This screen grab comes from an Internet game found at aksaler.com. My sister, Michele, found the link and forwarded it to me.
Tim and I were among the thousands of San Diegans who headed an hour east of the city Saturday to frolic in the two-plus feet of snow that fell in the mountains a few days earlier.
The scenes were breathtaking. I was in heaven because I'm a snow freak and it was my first time to see more than a few inches of the white stuff. Another plus was getting to wear my spiffy new snow boots. Where have these been all of my life. They really work!
As usual, click on any pic to view it full size.
Tim and I got a good cardio workout hiking up and down hills through deep, powdery drifts.
The snow was equally deep at Lake Cuyamaca where Tim and I camped just a few weeks ago.
We ended the day in Julian where we had pie (apple pumpkin and strawberry rhubarb) and coffee.
Frosty was having no luck hitching a ride back to the beach.
Weather forecasters are predicting more snow on Monday and Wednesday. That probably mean I'll feel compelled to drive to the mountains again on Thursday to make it an official white Christmas.
I spent Thanksgiving weekend with Tim at Lake Cuyamaca, located in the mountains about 40 miles east of San Diego. We hiked to the top of Stonewall Peak, which was located across the road from our campground.
The weather was perfect during the day, but at night temperatures dipped to the upper 30s. It probably was a mistake to drink ice-cold beer on our first night around the camp fire, but we didn't figure that out until it was too late. We drank hot tea on the second night.
Here's the view looking north from the peak of Stonewall. The last few feet reminded me of climbing to Angel's Landing in Zion Canyon in southwestern Utah, only this climb was a lot safer and easier to reach.
That's Lake Cuyamaca behind Tim.
Our campground was surrounded by dead trees. Most of the area around the lake burned during the 2003 wildfires that swept across San Diego County.
Even five years later, the scars of the fires are visible everywhere.
We took these photos with my iPhone using a new app called Night Camera. It does a great job tackling a fundamental problem with the phone - the camera takes great shots when the lighting is good, but it stinks in low light.
While most people in Baton Rouge spent Saturday afternoon tailgating before the LSU football game, about 60 staged a pro-gay marriage rally in front of City Hall.
My sister, Michele, was there with this great sign.
My brother-in-law, Eric, was there too (on the right). Thanks for going Michele and Eric. It really meant a lot to me.
In the northwestern corner of the state, Adrienne Critcher (left) was helping lead the protest in Shreveport.
She said about 150 people took part in the protest - an amazing number for a pro-gay rights event in über-Baptist northern Louisiana.
Now, if this little guy gets it, then why can't everyone else get it?
I spent the afternoon hiking through Painted Gorge, a rugged area in the desert about an hour and a half east of San Diego. As you can tell from this photo, the name comes from the striking colors that run through the layers of exposed rock.
I did the hike with the San Diego Trail Tramps, a group of guys that gets together for an outing usually on the third Sunday of each month. Today's hike covered a 7-mile loop and took about 3 1/2 hours to complete.
We saw a lot of cool rock formations like this one . . .
. . . and this one.
Me with my friend Tom.
And here's the rest of the group.
About 25,000 people took part in San Diego's portion of Stonewall 2.0 today, according to police, making it the largest of the dozens of similar protests staged around the country.
This scene stretched for more than 10 city blocks.
The march started on the edge of Hillcrest (A), San Diego's main gayborhood, followed the west side of Balboa Park and ended three miles later at the county administration building (D) in downtown.
Go here to see the San Diego Union-Tribune's coverage of the march.
Some of my favorite signs. Click on them to view them larger.
Self portrait.
This was the scene at the rally at the end of the march outside the San Diego County administration building in downtown San Diego.
CALIFORNIA CITIES WHERE MARCHES ARE TAKING PLACE SATURDAY:
Star Trek star and newlywed George Takei rode with his husband Brad Altman through downtown Palm Springs during the city's annual Pride Parade Sunday morning. Things kicked off at a horrifyingly early hour of 10 a.m. Isn't it against the law to wake gays before 11 a.m. on Sunday in most cities?
Fellow gay Louisiana native and novelist Christopher Rice did his best impression of an optometry patient while greeting the crowd along Palm Springs' main drag. Rice's famous mom was no where to be seen.
By the time I realized who this was, Lorna Luft (the daughter of Judy Garland) had already past my spot on the parade route.
Only a handful of homo-haters showed up to spew their nonsense.
Me and my buddy Tim spent the rest of the day at the festival, which was held inside a baseball park. The crowd was fairly large, the feel was a bit small-townish and the weather was perfect.
Usually when my home state makes national headlines, it isn't flattering. That's the case this time with Lindsey Evans, who had been the reigning Miss Teen Louisiana until she and three friends walked out of a restaurant without paying the $46 bill.
This was the result of a little bet with my buddy Troy who lives in Tampa. Let's hope things go better for Tiger Nation this weekend.
