Fare well, SoCal...

Farewell, southern California, at least until our return to Santa Barbara Public Library at 2:00 pm on Saturday, August 22nd, and then to Vandenberg Air Force Base at 11:30 pm that night.

We've had a multi-layered experience in our "No War" van as we've explored the campgrounds, beaches and mountains of southern California. It's a journey first to meet other activists, especially antinuclear ones, and to collect their stories as we share ours. It's also, for all of us, a return to places important to our childhoods. We visited the golden hills of Palos Verdes, on the coast south of Los Angeles, where Ellen spent the first 14 years of her life, and found Steve's birthplace in the lovely hills of Upland. (We plan to visit Jay's childhood home in Colorado, and Troy's birthplace in Ohio.) We toasted at Venice Beach with our signs and literature on display in a parking lot (with no result), and paid a short, non-productive visit to the Los Angeles Catholic Workers, who are very busy helping people personally, and cynical about the political process.

However, there were terrific contacts along the way.

We joined and photographed an Iran Free Speech Solidarity rally just before we left San Francisco, and spent a great evening with David and Carol Lee Krieger in their beautiful home in the Santa Barbara Hills. David is the creative force behind Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, and Carol Lee is an ardent clean water advocate.

We also connected with Sandy Stites of Santa Barbara WILPF, who arranged for us to show our film and speak at the Santa Barbara Public Library.

We encountered a "Free Speech" (only with a permit) zone in Venice Beach; Jay has a citation to prove it.

We lunched in Los Angeles on Saturday with Roger Easton, who is the glue that binds the Los Angeles Area Nuclear Disarmament Coalition.... (more next message)

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