DAY 16 - PICTURE UPDATE

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

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

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

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

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"

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

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.