Santa Rosa, Eureka, Grants Pass, Eugene...

The Slackettes at the Charles M. Schultz Museum!

We left Patti and Bob's house on Wednesday morning headed North.  We drove up 280 and through SF and across the Golden Gate bridge and eventually into Santa Rosa.  There was a spot I learned about and have wanted to visit for years since finding out about it, the Charles M. Schultz Museum!  I grew up reading Peanuts in the newspaper, and read many Peanuts books when I was young, so have always been a fan of Snoopy and the gang.  So when I found out about this museum, I knew that I wanted to try and visit it someday.  Although the girls are not as familiar with the comic strip, I thought they would enjoy the museum also.  It was neat to learn about Schulz and his life/legacy.

Tiny Slackettes b/w the Giant Sequoia trees.

One of the most memorable experiences of my time in California was getting to meet "Sparky" (Charles Schulz's nick name) one time when I was touring around Oakmont CC in Santa Rosa with Mike Clark, the golf course superintendent.  We drove up on a guy on a tee box, and Mike got out and invited me over to the guy and introduced me.  Once I figured out who Sparky was, I was quite excited!!!  He was a very nice, and humble person.

Another Kodak moment!

Although sideways, you get the idea!

After Santa Rosa, we headed on up 101 on our up to Eureka.  I got kind of sleep while driving, so asked Bish to take the wheel for a bit, and lo and behold, Danica started feeling "kind of sick" after Bish started driving!  :-)  In fairness, it was more the windy, hilly, and bumpy road than it was Bish's driving!  There seemed to be a lot of road construction on this route, and we stopped a number of times fro flagmen and construction.  Somewhere along the way, we pulled over to take a break, and get the girls pic with Paul Bunyan and Babe.  I also got a pic of some little boy who will be traumatized for life after "playing with balls!"  We also detoured off onto the "Avenue of the Giants" to see some of the giant redwood trees that grow in Northern California.  It is absolutely amazing how damn big these trees are!

Again, friggen sideways, but funny nonetheless!

We rolled into Eureka for the evening and got to eat dinner at Lost Coast Brewery.  I remember eating here 20 years ago when I first started coming to the area for work.  Bish and I both even had the dinner I recall getting back then, beef stew made with either stout or porter beer!  And we had to eat breakfast at my favorite spot up there, the Samoa Cook House!  Although my buddy Jeff isn't a fan, I have always enjoyed the place.  There is a little island off Eureka called Samoa (not the one in the Pacific), where the logging activities would take place.  Well, this cook house is where all of the workers were fed each day, so it is a family style/all you can eat sort of place.

Schulz's home studio had been moved to the museum.

After breakfast we drove up the coast to Crescent City, and then over 199 towards Grant's Pass Oregon.  199 was a pretty drive, and not as back/forth as I would have guessed.  Bish had made a reservation for us to stay in a yurt in Grant's Pass (why not, we stayed in a tee pee last summer!).  An older couple had built a yurt in their backyard, and rented it out on Air BnB.  The couple were nice, and it was interesting to learn that the husband had been a sculptor his whole life.  In looking at his web page with the work he has done, it was very impressive to learn what he has done and who he has worked for - http://www.richardhellis-sculptor.com/.  He did a Bob Hope bust that was given to Oprah Winfrey, as well as made busts of other famous actors.  Many of the castings in which he made these from were sitting on shelves outside of his studio.

Outside the yurt.

Grant's Pass seemed like a cool little community.  They had recently done an art fundraiser where locals had painted bears and placed them around town. (there were cows in SLO for the same purpose)  Richard, the sculptor, told us he was one of the first people to do this concept in the LA area back in the 1960s.  He said he paid his way through college by sculpting cows for cities around LA.  We also found a local soda shop (or pop shop as Danica called it) like Louie's Candy Kitchen back in North Manchester that I had to take the girls to for the experience.  They each got an ice cream float, and I got a chocolate soda and a cherry phosphate!

There were cannabis clubs everywhere in Cali, Oregon, and I assume Washington will be the same.

While in Grant's Pass, we went out to see the Oregon Vortex (think Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz).  I thought it was going to be a scam, but it was actually more interesting than I expected.  It was some weird anomaly up in the mountains where things seemed level, but really weren't.  And you almost felt kind of dizzy/off balance after visiting the place.

The girls at the Oregon Vortex.  Whichever girl stood on the right was taller than the other.

Ready to go to bed in the yurt.

We then drove up I-5 towards Eugene and U of Oregon.  Again, another college campus visit for the girls.  They should have a decent idea of what they like and dislike when they finally get to the point of deciding where to go to college.  I had learned that U of O was the filming location for one of my favorite movies, Animal House!  So I had to find a few of the on campus locations from the movie to see!

Me doing my best (sideways) Bluto breaking into Dean Wormer's office impression!

The drive on up to Portland was pretty, and very interesting to me being a turf nerd.  This area is where a lot of the grass seed is grown in the US.  There were acres and acres of grass fields that were being harvested with a miniature combine looking machine.  It would be neat to learn more about the process someday.