My family accompanied me to Torrey Pines State Park this Fathers Day for a great hike in this scenic wild place.  The hike was a bitter sweet, as I really enjoyed myself, but Torrey Pines is one of the places that is scheduled to close if the powers that be in Sacramento go through with their absurd plan of shutting down a number of state parks to try to solve their budget fiasco.

We started the hike out on the beach,  enjoying the cool breeze and the light spray of the waves.  We dawdled along the sand, playing with seaweed, and trying to find rip currents in the surf and talking about what to do if you are ever caught in one.   We stopped and had a quick snack on the beach at the base of the great new stairs that run up the cliffs into the park.  After the snack we wandered up the stairs and through a break in the cliffs into the park itself.  We meandered through the chaparral, tracking scurrying lizards, and pulling splinters from little hands (always bring plenty of band aids with little ones.  they make everything better).

We took an extended break at the nature center, where we were able to spend some time in the small museum that is crammed with information about the park.  I talked with a women working at the center who has been a volunteer at the park for 31 years. Her love for the park resonated with every word.  She was not sure what she would do if the park closed, but expressed the desire to continue coming to help preserve what her and so many others have worked so hard to create.

I encourage everyone to visit our state parks as often as possible.  They are wonderful places. Places that deserve to be open for all of us to enjoy.  Places worthy of maintaining an protecting.  Places that need to be there for our children and their children.  Please let the decision makers in Sacramento know that no one wants to close our State Parks,  and there need to be another way.

www.calparks.org/stopclosures