DAY 8 - SANTA BARBARA

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

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

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!

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

-Sarah

DAY 7 - CARPINTERIA TO MONTECITO

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

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

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.