Phyllis L NeumannBorn in Brooklyn, New York, I have been married over 54 years with two grown daughters. I started my career as an elementary school teacher, received my Masters degree in 1969 and worked as an elementary school counselor. After moving to California Ireceived my MFT license in 1971 as a Marriage and Family Therapist and opened a counseling practice in Petaluma. After purchasing bicycles for the family at the nearest flea market I looked forward to exploring Sonoma County. Unfortunately, there were no bicycling guidebooks written at the time, not knowing the area, and it was difficult to find places to ride. I challenged myself to write my own bicycling guidebook, and learned the art of typesetting and self-publishing. I created Penngrove Publications in 1978 and published Sonoma County Bike Trails in 1978. I wrote and published Marin County Bike Trails in 1989. An author, Conrad Boisvert, approached me about publishing another bicycling book and, keeping with the same format, I agreed to publish the next four books in the series. The books were updated with each new edition and are still sold on the market today. In 1991 my husband Bob and I bought a beautiful 47-foot ketch named Adventure. Two years later, after equipping the boat and learning as much as we could about cruising, we both retired and put our house of 22 years up for sale - it was time to go. On January 24, 1993 we sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge and turned left. We spent time in the Sea of Cortez, Mexico, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama. We transited the Panama Canal, returning to the United States 21/2 years later. For the remaining years, mainly due to family problems, we traveled up and down the East Coast, from Florida to New England and the Bahamas. When our two daughters started having families of their own we knew it was time to return to land. In 2002 we sold Adventure in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and returned to California in June, to settle down in Pescadero with our daughter, Andrea and her family, living very much as an extended family. We have been living together on the same property for over 14 years. In 2003 I opened a new counseling practice in Half Moon Bay. Around that time I also started showing operas in my tiny living room. I was eventually able to move the monthly opera event to a larger building on my son-in-law's property, opened it up to the public and formed the Pescadero Opera Society for the past 14 years. Read More Read Less