm, we went to a meeting at the DeFrank Center in San Jose. Ray (from yesterday) invited us to attend. There were a group of people meeting to discuss how they can continue to effect change in their communities. This picture includes about one third of the group - they had broken up into smaller groups to brainstorm. It is worth noting that this group had about 300 people attending the day after the election - these are the 30 commited people that keep showing up. They are role models for all of us... we need to KEEP SHOWING UP!

DAY 25 & 26 PICTURE UPDATE

2008-12-15T18:56:00.000-08:00

We stayed with Lisa and Bill on nights 25 and 26. It was pretty last minute, and they very warmly welcomed us to the Saratoga area. This picture was taken in their beautiful backyard, where they've lived for 20 years.

Reminder: Palo Alto Rally Today!

2008-12-15T12:27:00.000-08:00

Rain or shine! From Granny Ruth of the Raging Grannies:

GREET THE MARCHING DUO who are headed from Southern California to San Francisco to urge the Supreme Court to REVOKE Prop 8.

ARRIVAL TIME/DATE IN PALO ALTO: 3pm, Monday, DEC 15

Location: Embarcadero/El Camino Real

Major intersection next to Stanford U and Palo Alto H.S. in front of Town and Country Shopping Center

Entertainment by: The Raging Grannies with songs against Prop 8 set to holiday tunes

If you get there early you can meet us at Hobee's restaurant (very cool) to have tea or a snack/meal, say hello and if you want help make signs from 2:30PM

Press is expected.

If you get lost you can reach the Granny Hotline at (650) 279-8761.

Please forward to your SF Bay area friends. Tracie and Val plan to arrive in SF later in the week on the 19th at noon in front of the CA Supreme Court building where there will be another rally. Bay area folks can meet and greet them at either or both locations.

-Sarah

DAY 26 - LOS GATOS TO SUNNYVALE

2008-12-13T18:16:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow, Sunday, we will be taking a break! We may actually sleep until we wake up with NO alarm and then we're going to work on our video clips with Jill. She is driving up from Paso Robles to spend they day editing the clips we've been collecting

DAY 26: We started out on Saratoga/Los Gatos Road in Los Gatos. We didn't take any pictures in Los Gatos.... because it was FREEZING and we didn't want to slow down to take the camera out or we might have gotten frost bite! It was COLD!

We did have one great interaction in Los Gatos. We passed a man and woman walking and they said "good luck." We thanked them and kept walking, because it WAS COLD! After a few minutes, we heard someone yell, "wait!" It was the man we had passed, running to catch up to us. He apologized and said that he just figured out what our signs meant and wanted to support us. He signed our petition, did a video clip to the Supreme Court and insisted on giving us some cash for lunch. As we said goodbye, he mentioned that he's a retired judge and thinks this is a pretty easy decision for the justices to make.

Once we got to Saratoga, our hostess from the night before, Lisa, joined us (with Rookie). Lisa and Rookie walked several miles with us before returning home.

We use bungee cords to attach our signs to our packs and we lost one... so on our walk today, we stopped off at the Home Depot to get new ones. As soon as we walked in, Ms. Claus greeted us cheerfully and loudly - "You guys were in the paper and now you're in my Home Depot?!" She gave us candy canes and sent us to aisle 24.

We passed through Cupertino - not a lot of response from the traffic going by, positive or negative. It seemed that people in Cupertino were too busy today to be bothered with equal rights.

Valerie insisted on putting this picture in of the Sunnyvale sign (that you can't read!) and Tracie's big head (okay, she actually said Tracie's beautiful face)!

We were told that it might start raining today and when we were two blocks from the end of our walk, it started to come down pretty hard. We ducked for cover under this parking shelter and put our rain jackets on.

Then, we met up with Alex - the son of our hosts from last night, and the San Francisco chapter head of Marriage Equality - and Ray, the Santa Clara county chapter head for Marriage Equality. We swapped stories with them about our fight for equality and what we've all been doing to keep the conversations going. Ray invited us to attend a meeting at the DeFrank Center in San Jose tomorrow (Sunday) at 3pm, which we look forward to.

We headed back to Lisa and Bill's for another night. We spent dinner with Lisa, Bill, Alex, Bev, and David. We laughed harder than we have in a long time! Lisa fixed wonderful meals both nights... no wonder we're not losing weight! Thank you Lisa and Bill - pictures to come tomorrow!

All I want for Christmas are my civil rights

2008-12-13T16:23:00.000-08:00

Valerie and Tracie's march for equal rights is featured over at the Santa Cruz Good Times Weekly. Reporter Elizabeth Limbach writes about Valerie and Tracie's walk through Santa Cruz:

The pair was stopped by curious passersby every few feet as they passed through downtown Santa Cruz. They collected petition signatures, and shot short video clips of people answering the question, “If you could say one thing to the California Supreme Court, what would it be?” which they plan to compile and release post-journey.

[...]

They paused, also, to request a tune from Pacific Ave’s favorite accordion playing Santa Claus (a disguised Great Morgani), asking him if he knew “All I want for Christmas are my civil rights.”

Nothing like a Santa for equal marriage rights to get me in the holiday spirit! That's Valerie, above, with Santa.

-Sarah

Quick hit: Valerie and Tracie in the San Jose Mercury News

2008-12-13T16:20:00.000-08:00

Here they are! Photographer Karen Borchers reports a gorgeous pic of Valerie and Tracie on page 3B of the print edition. Thanks Karen!

-Sarah

The Watsonville Register-Pajaronian!

2008-12-13T15:17:00.000-08:00

The name of this newspaper already makes me swoon, but Todd Guild of the Register-Pajaronian surely also wins the prize for the most lyrical description of Val & Tracie's journey:

Along busy stretches of road and lonely country lanes, through cities and villages, down gentle beach roads and up steep hills, two women are taking a 450-mile walk in support of equal rights.

The article's headline? "Putting Their Foot Down." Unfortunately, you can't get the whole fabulous article online (if someone has it, send it to us!), but thanks Todd!

-Sarah

DAY 25 - MOUNTAIN CITIES

2008-12-12T22:21:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow, Saturday, we will be walking from Los Gatos on Los Gatos/Saratoga/Sunnyvale Rd to Sunnyvale.

DAY 25: As noted in yesterday's post, we intended to walk over to Los Gatos from Santa Cruz, but were warned by everyone local that it was really unsafe. So, we stuck to our original plan of making sure we were visible in all of the towns along the way. We didn't go in a straight line - we went up the 17 to Scotts Valley and then over to the 9 to go to Felton, Ben Lomand, Boulder Creek and a few others that were very small.

We headed off into our day after a much enjoyed morning around the kitchen table eating french toast and talking to Ashland, Ali, and Ayden (you too Bryan and Frank!). Then we set off armed with a care package of bananas, protein bars and fruit. Thank you guys!

Many of the towns we were in today are very cute with a lot of character. We weren't met with a whole lot of responses, but again, when we were greeted it was mostly positive.

In Scotts Valley we were met by Karen from the San Jose Mercury News. She walked with us for awhile taking pictures and asking questions. Look for us in section B on page 3 tomorrow! Thank you Karen!

One of the last people of the day we saw was Diane, who recognized our car - we were on our way to our hosts house for the evening, passing through Saratoga to get there. She signed our petition and we hope she joins us walking tomorrow!

We made it to Lisa and Bill's in Saratoga. They fed us a wonderful meal, let us use their computer, and introduced us to their two dogs. They often take in foster dogs and work with them so they can be adopted. (pictures tomorrow)

A crowd at the Diversity Center

2008-12-12T19:37:00.000-08:00

Folks at the Santa Cruz Diversity Center gave Valerie and Tracie a warm welcome last night. Thanks to Dan for organizing!

-Sarah

DAY 24 - APTOS TO SANTA CRUZ

2008-12-12T18:02:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow we'll be hopping, skipping, driving, jumping and walking over to Los Gatos from Santa Cruz. We had planned to strictly walk over, but the closer we got to Santa Cruz, and the more locals that we talked to, it became clear that we will die if we attempt to go over the 17 or any other equivalent road. So, we'll walk what we can and drive our car from town to town, leapfrogging each other as we walk.

DAY 24 - We began our day in Aptos. Minutes after we began, Blissah joined us and stayed with us for 8 out of the 10 miles that we walked. Below are Valerie and Blissah standing on a bridge in Aptos. Blissah also came bearing delicious gifts - veggie sandwiches, persimmon cookies, and a healthy mango drink. Thank you Blissah!

We stopped off at Temple Beth El to meet Rabbi Rick. He was very encouraging and supportive of our walk, as were the other people we met at the Temple. Here we are with Rabbi Rick in their courtyard.

We had another walker join us once we left the Temple. Cappy, who has a long history of activism and is a member of the Santa Cruz chapter of the Raging Grannies, is pictured below (she's on the far left - pun intended).

We continued with our interfaith theme for the day and stopped at Inner Light Ministries looking for Reverend Deb. We've heard wonderful things about her outspokenness on inequality. While we didn't find Reverend Deb, we did fine 2 wonderful ministers (standing between Valerie and Tracie) who signed our petition, did video clips for the CA Supreme Court, sent us supportive text messages, and posted an encouraging message on our blog!

Then we reached Santa Cruz. As we were crossing the street to get a picture of the sign, these 2 women with the Department of Parks and Recreation yelled support and graciously agreed to be in the picture with us.

While walking through downtown Santa Cruz, we met up with Elizabeth from the Good Times newspaper for an interview. Click here to see the article. Thank you Elizabeth!

We ended up at the Diversity Center in Santa Cruz for a meet and greet from 5:30 - 7pm. This is a picture of some of those in attendance. It was a great group and it was wonderful to meet with so many people passionate about this issue and ready and willing to do something about it. Thank you to everyone who attended; thank you Woody for the wine; thank you Steve for the nuts; thank you to whoever brought the champagne; and thank you Dan and Glen for making this event happen!

We ended our evening at Bryan and Frank's home. They have been together for 17 years and they have the most adorable 5 1/2 year old triplets who are very aware of what prop 8 is about. The kids asked us about why we're walking, where we sleep, and how we eat during the day. We learned that Ashland likes horses, Ali likes Max, and Ayden likes rockets. We had a wonderful time with them and challenge any Yes on 8 person to demonstrate half of the love, commitment, and respect that this family does. You are an inspiration to us!

DAY 23 - PICTURE UPDATE

2008-12-12T17:34:00.000-08:00

This is one of our hosts, Chris, for night 23. And Andy (his partner for more than 25 years) was still "sleeping." But that's his arm you see waving at the top of the picture. :-)

This is their gorgeous home. Our room overlooked the Pacific Ocean. They have 3 wonderful standard poodles, and lots of fish in the koi pond. Chris and Andy showed us their beautiful wedding pictures - they did a ceremony here and in Rhode Island with family.

Tom (who took the picture), their friend and houseguest, also welcomed us and helped us brainstorm about our route.

Save the date! Revoke 8 Rally at the Supreme Court in San Francisco

2008-12-11T22:22:00.000-08:00

Friday, Dec. 19, 12 noon
Supreme Court of California, San Francisco
350 McAllister Street

Valerie Paget and Tracie Jones, a Los Angeles couple affected by the passage of Proposition 8, will arrive in San Francisco on Friday, Dec. 19 after a 450-mile journey on foot from Los Angeles. Rally to greet the marchers at the steps of the California Supreme Court in San Francisco!

December 19 is the deadline for Yes on 8’s first filing in the historic Supreme Court case that will decide the constitutionality of Prop 8. In coordination with Rick Jacobs of the Courage Campaign, Valerie and Tracie will deliver a petition to revoke Prop 8 that has been signed by over 300,000 people.

RSVP on Facebook here. See you there!

-Sarah

Quick hit: Valerie and Tracie in the Santa Cruz Sentinel

2008-12-10T23:05:00.000-08:00

Check it out here.

SANTA CRUZ READERS: Valerie and Tracie arrive Thursday!

Thursday, Dec. 11, 5:30 pm

Greet Valerie and Tracie and rally to Revoke 8 at the Santa Cruz Diversity Center - spread the word!

-Sarah

DAY 23 - PAJARO & WATSONVILLE TO APTOS

2008-12-10T18:36:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow, Thursday, we will continue through the Aptos area and walk into Santa Cruz on Soquel Drive to Water and then to Pacific. There will be a gathering at the Diversity Center from 5:30-6:30 (1117 Soquel Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062, (831) 425-5422).

DAY 23 - DAY WITHOUT A GAY!! We celebrated Day Without a Gay in Pajaro and Watsonville with Mary-Beth. She was Tracie's boss several years ago in L.A. and now lives in the bay area. She called in gay and drove down to walk with us. Here she is with Tracie.
Our reception in Pajaro and Watsonville was mixed, but as always, overwhelmingly positive and supportive. We had a couple of firsts today.... we've gotten the finger and thumbs down, but today, at least 2 women drove by and did the sign of the cross after reading our signs - - then, while standing in the parking lot of the Olympian Mini Mart (on Alta Vista and Freedom) doing an interview, a woman came out and asked us to leave her property. She refused to say why.... hmmmmm.

Here we are doing an interview with the Watsonville Pajaronian Register and below, we are answering questions for the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

Here are Mary-Beth and Tracie taking a break - and Tracie is nursing her tender feet.

We met some wonderful people along our walk today....Karen stopped and gave us some apples and did a moving video clip. Patrice pulled over and asked if we needed somewhere to stay. And Chris pulled over to give us some water and encourage our efforts.

AC came and picked the three of us up and delivered us safely to our destination.

DAY 22 - PICTURE UPDATE

2008-12-10T18:23:00.000-08:00

Here we are with our hosts for night 22. We didn't know where we were staying until late in the day. AC and Yoshimi wonderfully offered to put us up at the last minute. They are truly a giving, thoughtful and sincere couple. They shared their story with us - which is a lot like our own story. In their lifetime, it was illegal for them to be married in many states. We all agreed that we're still having the same argument - different people, same issues - that we've been having for decades. Thank you AC and Yoshimi!

DAY 21 - UPDATE

2008-12-10T05:57:00.000-08:00

One of our pictures from Day 21 in Salinas is of Valerie talking to a guy in a blue shirt while Mark from KION films them. Well, the guy in the blue shirt is William. He's a photographer and has a photo blog. He posted some pictures of us on his blog - check him out at http://ihustleandotherthings.blogspot.com/2008/12/revoke-8.html.

DAY 22 - FROM SALINAS TO WATSONVILLE

2008-12-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow (Wednesday), DAY WITHOUT A GAY, we'll be walking through Watsonville on Salinas Road, Main Street, and taking Freedom Blvd to the Aptos area.

DAY 22 - It was a pretty quiet day . . . except for the traffic whizzing by on San Miguel Canyon Road. We started with our most activity by the stores of Prunedale.

We walked past some of the locals. They were REALLY attentive.

They're pretty creative in naming their roads our here. You wouldn't believe this unless we took pictures!

And this peace wreath was a great view and encouragement towards the end of our day.

Even with a quiet day along a busy back road, we were still very supported by having 6 people pull over to offer support and sign the petition. One woman offered us a place to stay, another offered water, and others gave video clips. We also walked a little ways down a side road to do a phone interview with Lesley from IN Los Angeles Magazine.

Halfway through the day, we didn't have any contacts in Watsonville and no place to stay. By 3pm, we had 2 offers of places to stay. This trip has been full of "things just work out" moments.

PICTURE UPDATE

2008-12-09T20:12:00.000-08:00

This is Susan, our hostess for night 21 in Salinas. She had plans to be at a PFLAG holiday party in Carmel, and in addition to cooking a feast for that party, she picked us up at the end of our walk, and made us some DELICIOUS homemade vegetarian chili, salad, and bread. She's working to bring a PFLAG group to the Salinas area. Thank you Susan!!

WATCH THE MEDIA COVERAGE IN SALINAS

2008-12-09T10:10:00.000-08:00

Click here to watch the CBS coverage on KION.

Click here to read the article in The Californian - the local paper in Salinas.

DAY 21 - SALINAS

2008-12-08T19:51:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow (Tuesday) we'll be walking from Salinas to Watsonville.

DAY 21 - We began our morning early (around 7am) in the southern part of Salinas with 8 locals joining us! They stayed with us for several hours, walking into downtown with us. Thank you all for joining us - your involvement in your community is inspiring and motivating!

We did 3 interviews today - one with Mark at KION, one with Adriana at Univision, and one with Japhy at queerty.com. We also learned that we were mentioned in the local Salinas paper, The Californian. Here's Mark shooting some footage of Valerie getting a video clip.

Overall, our experience in Salinas was very positive. Danny, at a Shell station, came out and offered us some complimentary coffee or hot chocolate. A woman pulled over and insisted on giving us $20 for lunch. And here's a great tatoo - it's Amber's (she's in the black and white checks in the pictures at the top of this post) - she got it the day after the election.

PICTURE UPDATES

2008-12-08T19:11:00.000-08:00

You have all met Edna. She and her partner, Linda, housed us on night 5 (ish) in Camarillo. Edna came up to walk with us for a couple of days near Salinas and she was also our hostess again for night 19 - and this is where we stayed... in her camper. It was very warm and cozy. She had perfect timing - we weren't sure where we were staying Saturday. Thank you Edna!

Here we are with our hostesses for night 20. Melissa and Lisa worked tirelessly on the NO on 8 campaign. Because there is not an organized LGBT group in their community, they, along with some of their friends, have begun to form one. Check out salinasvallyequality.com for more information. Lisa also made sure we got media coverage throughout our day in Salinas.

Rally with Valerie and Tracie in Palo Alto

2008-12-08T13:10:00.000-08:00

The amazing Raging Grannies of Palo Alto will host a Revoke 8 rally when Valerie and Tracie march through Palo Alto next week! Stay tuned to the Projected Dates and Cities section to the right for details.

-Sarah

March to Revoke 8 is up on Facebook

2008-12-08T12:26:00.001-08:00

If you're on Facebook, join the party and help spread the word about Valerie and Tracie's march across California for marriage equality by joining the March to Revoke 8 Facebook Cause! See you there!

-Sarah

WATCH US ON KSBW - THE NBC STATION IN SALINAS

2008-12-07T21:49:00.000-08:00

Click here to watch!

DAY 20 - FROM GONZALES TO SALINAS

2008-12-07T20:29:00.001-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow (Monday), we'll be walking through Salinas on Abbott, John, and Main streets.

DAY 20 - Edna joined us again today. We were on a long stretch of the 101 / dirt roads / and railroad tracks. This is what most of our day looked like. . . fields and mountains in the background. Beautiful, but exhausting walking along the freeway. The last 5 miles we walked into a STRONG wind. We looked a little windblown at days end. Again, we have to say how great Edna was - she was sore and blistered, but soldiered on!

We stopped along the way to have some lunch, check the email, look at some maps, etc.

We did notice that the closer we got to Salinas, the more love we got from passersby. And we are so glad to have completed the more desolate area of our trip . . . and we're also very glad that we walked through it.

We ended our day at Lisa and Melissa's house. Here

we are at dinner with them and their friends: Amber, Lisa, Shaylla, Tracie, Edna, Melissa, Rosa, and Liana. We had a great time getting to know them over dinner. They worked very hard with No on Prop 8 and are still just as engaged to make sure Prop 8 gets repealed.

DAY 19 - SOLEDAD & GONZALES

2008-12-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow we'll be walking along the 101 freeway from Gonzales to Salinas.

DAY 19 - We got a really late start today. But BONUS for us... when we woke up at Don and Kathleen's, we had an addition to our walking team for the day. Edna (she and her partner, Linda, put us up on night 5 in Camarillo) came to join us!

The 3 of us set off to our starting point for the day and began our walk through Soledad.

After walking through Soledad (pretty uneventful), we hit a pretty desolate stretch of the highway. During these stretches, there's not really anywhere to eat, or use the bathroom... so you learn to take advantage of what's around you. Little did we know when we used these outhouses, there were balance issues to consider. Valerie and Tracie came out of the left and middle stalls only to find the whole contraption suddenly tilt down.....with Edna in the end. Tracie jumped up on the end of the trailer before it completely tipped over.

One of the local attractions... if you look closely at the sign... is the correctional facility. Here's a picture of 2 recent escapees.

As we mentioned yesterday, Channel 8 news said they were interested in interviewing us. During a part of the day that we had to walk along the railroad tracks, they showed up to interview us. This picture is of Ravi, the reporter that did the interview. He and the camera man were very friendly and treated us well. We plan to eat at his dad's restaurant, Maharani (it means Queen), in San Francisco when we arrive.

We ended our day walking through Gonzales. We had an interesting conversation with a guy in a local Taquaria. He didn't necessarily agree with us, but asked good questions and was very pleasant. We plan to go back to the taquaria for Chavelas ... a well balanced meal in a glass.

We loved having Edna join us on our walk - she was a trooper!! Also, if she hadn't shown up this weekend, we wouldn't have had a place to stay tonight. We all slept very comfortably in her camper. (we'll post pics later)

DAY 18 - PICTURE UPDATE

2008-12-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

These are our hosts for day Day 18 in King City - Christina & Don and their 2 adorable kids, Dennis and Christian. We're standing on their porch - what a view! Don is an artist in his spare time and Christina treated us to a wonderful dinner and a breakfast of pumpkin pancakes before heading to work as a physician at a local hospital.

Dennis builds cities with train tracks and assembled his own christmas tree when he wasn't reading fancy words or attending the 1st grade.

Christian (a.k.a. Ducky) is learning his colors, can jump VERY well, and loves to laugh!

DAY 18 - KING CITY & GREENFIELD

2008-12-05T22:04:00.001-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: We'll be walking through Soledad and Gonzales tomorrow (Sat).

DAY 18 - We started out at the southern end of King City. Our first encounter came from a man who looked quizically at our signs and said, "What's that all about?" We asked if he knew about prop 8 and moved along after he pleasantly said "To each his own. God bless you anyway." That was a pretty accurate indication of the rest of our day. A lot of people looked at us curiously, but not much interaction.

We also met some young women from Ohio who were very enthusiastic and upset about prop 8. They signed our petition and did a video clip.

After leaving King City, we were on the 101 for about 10 miles. As we mentioned in yesterday's blog, we talked to the CHP about our route. They told us that we could walk from King City to Greenfield on the 101. So we were a little surprised to find ourselves being repeatedly yelled at by a female CHP officer to "GET OFF THE HIGHWAY!" After we obediently walked back several yards to a side road, she approached us, saw our backpacks and signs around our necks and sarcastically asked "Did you break down?" She really said that! We think she's on the fast track to become detective. Thankfully, another (more sane) CHP officer pulled up and said off course we could walk on the highway here and please be safe. (This sign was moments away from our "peace" officer encounter.)

Greenfield was pretty similar to King City... a lot of curiosity, but no interaction - positive or negative. Until we met Felix Cortez of KSBW Channel 8. He took down our information and said that they were very interested in doing our story and someone would contact us in the next few days as we approach Salinas, where they are stationed. So stay tuned to NBC if you live in the Salinas area!

At the very end of Greenfield, when we could walk no further, Don picked us up and drove us to his and Christina's house in King City. They housed someone a couple of years ago doing a similar trek. Jennifer Schumaker (www.walkfortogetherness.org) walked from San Diego to San Francisco with the goal of drawing attention to the shared humanity of all persons. She also spent a night here with Don and Christina.... small world. We'll post pictures of them and their adorable kids tomorrow.

DAY 17 - PICTURE UPDATE

2008-12-05T21:56:00.000-08:00

Here we are with Bart and Tony on their ranch. They have been together for 20 years and married for 5 months. They have been on this ranch almost as long as they have been together.

This was the gorgeous view driving away from their place.

DAY 17 - SAN MIGUEL, BRADLEY, SAN ARDO & SAN LUCAS

2008-12-05T19:50:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow we'll be walking through King City and Greenfield.

DAY 17: We knew we were approaching some difficult terrain after leaving Paso Robles. We contacted the CHP, we talked to someone at Camp Roberts, and we had someone scout the area for us. The end result was that we walked through each of the towns between Paso Robles and King City, but were unable to walk in between these towns on the 101 - the only directly accessible route. It was this day that we felt most regretful that we didn't have more time to plan (we only had 10 days!). But we felt good about being able to make our presence known in these very desolate and isolated towns.

First, there was San Miguel. We walked quite a stretch of developed area before reaching the mission. We saw only 2 people in town and several others working in auto shops leading into San Miguel.

Next was Bradley, population of 120. When we pulled off of the freeway and saw the city limits sign, we were greeted by Cujo. After we got past him, we decided to try and walk down the main stretch but were intimidated by the truck that drove vvvvvvveeeeeeeerrrrrrrryyyyyyyy

slowly past us and through town and another truck that just sat in the middle of the street staring. Valerie gave a hesitant "Peace" sign to anyone watching.

Our third stop was San Ardo. This cute sign was in front of the Elementary School. The town seemed friendly but not that interested in our presence. We were mostly ignored. Oh, and by the way, no one up to this point has asked to sign our petition or to do a video clip. . . or even talked to us.

Our last stop of the day was San Lucas. This was kind of funny.... if you look closely at the signs in the first picture, you can see that Main Street has No Outlet! The short walk down main street, took us past the town's library. There were a few groups of unfriendly, staring men as we reached the end of main street.

Our evening ended at a working ranch 20 miles outside of San Miguel. We stayed with Bart and Tony, who often open their home for retreats. Bart is an avid history buff and Tony painted most (if not all) of the pictures in their house. They treated us to a beautiful soak in the jacuzzi, a warm fire, wonderful meal, and opportunity to rest and recuperate.

DAY 16 - PICTURE UPDATE

2008-12-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

This is Jill Schubert, our hostess for day 16. She graciously picked us up after a long day of walking and got us safely to her house for the evening. Over the course of the evening and the next morning, we learned that Jill is a self taught computer wiz. She teaches computer classes (web design, etc.) at Cuesta College and she knows a lot about video editing.

We had just spent the last couple of days wondering if we'd find someone that could and would edit all of the clips that we're collecting (re: "what would you say to the CA Supreme Court"). and just like that - TA DA!! ....... Jill is our video editor!! She was as excited as we were to talk about how great it'll be to have all of these clips compiled together. She has agreed to work with us over the next couple of weeks and possibly beyond, to edit our video. THANK YOU JILL!!

DAY 16 - TEMPLETON & PASO ROBLES

2008-12-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow we'll be walking through San Miguel, Bradley, San Ardo, and San Lucas and as many of the roads in between that are safe and legal. In this area, we'll be hitting a long stretch of the 101 that is intermittently walkable with sporadic frontage roads that start and stop without reason. We are committed to walking visibly through these towns and bringing a voice to this desolate area.

DAY 16 - We began our day looking at this huge sign on the side of the 101... tells you a little bit about the area we're in.

Then we began walking on the railroad tracks leading into Templeton. Not many people to talk to, but it was very pretty and kind of rough terrain for walking.

Once we got into Templeton, we were mostly ignored... got several thumbs down and other unfriendly gestures. But we also met some great people. Here's the town of Templeton... yes all of it!

This is Cindy and Beth. Cindy saw us walking and was so excited to see us that she ran around the building and got her partner, of more than 20 years. They both signed our petition and Beth did a video clip for the CA Supreme Court. They thanked us for what we are doing several times, but we only walked through their town once, they do it everyday... Thank you Beth and Cindy!

We also met a woman, Robyn, who was excited to see us because her 16 year old daughter was very upset by the passage of prop 8. Robyn took a picture of us on her cell phone for her daughter.

We also met the Budweiser delivery guy who was VERY supportive. He gave us tips on our route, signed our petition and did a video clip.

Then we headed into Paso Robles where the reception was similar. We did meet Toni, who pulled over to talk to us and sign our petition. She offered to have her husband, George, who is a CHP officer, call us about our route for the next couple of days.

Then we met Santa!! And you know Santa was NOT happy about prop 8 passing! He gave us candy canes to keep us going and promised to bring us our civil rights for Christmas!!

We ended our day as we started... on the railroad tracks.

PICTURE UPDATE

2008-12-03T20:23:00.000-08:00

These are our wonderful hosts for night 15 - David and David. They have a very warm and inviting home. The Davids have been working with the grass roots organization Marriage Equality for years, and they wholeheartedly threw themselves into the fight for No on 8.

David and David provided us with fantastic company, delicious food and wine, a book explaining the difference on domestic partnership and marriage, and t-shirts that read "Love Not H8." (Tracie is wearing hers in the picture.)

DAY 15 - SANTA MARGARITA & ATASCADERO

2008-12-02T21:58:00.000-08:00

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow (Wed) we'll be walking through Templeton on Main & Theater and Paso Robles on Spring & Monterey.

DAY 15 - We parked at a Park & Ride under a PFLAG sign and set off through Santa Margarita and Atascadero on the historic El Camino Real. (we think this is a sign of good things to come)

We started our day a little bundled up... it was FREEZING! It was foggy and pretty desolate after we made it through the few blocks of downtown Santa Margarita.

Between Santa Margarita and Atascadero, we were joined on our route by Amanda and Jake. They stayed with us for about 3 or 4 miles and Amanda and her wife, Laura, scouted our next days route for us. Thank you Amanda and Laura!

Once we reached the town of Atascadero, we stopped at Chalk Mountain Liquor (it's also a deli and market) and we want to encourage everyone to PATRONIZE this establishment!! The poeple there were wonderful to us - they packed up food to send with us, offered us water, and tearfully did video clips about how upset they were about prop 8 passing. Thanks you Dianna, Patience & Jessica!

We had been warned that Atascadero might not be very tolerant, so we were prepared to just check in...

... but we kept walking and we were swarmed with support and encouragement!!

Here are a few people that we met:

Sam invited us into her home, offered us food, water and a restroom.

Mark gave us money and a letter that we can give to the Supreme Court.

Brian helped us with directions and was genuinely surprised and happy to be meeting us.

Others were Mary Ann, who offered us a place to stay; Kitty, who offered us free steam room time at her Aveda salon; Cindy who pulled over and gave us money; Val who found us and gave us a starbucks gift card; Chris B. who pulled over and gave us water; and the women and families who stood on their porches clapping for us.

We ended our day at David and David's house in Atascadero. They have been very involved in fighting for marriage equality for years and got very involved in the No on Prop 8 campaign. We spent a wonderful evening swapping stories over a fantastic meal. (picture tomorrow)

PICTURE UPDATE

2008-12-02T21:46:00.000-08:00

This is Les & Bonnie - they very wonderfully agreed to put us up at the last minute on Monday. Their Unitarian Universalist church was very active against prop 8. They recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary... and they understand that we'd like the opportunity to celebrate 60 years of marriage together also. Thank you Les and Bonnie!

DAY 14 - SAN LUIS OBISPO & "THE GRADE"

2008-12-01T21:12:00.000-08:00

DAY 14 - Today we walked through San Luis Obispo and up the Cuesta Pass, or as the locals call it, "the grade."

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow, Tuesday, we will walk through Santa Margarita and Atascadero.

DAY 14 - We started our day on Higuera and followed it through the town of San Luis Obispo. We were surprised at how many people were still seeking us out because they saw us on the news. It's a little surreal and exciting. We had quite a few people sign the petition and do video clips... one mother of 3 gay kids who sought us out; 2 young Cal Poly guys who just couldn't believe we voted about this issue; one woman rushing to catch a plane, but made a point to pull over, talk to us, sign the petition, and do a video clip; and many more.

We passed by our new friend Lisa's work (she and Chris housed us for nights 10 & 11) and stopped by to say hello. Then we stopped for some lunch at a crepe place on Higuera. Instead of announcing our number when our order was ready, the cook announced "please vote no on prop 8." He also signed the petition and did a video clip.

One guy, Frank, signed our petition and did a video clip and told us about an inspiring woman, Peace Pilgrim. We made a point to write down that name so we could get her book. Not long after saying goodbye to Frank, he drove back by and said that he was going to bring us a copy of the Peace Pilgrim book. He did bring the book right before we hit the end of town (San Luis Obispo). We told him that everyone advised us not to walk "the grade." He told us about a tunnel that would take us under the freeway and then up Old Stagecoach Road to the top of the pass. He gladly took us a little way up the 101 to this tunnel and dropped us off. So, we were able to walk "the grade" after all. Dan (who walked with us in Arroyo Grande and Pismo) also called to check on us and to tell us about Old Stagecoach Road. It was a gorgeous walk - we didn't encounter a lot of activity, but we did gain about 1200 feet and enjoy the scenery.

The hike UP.

The locals are clearly No on 8 supporters!

The 101 freeway in the background.

We let Lisa know where we were (it was pretty deserted) and she agreed to come get us when we couldn't go any further. Minutes before we reached the top of the pass, Chris drove up behind us. Lisa told her where we were and she came to check on us. She couldn't have had better timing. Once we reached the top, we couldn't walk any further... it put us on the 101 freeway. Chris drove us through Santa Margarita and Atascadero where we'll be walking tomorrow so that we could check out our walking route. Then we headed back into San Luis Obispo and were treated to a wonderful Thai dinner by Chris and Lisa.

Chris to the rescue.... again!!!

We made it to the top!

We then headed to our accommodations for the night at Les and Bonnie's house. They attend a local Unitarian Universalist church, where they learned about our journey from Gina who has been supporting us along the way. We'll post a picture of Les and Bonnie tomorrow.

Thanks to all of you that post to the blog - it's very uplifting to come in after walking all day and sit down to write out our day and see the support and encouragement that you leave!

PICTURE UPDATE

2008-12-01T21:03:00.000-08:00

Here we are with our hostess from night 13, Rosalinda. We thought we needed a ride and missed each other's calls, so she drove up to San Luis Obispo from Arroyo Grande to look for us, and ended up meeting us at the Best Buy. She is a fellow social worker and sent us on our way this morning with a care package of trail mix, fruit, chocolate, and homeopathic flu medications... just in case.

SPECIAL THANKS

2008-11-30T23:00:00.000-08:00

A huge, special thank you to our new friend, computer wizard, and technical consultant Anthony from Camarillo!!! He called to check in on us last Wednesday, called again to problem solve our computer problems on Thursday, (We have been having difficulty connecting to the internet) and then, on Friday, he drove 4 hours round trip to run repairs and fixed our laptop wireless problems!! THANK YOU ANTHONY!!

DAY 13 - SHELL BEACH TO SAN LUIS OBISPO

2008-11-30T21:57:00.000-08:00

DAY 13 - We began in Shell Beach and continued on to San Luis Obispo.

LOCATION UPDATE: We'll be finishing our walk through San Luis Obispo, then traveling up the grade probably by car (we've been advised that it's not safe to walk), hopefully finishing in Santa Margarita.

DAY 13 - We had to say goodbye to Michelle and Melissa today. They will be sorely missed. WE LOVE YOU!!

Before leaving, Michelle and Melissa dropped us off to begin our day of walking in Shell Beach.

We were greeted warmly all through Shell Beach. Swarms of people stopped us to sign our petition, gave video clips and encouraged us on our way.

Just as we were reaching the more desolate part of the walk, Shelly came along and gave us granola bars. If not for her, we truly would have been VERY hungry - there wasn't another chance to eat after that. THANK YOU SHELLY!! Along the frontage road beside highway 101, Valerie did her Forest Gump impersonation.

Just when our day was winding down and we were trying to determine how to get back to our car, Chris and Lisa (from days 10 & 11) called to see if we needed a ride. YES! They picked us up and delivered us to our car with a suggestion that we visit the local hot springs just a mile down the road. We followed their advice.

Our guardian angels have been staying very busy!

We ended the day with our hostess for the night, Rosalinda. She treated us to dinner at a local favorite, Splash, in Pismo.... GREAT clam chowder. She welcomed us into her beautiful, warm home, fed us wine and sweets, and made sure we were safe and sound for the night. (pic to follow)

DAY 12 - NIPOMO, ARROYO GRANDE & PISMO BEACH

2008-11-30T20:17:00.000-08:00

DAY 12 - We began in Nipomo, then walked through Arroyo Grande, ending on the beach in Pismo Beach.

LOCATION UPDATE: We'll be walking through Shell Beach and into San Luis Obispo tomorrow (Sunday).

DAY 12 - One odd thing that followed us all day... we were recognized A LOT since we were on the evening news last night. So many people seemed very excited to stop us, they commented that they had seen us, and they asked to sign our petition.

We started the day walking with Margi and Linda through their small town of Nipomo.

Then we headed through Arroyo Grande and the 5 Cities area. While walking through Arroyo Grande, a woman (Heather) pulled her car over and approached us. She gave us each 2 plums and then told us that she had voted yes on 8 and that she is a big proponent of prop 8. She had seen us on the news the night before and wanted to tell us that she respected our right to express ourselves and she appreciated that we were doing so in a peaceful and respectful way. Before we could gather our wits to ask her anything, she was off on her way. Thank you Heather for the food and kind words!

Along the way we met some fantastic people! Terry, who pulled over and thanked us for what we were doing, and gave us $20 for lunch... a whole Aveda salon full of employees that signed our petition... Tom who pulled over to ask if we needed anything... and a woman that asked if she could take our picture because her son is gay and she understands why we're doing what we're doing. These people are what keeps us going!!

Between Arroyo Grande and Pismo Beach, we were joined by 2 couples that we stayed with earlier in the trip, and another couple that saw us on the news and asked to join us. From the left... Helen, Sandra, Valerie, Tracie, Lynne, Kathleen, Dan, and Barbara. They stayed with us until we reached the Monarch Butterfly Grove.

At the Monarch Butterfly Grove, we were joined by our hostesses from Days 10 & 11, Lisa and Chris. They stayed with us to the end of DAY 12.

The end of the day did provide a beautiful view of the ocean.

And when we said that Chris and Lisa stayed until the end of the day... we meant that Melissa and then Chris actually carried Valerie the last few steps. Thank you MELISSA & CHRIS!!

And again today, Michelle and Melissa, were invaluable in their contributions... scouting out our route and shuttling people back to their cars after they walked. Michelle was flagged down by Peter and Liz who had been searching for us all day - they gave her cookies for us and offered their support.

We had dinner at Margi and Linda's house and then ended our day at Rick's house for the night. Here is Rick with his award winning pumpkin (the largest pumpkin in San Luis Obispo county at 673 pounds!) Rick has been active in fighting for GLBT equality for 40 years... helping street kids, assisting in starting the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center, writing letters to the editor, is a leader of the local PFLAG group. Rick cans jam, restores old cars, and makes WONDERFUL pancakes with homemade white pear syrup!

DAY 11 - ORCUTT & SANTA MARIA

2008-11-28T21:42:00.001-08:00

DAY 11 - We walked through the towns of Orcutt and Santa Maria, just off of the 101.

LOCATION UPDATE: We will be walking through the Nipomo, Arroyo Grande, Pismo Beach area on Saturday.

DAY 11 - Once again, Valerie's sister and niece, Michelle and Melissa, provided emotional support, encouragement and route information. They also joined us for part of our walk today. Here they are with the support/rally car.

Today was a BIG media day! One of our hostesses for Thursday and Friday nights, Chris, called her local media stations. Both CBS and NBC found us along our route and interviewed us. (you can already see the NBC interview - Sarah posted it on the blog - Thank you Sarah!) Our story led off the 6 o'clock news in Santa Maria! Here's Valerie being interviewed for the NBC piece:

Chris joined us for the whole walk today through her town - it was great having the company and mutual support! Her dog, Tasha, was also a die hard supporter today.

At one point, we had a small and enthusiatic group marching through Santa Maria. Here we are: Melissa, Valerie, Michelle, Janette (Chris' mom), Chris, and Tasha!

The reception was mixed in Santa Maria. It was a day of largely being ignored... as if we might just go away if people don't acknowledge that we are out and protesting. Here, Valerie and Michelle talk to a suporter and get him to sign the Courage Campaign petition.

Here we are with our hostesses for Thursday and Friday nights: Lisa and Chris. They very graciously agreed to host us for 2 nights. Chris poured over maps with us to help determine our route. Lisa and Chris served a wonderful dinner, and Chris' mom, Janette, thought of us on her Black Friday shopping spree and bought us a memory card for our camera. THANK YOU Lisa, Chris, and Janette!!

5 o'clock news in Santa Maria!

2008-11-28T20:06:00.000-08:00

Click HERE for the link to our NBC coverage in Santa Maria!
You can read the interview - the video doesn't seem to still be available.
We'll look into it and keep you posted.

Valerie and Tracie in the Santa Barbara Independent

2008-11-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

Christian Van Den Heuvel (left) signs the Revoke 8 petition and participates in a "If you could speak directly to the Supreme Court Justices, what would you say?" video interview with Tracie Jones (center) and Valerie Paget (right).

Full article here. I can't wait to see the results of Tracie and Valerie's video diary and interviews!

-Sarah

Video short on the March to Revoke 8

2008-11-28T14:05:00.000-08:00

Thanks to David Pritchett and Cathy Murillo of Off-Leash Public Affairs!

-Sarah

Quick hit: Valerie and Tracie in the Coastal View News

2008-11-28T13:53:00.000-08:00

Larger version for reading here. Thanks to David Pritchett, who's been blogging here about the March, for the scan!

-Sarah

BLISTER UPDATE

2008-11-27T18:32:00.000-08:00

So sorry I forgot to give a blister update!! You have all been so kind and thoughtful, offering tips and suggestions about how I can get rid of my blisters. After trying everything, I went back to my old standby (from backpacking) of duct tape! That and a new pair of tennis shoes. Thank you Janee at the Lady Foot Locker in Ventura. Thank you Michelle for suggesting that I go back to duct tape. Thank you Edna for suggesting that I go to the Lady Foot Locker. I'm healed!! I actually haven't had blisters for 3 days straight!!!

DAY 10 - THANKSGIVING AND THE 101 FWY

2008-11-27T17:53:00.000-08:00

DAY 10 - We spent all day on the 101 freeway with our new support/rally car, powered by Valerie's sister, Michelle, and her niece, Melissa (pics to come tomorrow).

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow (Black Friday), we will begin our walk on Clark Street at the 101 freeway and walk through Orcutt and Santa Maria.

We began our day with a little bit bigger team... Michelle and Melissa drove from Denver to help us on our journey. They were INVALUABLE! They dropped us off to start our walk, scouted routes for us, brought us lunch, gave us moral support, and spent Thanksgiving with us!

We have been told that we can't walk on the 101 freeway, but when we called the local CHP office, they said that we could walk on the stretch from Buellton to Santa Maria. They said that after Santa Maria we would see signs posted stating where we could no longer walk. So off we went! We walked maybe one quarter of one mile when we saw this sign....

We decided to go with what the CHP officer said, and we kept walking!

Along the way, we saw more locals...

We went to Los Alamos and when we were approaching the Los Alamos exit, a very nice CHP officer pulled over and told us that we couldn't walk any farther on the 101 freeway. He was very supportive of our cause, and stated that he wanted us to be safe. Thank you officer!

The highlight of the day was Thanksgiving dinner with Sandra, Barbara, Michelle and Melissa. They prepared such a wonderful meal... they shared wonderful stories... and Rags (in Barbara's lap) put his two cents in too! We loved sharing Thanksgiving with Barbara and Sandra. They were wonderful hostesses and lovely women with such rich histories. It was such a pleasure spending time with them.

We're heading off to our next lodging place... more tomorrow!

Thank you again for all the support, blog messages, honks, text messages, etc. It really does keep us going!

DAY 9 - SANTA YNEZ, SOLVANG & BUELLTON

2008-11-27T15:52:00.000-08:00

DAY 9 - This is how we looked for the first half of our walk!

We were wisely advised by several locals not to drive over the pass from Santa Barbara to Armour Ranch Road just past Lake Cachuma. It had NO shoulder in most locations.

We began our day at Armour Ranch/246 towards Santa Ynez in the pouring rain!! Once we reached Santa Ynez, we decided they needed a little love from the Revoke 8 crowd (the two of us). We detoured off of our path to walk through town (which amounted to about 8 blocks round trip).

On our walk we were mostly ignored. We did go into the local newspaper office and ask if they'd like to take a picture or hear our story. An anonymous individual spoke with us outside the office and said we'd be more likely to get married in Texas than to get our picture published in their paper. (This person was very supportive of us, but kindly sent us on our way.)

A little bit outside of Santa Ynez, we stopped at the YMCA to get out of the continued downpour (and to change our socks!).

We then set off for Solvang, where we received much more support - and it rained very little after that! Mark (who blogged on the 11/27/08 post) pulled over onto the side of the road to encourage us. He also gave us a very kind donation to help with our lunch - thanks Mark!! Once we were in town, a man sitting at a stop light told us that he'd read about us in the Santa Barbara News Press and he wished us luck! Once we got closer to Buellton, we were given advice by some of the locals...

Once we reached Buellton, we headed to our hotel for the night where Valerie's sister Michelle and niece, Melissa were going to join us.

Several days before, we receved an email from Gina offering support along the way. She included the contact information a friend of hers, John, from their UU church in San Luis Obispo, stating he could help move our car on Wednesday. This turned out to be such a wonderful thing. We REALLY needed our car to be moved. John (on the right) and Jerry, picked up our car and delivered it to our hotel. THANK YOU JOHN and JERRY!!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T08:01:00.000-08:00

Today Valerie and Tracie are walking through wine country in the Los Alamos area (lucky!) and Friday they'll be reaching Santa Maria. They promise to post soon - they haven't had internet access for the last few days on the road. I'm sure they'll have lots to report... Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving!

-Sarah

DAY 8 - SANTA BARBARA

2008-11-26T06:45:00.000-08:00

DAY 8 took us through beautiful Santa Barbara on Cabrillo and then downtown on State Street.

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow (Wed) we will be on San Marcos Pass and then the 246 going through Santa Ynez, Solvang and Buellton.

DAY 8 - We started out on Cabrillo at the Bird Refuge - beautiful! Then when we got to the beach, we were met by Rafael from the Santa Barbara News-Press - he took several pictures of us walking. Here's Rafael taking a picture of us taking a picture of him.

Shortly after that we were met by David from OffLeashPublicAffairs.org - he took us out to the shore with the pier in the background for a video interview.

As we continued up State Street, we were soon met by Paul from the Santa Barbara Independent - he followed us for many blocks.... or we should say, we followed him. He very patiently escorted us through south Santa Barbara...we were constantly greeted by people wanting to sign the petition and contribute to the video clips. Here's Paul doing gymnastics on his bike while taking pictures.

Paul gave us the best tip of the day... where to eat lunch! Savoy Cafe was healthy and delicious - we loved it!

We continued on State Street through north Santa Barbara where we tried to spread the love from south SB to much more conservative neighborhoods. We also got a little rained on at the end of the day - but we made good time to the end of our route.

We ended our day in Santa Barbara at Victoria's house. She fed us delicious soup made from squash that she grew. Victoria invited several people over - we all shared stories, some did video clips to the supreme court and everyone signed the petition. Thank you Victoria, Aiden, Laura, Sherri, and Lauren! Here we are with Victoria and Aiden.

DAY 7 - PICTURE UPDATE

2008-11-26T06:36:00.001-08:00

DAY 7 - These are our wonderful hostesses, Claire and Pat, in their beautiful backyard. Again, we were touched by the kindness of others. Claire and Pat provided an exquisite meal and safe haven to recouperate from this difficult day and the goji shot kept us going all through day 8. Thank you!

This was our guest house - our home for the evening, a much needed respite!

Blog shoutouts

2008-11-25T00:23:00.000-08:00

Here are a few blogs that have featured Valerie and Tracie's march across California for marriage equality: Lez Get Real, Kicking a Lion, Change Happens, and Walking with Integrity. Woot!

-Sarah

Revoke8 Logo!

2008-11-25T00:07:00.001-08:00

Check out the beautiful logo for Val and Tracie's march crafted by support team member John!

-Sarah

DAY 7 - CARPINTERIA TO MONTECITO

2008-11-24T19:51:00.000-08:00

DAY 7 - Valerie walked over 10 miles today through Carpinteria (or Carp to locals) and up to Montecito. Tracie nursed her blisters while tending to our organizational needs and tracked Valerie as she walked.

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow (Tuesday) we will be walking through Santa Barbara, on Cabrillo and State Streets.

DAY 7 - Shared joy is double joy, shared sorrow is half sorrow. This sums up our day perfectly. Due to the dreaded blisters, Tracie drove the car and tended to her blisters, while Valerie walked alone. We were not entirely prepared for the day. Other days, when walking together with a sign that says "REVOKE 8" (a.k.a. "I'M GAY!"), we can laugh off the slights that we receive and we also share in the encouragement we receive. When walking alone, there is no buffer or comfort from the slights. Without the support of another, walking alone proved to be very emotionally draining. This was a perfect parallel to why we are fighting this fight. We all need one another. When we stand next to each other, we lessen the pain and we double the joy.

We have been and continue to be overwhelmed by the people that we encounter that are standing with us.... the bikers that gave a thumbs up, the occasional smile and waves from the people driving by, the 3 women from the clinic who came out offering water for the journey, the librarian pulling her cart who gave a thumbs up, and Matt who sought Valerie out because he wanted to know about "homosexuals." He'd always been told by his church that being gay was wrong and he engaged Valerie in a long conversation trying to understand something different from him. And finally, the local Carpinteria newspaper saw Valerie walking and asked for an interview.

We survived the day intact with a beautiful place to stay and rejuvenate ourselves for another day. Claire and Pat have a breathtaking home and guest house. They provided the support and space we needed to gear up for tomorrow. They gave us a delicious meal, a bottle of wine, and luxurious accommodations.

DAY 6 - PICTURE UPDATE

2008-11-24T19:34:00.000-08:00

Here is our wonderful day 6 hostess, juggler extraordinaire, and event coordinator, Monica! Not only did she put us up for a night, but she spent most of her day today scouting our route up through Santa Maria. THANK YOU MONICA!! And she spent part of her evening going over our route with us and giving us technical advice re: how to work the computer!

DAY 6 - OXNARD AND VENTURA

2008-11-23T22:23:00.000-08:00

DAY 6 - We set off to walk through the towns of Oxnard and Ventura.

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow (Monday), we'll be walking through Carpinteria and into Santa Barbara. / Tuesday we'll be walking through Santa Barbara.

DAY 6 - We began in Oxnard and soon came upon a Mormon church. We showed them our sign (REVOKE 8) - Valerie filmed them watching us - and we moved on.

We received a mixed reception - some finger wags and "you're number ones" but also some honks, waves, and thumbs up.

Around mile 6 or 7, Tracie couldn't walk any further. Even with new shoes (or because of), her 2 small toes were just huge blisters. She waited while Valerie, as we pledged to one another... in sickness and in health, set off to finish our route. As Valerie set off alone, and feeling a little more vulnerable, she quickly had a woman tell her "I've been reading about you! I'm behind you 100 percent!" And as she moved on, she ran into Das, who 4 years ago lost his partner of 22 years. He told her that he and his partner did the "in sickness and in health...'til death do us part for 22 years and we just want to have our unions treated like everyone else." Valerie explained that it was difficult for her to do this part of the walk by herself, but after meeting him she was so glad she did. They hugged and he said "keep on walking." Valerie finished off Ventura with a purpose... walking for Das and his dearly departed.

Once Valerie came back for Tracie, they drove out to a stretch of hwy 1 that branches off of the 101 and Tracie shadowed Valerie in the car as she walked. That brought Valerie's total to about 13 miles of walking.

On the way to our hostesses house for the evening, we stopped by a little place called Tony's Pizza. Tony was a kind and generous soul. After making our pizza for us and hearing our story about march to the Supreme Court, Tony refused to accept any money and insisted he was contributing fuel for our journey. Thank you Tony, you are a true gem. Here we are with Tony in his kitchen with our pizza. We neglected to get the other guy's name - he told jokes from the time we walked in until we left.

We then arrived at Monica's apartment. She graciously agreed to put us up for an evening - even though we just asked this morning. She helped us work through routes, uploading pics, etc. Thank you for your hospitality and generosity. (we'll upload a pic of Monica tomorrow)

We also just want to thank all of you that have emailed, blogged, waved, honked, fed us, given us a bed, and otherwise encouraged us on this journey. You are all truly moving and inspirational.

DAY 5 - A DAY OF REST AND RALLYING

2008-11-23T21:35:00.001-08:00

DAY 5 was a day of rest - the blisters got the best of Tracie after walking 10 miles a day for 4 days straight with no relief. Both Tracie and Valerie are otherwise healthy and very much enjoying the journey.

LOCATION UPDATE: Tomorrow (Sunday) will be a day of walking through Oxnard and Ventura. Very visible through town - not sure what the reception will be.

DAY 5 - We tried to use the day to catch up on some a

dministrative things that we'd been neglecting - making new signs to carry as we go; buying new shoes for Tracie; updating the website and blog; and getting in touch with people.

Also, we were informed that a small demonstration was going to take place place in front of Lassen's Health Food Store at noon. The owner of Lassen's donated $27,500 to the yes on 8 campaign and people were gathering to educate people about the choices they are making. We were delighted to join them.

Here are the dedicated warriors that were at the demonstration.

This picture is of Anthony and Daisy. Anthony takes his sign out EVERYDAY to demand equality for all - often standing on street corners by himself during his lunch hour.

Our hostess for the evening was Lynne in Ojai. Not enough can be sa

id about Lynne in our blog... Since she heard of our journey, she has been actively calling, emailing, and contacting as many people as she can (and she knows A LOT of people) to enlist their support. We enjoyed a wonderful evening at her home - which has become a safe haven for hundreds over the years. Watching the unseasonal shooting stars while soaking in the hot tub seemed a sign of good things to come.

FRANGELA LOVES US!!

2008-11-22T11:06:00.000-08:00

Here's an email that Frangela sent us after we were on their radio show. Check them out on AM1150 - Saturdays and Sundays from 2-4pm. We'll be calling Frangela every weekend we're on the road to San Fran!

You soooo rock!!!!
We will make sure to announce your amazing walk again this weekend!
And you have to try to call in if you can with updates please!!!!!
It'll be a frangela exclusive, unless of course, you're, you know, updating someone else too . . .
which would be your right . . .you know . . .we would totally understand and stuff :)
you both rock!
and you are soooo putting your beliefs into action - you are a true inspiration to us all!
thank you again for calling and writing and doing what you do!
you rock,
angela & frances

DAY 4 - MALIBU TO OXNARD

2008-11-22T09:06:00.000-08:00

This is what our walk looked like most of the day... beautiful! The sign is misleading...we walked a few more than 3 miles - more like 10.

LOCATION UPDATE: Saturday we had planned to march through Oxnard and Ventura, however, we are taking a day of rest to heal Tracie's blisters. (as hard as she tries to prevent them, they keep coming back!) We will be attending a rally at a local health food store that gave money to the yes on 8 campaign - Lassens Health Foods at 4071 E. Main in Ventura - Hope to see you there!

Back to day 4! The walk was beutiful, but a little painful for Tracie - still fighting with blisters. (warning: there is a picture below of the blisters, viewer discretion advised) We had mostly traffic again today, and not a lot of honking or feedback. We did meet a few wonderful people. Marshall rode his bike up to us and asked about what we're doing. We talked for a minute and then he rode off. An hour or two later, Marshall rode up again after having enjoyed his hambuger at Neptune's Net and pulled 2 beers out of his pocket for us! We sat right down at the beach and enjoyed them - thanks Marshall!!

Then we ran across a couple from Newbury Park, who were camping along the PCH. Dawn and Robert crossed barriers to sign the petition!

Here are our lovely hostesses for night 4 - Terri and Toni - in their gorgeous backyard. They fixed Tracie a nice epsom salt bath for her feet, fed us a wonderful Thai meal, and graciously gave us their wonderful vibrating bed that rocked us to sleep in record time. Their dog, Tuli, will have a comment segment on our Supreme Court video.

And here is a picture of ONE of Tracie's blisters! Both pinky toes are JUST blisters now, and both main foot pads are very blistered. We hope to treat and rest these on Saturday and start off on our trek again Sunday.

DAY 3 - PICTURE UPDATE

2008-11-22T08:27:00.000-08:00

Day 3 took us by Pepperdine University, and we couldn't resist taking this picture. It's dedicated to Professor Richard Peterson.... remember him from those horrible "Yes on 8" commercials?

And we all may be a little battered after the fight.... but it's not over!
(we saw this sign crumpled up on the side of PCH near Pepperdine)

And these were our fantastic hostesses, Linda and Edna, and their adorable pooches. We are standing in front of the home that they designed themselves in beautiful Camarillo.

Revoke 8 Mobile Sighting!

2008-11-22T00:37:00.001-08:00

Let us know if you've seen it!

-Sarah

Day 3 - ALONG THE PCH

2008-11-20T22:28:00.000-08:00

We traveled up the PCH through more of Malibu today. Even with a late start and healing feet, we went another ten miles or so.

Location Update: Tomorrow (Friday) we will be completing the long stretch of PCH through Malibu (who knew Malibu was so long) and ending at Oxnard.

A big thank you to Craig for transporting us safely and for his advice on blister care - feet are almost like new excepting one small remaining area. Did not encounter much foot traffic today, but were able to pass out our new flier, thanks to Katie. PCH traffic was steady and primarily supportive. Deborah, who checked in on us again today, calling our march God's work, is now our official guardian angel. And to our fantastic hostesses, Linda and Edna - the flowers, the home cooked meal, the hot tub, and the sharing of stories was a most wonderful night to remember. It's so nice to have such a warm, friendly welcome after a long day of walking. Thank you doesn't quite convey our appreciation. We will post some pictures tomorrow.

2008-11-19T22:43:00.000-08:00

DAY 2 - ACCOMPLISHED!

LOCATION UPDATE: We traveled from Santa Monica to Malibu today (Wednesday) and we'll be leaving from Las Flores and PCH in Malibu tomorrow morning around 9am.

We are well rested because of our fantastic hosts - here we are with our dear friend Deb on night one!

Today was fantastic!! Because of one thing.... all of you. And we mean this very sincerely. Here are a few of our experiences with you: Perk, the gorgeous lifeguard/actor/model/all around nice guy (they really do exist!) Deborah - who pulled over to ask if we needed water (she heard us on the Stephanie Miller Show!), and then she offered her home if we needed a break! Then there's Craig who graciously picked us up when Tracie's blisters prevented her from going any further, and he dropped us off at our lodging location for the night. And Craig's mom, Gera, who sent Craig back over with Mole Skin that she insists will help the blisters - this Mole Skin has traveled the world with her... good karma! Those of you who added comments to our blog - wow, we were both teary eyed reading those comments. We really do all effect each another. Then there was Matt who is so determined to join us and march, he's trying to take his final exams early! And our brother-in-law, Joe, came to the rescue and helped us fix something on our website!

You are all so inspiring. We regret we can't write every story of every one we're touched by... but know that it's truly amazing.

Tracie's blisters have caused us to move a little slower than we would have liked, but nonetheless, we've still traveled about 20 miles and about 50,000 steps! And on about mile 18, we learned that the California Supreme Court agreed to hear cases regarding Prop 8!!! Great News!

Tomorrow we'll be traveling up the Pacific Coast Highway. From our experience today, we may reach areas that begin to get unpassable... and as we leave Malibu's city limits, we'll not have any other cities to go through until a little farther up PCH in Oxnard. So, depending on the safety of the road (we've been advised not to walk on this next portion - but we want to at least try) - we'll be in Oxnard in the next couple of days.

Keep fighting the fight!

1st DAY OF MARCHING COMPLETE!!

2008-11-18T19:18:00.000-08:00

Well, we did it! We actually began this huge journey of marching through the coastal cities from L.A. to San Francisco! We had a very small, but warm and supportive sendoff this morning - as well as an interview with our local ABC station - Channel 7...thank you Shawn!

Sergeant Farrell saw us off as we walked up San Vicente Blvd. He offered us luck, safety and lunch when we return! We tried to convince him to join us in San Francisco and haven't given up hope that he'll be there! Thank you Sgt Farrell!

Jerri walked with us for the first hour of our march - thank you Jerri!

We met some very nice people along the way who signed the petition from the Courage Campaign that advocates a repeal of Prop 8. We marched from West Hollywood to Santa Monica and are staying with our wonderful friends, Debbie and Bob. Staying with them is truly like the 4 Seasons! Jacuzzi, Pool, Our own entrance into the back house - we may have difficulty leaving!

Our first day was one of learning our way. We may have worn the wrong type of socks and gotten the beginnings of some blisters, but a quick visit to the REI in Santa Monica got us on the right track!

We are getting our laptop setup to upload pictures and videos as we go along - be patient, we will get that working. this is a work in progress.

Thank you to everyone who has sent supportive texts, emails, phone calls - we love you all and you keep us going!

Thank you especially to our wonderful support team, without whom this march would be impossible! .... Sarah Richardson who met with us from the beginning and has always been so supportive, encouraging and proactive. Sage Collum who worked as we did all day on election day and got on board early to offer her support. Alexi Weden, Tracie's coworker and our friend, who initially offered her husband John as a support and soon found herself drawn in and managing our blog! Her husband John as offered great insight drawn from his experience and is now supporting our efforts. And last, but certainly not least, our dear friend and election day coworker, Katie Escudero, who has selflessly offered her support. And let me clarify, when I say support, I mean in the way that demands blood, sweat, and tears. We are being cared for and tended to by their caring, concern, and thoughtfulness. We are sleeping in a comfortable place each night due to their dilegence. We are getting some media attention to spread the word and sustain this energy because of their persistence. We are resting easy each day because they are all working so hard on our behalf. Thank you will never be enough.

We're going to soak in the "4 Seasons" hot tub to prepare for another inspirational day tomorrow!

Hometown Heroes

2008-11-18T18:11:00.001-08:00

Valerie and Tracie are the headliners today in their hometown paper, the Pasadena Star-News! Here's a great quote from the article:

The Rev. Susan Russell of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena ...said Tuesday that the couple's march is more than just a symbol.
"It's exactly what people of faith should be doing - putting their faith into action ... taking the opportunity to stand up for one of the defining civil rights issues of our time," Russell said. "We hold these women in our prayers, and we think it's exactly the kind of action we'd like to see more of as we continue to battle the effort to write discrimination into our Constitution."
-Sarah

Go Tracie and Valerie!

2008-11-18T17:48:00.000-08:00

Tracie and Valerie set off this morning from West Hollywood with hugs from us and an interview with KABC Channel 7! Stay tuned for an update from them. - Sarah

2008-11-15T10:30:00.000-08:00

From West Hollywood to the California Supreme Court in San Francisco. Be Part of this Historic March!

TUESDAY - 8AM - W Hollywood

WHO: Valerie & Tracie – an L.A. couple affected by the passage of Proposition 8.
WHAT: March with them for one hour, or more, as they begin their journey
WHEN: Leaving Tuesday, 11/18/08, @ 8AM
WHERE: West Hollywood Park at San Vicente & Santa Monica Blvd

AFTER TUESDAY -- STAY INVOLVED!

CHECK OUR SITE DAILY TO:

Track the daily progress and location of the march
Join rallies as we take this fight from L.A. to Sacramento
March with us for an hour, a day, a week, or a month
Blog and tell us - when you can join us - what actions you are taking to demand equality
Wear Revoke 8 gear to raise awareness (see below)
Access updated links (see right column)
Volunteer with the march (see below)

Bring your letters written to the California Supreme Court Justices. Tell them your story. We will put a face on this fight. Sign the Petition to Revoke Prop 8 at the march. We will deliver these to the California Supreme Court Justices.

We have changed our destination to San Francisco because the actions pending there may be decided in the next couple of months. The actions in Sacramento will not be decided until the next couple of years. We will march from Los Angeles, to the State Supreme Court, through each coastal city; and everywhere else in between unless prohibited by injury, illness, unpassable roads, or an unsafe environment.

We will be quiet no more. Civil rights are changed, not by isolated courtroom decisions, but by the uprising of people; people standing up and saying “We will be quiet no more.” “We will no longer be treated as second-class citizens.” Our voice and our actions inspire what is legislated in courtrooms. If people had not continued to march and protest during early civil rights movements, there would have been no reason for the courts to legislate change, the status quo would have been sufficient. But people continued to rise up, make noise, and say “No more.” Sacramento will respond to our voice, they must, because we will not be silenced. Equality is ours to demand. We will move this fight from our neighborhoods to the steps of the state capitol and MARCH TO REVOKE 8.