Russ Taylor ephemera

In February 2001, I was an attorney.  That month I traveled to San Francisco to attend and speak at a media and communications conference.  After the conference ended, I stayed a few more days in that area of California.  I took an ill-advised bus tour of Sonoma and Napa.  I eventually got smart and rented a convertible and drove south on the Pacific Coast Highway.  I stayed a few nights in Carmel (The Pine Inn) and made it somewhere past Nepenthe before eventually turning around and heading back to San Francisco.  I enjoyed some scenic coastal hikes.

By this point in my life I was newly separated and headed for a divorce.  And I had secretly filed a legal case earlier in February 2001 that -- about one year later -- would become public and turn my life upside down.  People often say their life was turned upside down by an event.  I'm not sure what it means for others, but for me it meant not having a plan for the first time in my adult / working life.

So this trip was the calm before the storm, although I did not know it at the time.

These are some photos I snapped along the coast: