California Part 1

 September 17, 2023

We explored quite a bit of northern California back in 2018, so our first target for this trip was Santa Rosa for the Charles M. Schulz Museum.  I went a little crazy taking pictures around town, so get ready Peanuts fans.

in front of the regional airport

at local medical center

in front of visitor center at old railroad depot

The museum was fantastic!  We watched a few of the films in the auditorium and thoroughly enjoyed the gallery exhibits.   

Even the restrooms get in on the act.

Other cartoonists pay tribute on the 100th anniversary of Charles Schulz's birth.

Schulz's office/studio

We made a stop in Petaluma to visit a friend from high school days.  Brian took Dodie to find a geocache less than 500 feet from her backyard.  A very enjoyable evening with Dodie and Alan and great hospitality.

Our next destination was  Point Reyes National Seashore in Marin County.  We were there in 1995 with our kids and walked all 313 steps down to the lighthouse (even 5 y.o. Phillip made the trek).  We were not too disappointed to find the stairs were closed on the day of our visit.  The whale skull is still there and we could see dozens of whales spouting from the Point.

looking north from Point Reyes

Quite windy out there as the trees can attest

313 steps down to the lighthouse

The first location that was put on my mental bucket list was Muir Woods National Monument.  In 1995, we couldn't even get into the parking lot because it was full.  This time we reserved a time slot for the parking lot (and paid an extra charge because our van is so big) and were able to visit early enough in the day to avoid most of the crowds.  We enjoyed our stroll through Muir's "cathedral" of redwoods.

John Muir quote: "The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness."

We found ourselves near Rosie the Riveter/WWII Home Front National Historical Park near Richmond, CA and I found myself wondering how I would respond to challenges faced by the citizens of our nation in wartime... the sacrifices, the rationing, the uncertainty.  We watched a film about the Port Chicago Naval Magazine explosion in 1944 and the ensuing repercussions.  This was an event in our history that I never heard about.  (The National Memorial there was closed so we were unable to visit it.)      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Chicago_disaster

Brian takes the oath as a Junior Ranger.

One more point of interest before leaving the San Francisco Bay area ... John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez.

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." - John Muir

John Muir never owned this mansion - it belonged to his in-laws and his wife

inherited it.  He raised his family and fruit here.