Awake: 7:25am Temp 57 sleep 6+57 early light rain….then sunny overnight @ Santa Rosa, CA.
@ 8:45am, Grandson Matthew calls to talk 1st with his “G” Daddy & then to his Grandma. He wanted to talk on the phone and leaving a short message for his dad (working @ Indiana University of PA) was not enough; so we were glad that we were second on his list. He talked very excitedly about a running model train display he had seen in town and was a bit disappointed that he did not get to control it. Such fun to get a call from our grandson!
We sign up for another (2) days camping here in Santa Rosa, CA.
Late morning, we drive (15) min to the Charles Schulz Museum & Research Center in Santa Rosa. We spent a fascinating (3 +) hrs learning more about Schulz & his cartoon characters in Peanuts; Charlie Brown, Lucy, Pigpen, Snoopy & all the gang. Schulz obviously touched many lives through his work; in this museum, there are exhibits on the man, the characters & the items that they inspired.
We watched a few movies: the first one was a bio of Charles’ life: He was an only child, born in Minneapolis, MN. At just two days old, an uncle nicknamed him “Sparky” after the horse Spark Plug from the Barney Google comic strip; a name which stuck his whole life. Throughout his youth he and his father shared a Sunday morning ritual reading the funnies. Schulz always knew he wanted to be a cartoonist and was very proud when Ripley’s newspaper feature, Believe it or Not, published his drawing of the family dog in 1937. During his service in the military, Sparky would send letters to his family and friends with cartoon drawings on the envelopes.
Following his discharge in 1945, Schulz returned to St. Paul to pursue a cartooning career. Between 1947 and 1950, he drew a weekly comic panel for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and also sold seventeen comic gags to The Saturday Evening Post. After many rejection slips, Schulz finally realized his dream of creating a nationally-syndicated daily comic strip when Peanuts debuted in seven newspapers on October 2, 1950. He went on to receive many cartooning and writing awards; Peanuts has been translated into many different languages.
Japanese artist Yoshiteru Otani designed two major art installations for the Great Hall of the Schulz Museum. Measuring slightly larger than 17 x 22 feet, the tile mural, which covers the south wall of the Great Hall, and which really captured our attention, features an image of Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown and is composed of 3,588 Peanuts comic strip images printed on individual 2- by 8-inch ceramic tiles.
Sparky built a home for Snoopy called: “Redwood Empire Ice Arena” across the street from the Museum; a huge indoor ice skating rink where Sparky & his buddies would compete in Ice Hockey tournaments; ice skating lessons & normal ice skating was also available for the general public.
Charles M. Schulz was well respected in the city of Santa Rosa for sure, & many other states & countries as well. We enjoyed this Museum very much.
Rush hr traffic was upon us now as we tore ourselves away from the Schulz facilities; but we figured we could squeeze in @ least (2 or 3) more wine tasting adventures before darkness sets in. Heading east on route (12), traffic moved along nicely & that was good for our 1st stop @ Blackstone wineries. An older gentleman with a German accent was our wine server; very polished, informative & well dressed. We did our customary $5.00 taste of (2) wines each, took notes & then high-tailed it to the next winery just minutes away.
2nd stop: The Saint Francis winery building looked more like a Spanish mission or Monestary; esp. with its bell tower capable of auto ringing as it hung proudly above the entrance to the tasting room. We could have easily spent more time here had it not been for their 5:00pm closing time. Now don’t get the idea that K & I are becoming wine connoisseurs with this interest in wine tasting; it’s merely trying to find wines of suitable taste & of suitable price. Kathy amazes me; without having a sensitive sniffer, she knows quickly what she likes or dislikes. For me, it’s more difficult. We return to our bus by 6:15pm.
Dinner: Leftover Italian sausage, pasta in marinara sauce, broccoli, stir fry & toasted whole grain bread.
Evening DVR movie: “Blazing Saddles” with Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, Slim Pickens, Mel Brooks, etc. Brooks 1st movie is a riotous Western spoof. None of Brooks’ later films have topped this one for sheer belly laughs.1974. Neither K nor I found this so-called riotous spoof a belly shaker; either we were all worn out from the Schulz Museum or that wine percentage was more than the standard 12%. But don’t take our word for it; if you’re a Mel Brooks fan & a Western fan, this could be the best yet!
Late evening, Katrina calls with questions about her Honda’s slightly leaking water pump. She was told this by a mechanic when having her car serviced; "how can I tell how much anti-freeze is leaking" she asks. I suggest that when she parks her car, let it idle for a few min, then back up enough to see if any liquid has dripped on the asphalt or concrete. She agreed to do that tomorrow when parking @ her school; then to let me know what you find out.
Lights out: 11:32pm
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