Yesterday I had a lovely time going through the Charles M. Schulz (spelled correctly now) museum. It was so much fun to read some of the early comics. See how he put them together and what the process was for some of them and also see what a humble and giving man he was.
Though not political he sometimes had a slant like that in his work or an educator but he also taught so much with his comics. He is also known as a child behaviouralist and observer of the joys of play and development in young people. So fascinating. I would suggest this visit to anyone who visits the Sonoma Valley and the wine country here.
As I'm not a wine person per se I didn't do a "wine tour" but enjoyed learning about the art of wine making in this area in downtown Santa Rosa. Very similar to the Ontario version but the air and mountain sides that the grapes are grown on are supposed to be superior to anything that we have. I guess that's one side's opinion. It's all very pretty to me and seeing the hills covered in vineyards is neat.
Santa Rosa is a divided town. The highway (101) divides it in "old" and "new" but is easily accessed from each side by tunnels. There is a junior college here and their hockey team (yeah! Hockey!) the Polar Bears, plays at the Redwood Empire hockey arena that Charles Schulz had built due to his love of hockey. The little cafe, the Warm Puppy, is right inside the door with lots of good viewing of the rink. The rink itself looks like it should belong in the centre of the Austrian Alps with lots of mock ups of Austrian chalets on the end walls and huge murals of the Alpan countryside. It's really quite fascinating (pictures later friends, I'm on the hotel computer). There was an "old guy" team that was playing when I was there and they were pretty good. Mr. Schulz played with this same team that was playing I later found out. He loved hockey. As did his Peanuts characters.
He spent a lot of time at the rink and at the Warm Puppy Cafe and had his "usual table". That table now has a "reserved" sign on it, as it always did, but now it has no chairs around it and just a vase of flowers on it. Very touching I thought.
Santa Rosa is a railway town as well and I think, like many places out here, that's how it came to be. It's now really supported by the wine industry and the off shoots of that (hotels, restaurants etc) but it's just a little town in the middle of California.
Surprisingly I haven't seen any of my tie dye clad hitch hikers around. I guess they don't do wine country. The hitch hiking in California is next to a sport I think. There are so many of them all over the place. I don't know where they are all heading but most of them have zero money and just moving on. The economy in this town appears to be good, sort of the first place I've noted that, the other's not so much.
Today I am heading to the coast again for a few days. Where I'm going I hear there's a surfer museum, a long board walk and a nice beach. I'm looking forward to that!
Oh yeah, the tree I thought was a lime tree is actually a lemon tree and I found a pretty good fruit to take and try. I'll check it out tonight and see if it's really edible. Okay, okay, I know for a tourist like me I think it's pretty exciting but really... a lemon tree! Right out side my door. Cool.
Yesterday I saw a Kiwi plant in the gardens I was visiting. Very neat too. I like this area. Everything grows here!
Right folks so it's off to stick my tootsies in the surf and see if I can find any sea lions or seals. I haven't seen those yet. I have seen huge herds of elk that are starting to gather for the winter. Quite a sight.
Later dudes!
(Hey, I'm in surfer country, I have to get that in!)
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