<– Day 32 – Apr. 20th: A Sunday Drive to Santa Rosa | OVERVIEW | Day 34 – Apr. 22nd: Old Town Sacramento –>

Apparently, Snoopy can be a little frisky sometimes!

Fun day today! We met some great people and had a beautiful drive through the Sonoma and Napa areas.

We drove from Santa Rosa to Sacramento on Monday.

The morning began with a trip down to Tree Line Teardrop Trailers in Petaluma where we met Tom and Paty Perkins. You can also find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/TreelineTeardrops.

Tom had contacted me a few months ago about finding a flat fender. He’d explained that the first vehicle he’d driven was his dad’s CJ-2A. So, he was interested in finding another one. As we exchanged emails, I learned he was building teardrop trailers. Fascinated by them, we agreed that Ann and I would stop by during our trip.

Paty and Tom quickly made us feel at home as they showed us the two different trailers in their driveway, one an off road version and one a lightweight (700lb) road cruiser that was being picked up by the new owner that day. One look at both of the trailers and it is easy to see how well made they are. This reflects Tom’s background in construction and finish work. Both Ann and I were very impressed, from the quality of the workmanship and materials, to the choices in stove top (high quality, sturdy, high btu burners) and portable fridge (ARB). Each trailer is built to order by Tom.

Perhaps the best selling point was how easy it was for Ann to climb inside. The doorways are wide and even with Ann’s bad knee and brace, she had no problem slipping inside. So sold is Ann, that she’s reviewing each trailer option as I type this.

Thanks to Tom and Paty for sharing the trailers, the bees, the chickens and more!

Our next stop was Santa Rosa (yep, we drove back up there) and the Schulz Museum. Ann’s a big Peanuts fan and I enjoy them as well, but it was the treating ratings and comments on Yelp that convinced me the museum was worth a visit.

The Peanuts Tile Mural by Japanese artist Yoshiteru Otani measures approximately 17 x 22 feet. It is made up of

The museum is part of a complex where Charles and his wife Jean built a beautiful ice rink (Snoopy’s Home Ice) in 1969. Charles, better known by his nickname ‘Sparky’, liked to play hockey. In fact, Charlie Brown’s shirt was based on a hockey uniform.

The museum, opened in 2002, is great. The content (lots of cartoons to read) plays an important part, but the organization of the content is done well. The current exhibit (which ends this weekend) called Starry Starry Night highlights Schulz’s passion for the stars and his interest in Carl Sagan. It’s engaging, informative and entertaining. Another great section tells the history of Schulz, the cartoons that inspired him, his early drawings and his awards. Again the information is laid out three-dimensional ways that is well done.

This could have been a flat wall. Instead, the wall is divided up into layers, with each layer subtly lit. You barely notice the lights when standing straight on to the wall.

One final note, there is a jeep inside the museum. Kudos to Ann for spotting it. Bookcase #2 in Schulz’s recreated study has a sculpture by Bill Mauldin that is based on an illustration Bill did that eventually graced the cover of the Smithsonian Magazine in 1992.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t use a flash and we were shooting through glass, so these are the best photos we could get of the sculpture. It’s not surprising to find this sculpture by Mauldin in Schulz’s collection as they were close friends.

After doing some research, I discovered that there is another sculpture of a similar size at the New Mexico Veteran’s Memorial. It also turns out there’s a much larger version of this (done by whom?) at the Shidoni Foundary in Tesuque, NM.

I can’t tell how large this version of the sculpture is. The photo was posted on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bfs_man/7987053174/

Ann says this means we have to start our vacation over in New Mexico so we can see the sculpture. I don’t think I’m quite ready to do that yet, but it is another good reason to go through New Mexico again in the future.

After the Schulz Museum (and some great Pho Soup at Simply Vietnamese), we drove west to Sacramento via Sonoma, Napa, and some surprisingly remote country roads. Not surprisingly there were many wineries and grape fields along the way. Sonoma was smaller than I expected.

Just after Sonoma was an interesting place called Train Town. Wikipedia described it as “TrainTown is “an obsessively accurate model railroad”. It has been described as “the most well-developed miniature railroad” in the Americas.” Since It was closed, there were no trains for us to ride, so we just took pictures.

Back on the road we soon reached Napa, where I’d promised to get Ann a bottle of wine (to be honest, I’d forgotten about that promise, but she wasn’t shy about reminding me). After Napa, we enjoyed a beautiful drive through the mountains. Rounding one curve we spotted this unusual rock formation:

The scenery was beautiful, though when we passed by Lake Berryessa, we were reminded about the water shortage. It doesn’t look quite as low in the pictures as it did in person.

Henry seemed to be enjoying the drive. I think I see him smiling. He was tired of the Bay area traffic. Or, maybe I’m just projecting . . .

For the next two nights we’ll be in Sacramento. Tomorrow ought to be fun, though it is supposed to rain!

<– Day 32 – Apr. 20th: A Sunday Drive to Santa Rosa | OVERVIEW | Day 34 – Apr. 22nd: Old Town Sacramento –>