Santa Rosa Revisited

5/20/05 - Back to California
Yesterday we left Eugene and drove down to Grant's Pass (Map) where we spent the night at Jack's Landing RV Resort. This very nice park sits a little too close to I5 but is otherwise beautiful. We used their nice laundry facilities while we were there.

Today we continued down I5 past Mt Shasta to Williams (Map) which is north of Sacramento in the Central Valley. Along the way we saw lots of rice fields and storage facilities.

Tonight we will spend the night in Granzella's parking lot. My wife Dayadevi has a good friend who is a waitress there. They have a great restaurant/bar/gift shop and a hotel in Williams. We hope to spend some time with Patty, after she gets off of work, in our coach in the parking lot.

5/22/05 - A Day in Sonoma County with Mom
Yesterday we drove through lots of wine country to Riverbend RV Park on the Russian River and had dinner with my sister Caren and her family.

Red Corvette

Today we picked up my mom at her group home and took her for a drive around Sonoma County. My wife had been living in this area for more than fifteen years when I met her over ten years ago and we lived together here for about five years before moving to Mendocino County. It was a beautiful day and it was great to have my mom with us, out of the hospital, cheerful and somewhat mobile, as we explored the area we love so much.

One of the places we stopped along the way was the Smothers Brother Winery and Tasting Room. Outside was parked this beautiful old Corvette.

Another place we stopped was the Petrified Forest in the area. We didn't pay the money to go in, but I took photos of some huge Oak trees and a big stand of Blackberries there.

Our final stop of the day was at the Alexander Vineyards . It was a breathtaking finish to a wonderful day.

5/25/05 - Another Day out with Mom
Yesterday we went to the dentist that Dayadevi loves so much. It is the main reason we are back in CA now. Al and his staff take great care of us, but it seems like we always wind up spending most of a day there.

Last night we watched Rob and Amber's Wedding on TV. They met on Survivor and immediately formed an alliance, if not a relationship, but in the following weeks they really became quite close and proved that two people can overcome great obstacles though willpower and loving cooperation. They went on to come in first and second in the contest. Rob, who came in second to Amber, proposed marriage to her on the Reunion show that followed the Finale. The Wedding show telecast last night was beautiful and very inspirational. Again they proved that many obstacles could be overcome with patience, love and cooperation. It was a beautiful testament to them and their relationship.

This morning we went to Kaiser so my wife could check in with her doctor. Then we picked up Mom again at the group home and took her out into the world. Our first stop was Healdsburg where we had lunch and saw beautiful Japanese Waxleaf Privets and other trees and flowers.

Red Hot Poker at Luther Burbank Gardens

Next we went back to Santa Rosa and stopped at the old train station where we found the first of many Charlie Brown statues. There was a tribute to Charles Schulz, who lived here in Santa Rosa, going on all over town with many beautifully decorated statues of Charlie Brown. Across the street is the Hotel La Rosa which is one of the old stone buildings in Santa Rosa.

Then we went to the beautiful Luther Burbank Gardens in Santa Rosa where I took lots of pictures of flowers.

This evening we watched the American Idol finale with my sister and her husband Greg and were thrilled to see Carrie Underwood win. She is a very beautiful and talented young lady.

5/27/05 - Riverbend Renovation
This monday is Memorial Day, so Riverbend is working feverishly to create some new RV campsites where there once was just grass for tents. So this morning we were woken by many gravel trucks bringing roadbed into the park. By afternoon they had it pretty well spread out and ready for campers to start arriving today or tomorrow.

Downtown Charlie Brown

We went into Santa Rosa today and discovered many more Charlie Browns on sidewalks all over town. Each had been painted by a local artist and placed in front of an appropriate venue. There was one outside a restaurant with a big Chef's hat, another outside a Hardware store wearing a tool belt, and this one downtown, holding a note that says Meet me downtown Charlie Brown, signed the Little Red Haired Girl.

5/28/05 - Mom Moves Back to Sunrise
Today we moved mom back to Sunrise Assisted Living which I think will be very good for her. She is quickly regaining all of her normal faculties and needs a much more stimulating environment than the group home can provide. Caren, Greg, Dayadevi and I and several other friends arrived at the group home with a truck (thankfully not a U-Haul) and we loaded everything in short order.

As my wife was carrying a box of books to the truck (which she really shouldn't have been attempting) she tripped and fell, the box of books landing on her chest, and she twisted her ankle badly. After picking her up and dusting her off, we sat her down and got some ice for her foot. What an unfortunate event.

Unpacking at Sunrise went very well too. She got to move back into the same apartment as she had before, very close to the office, community room and dining hall. Someone had moved in for a short time and then moved back out, so everything worked out perfectly in this regard. Sunrise has many activities that she will want to participate in.

Vineyard Geyser

This afternoon I took a bunch of photos of birds, flowers , a falling down barn, and trees.

As we were driving to Santa Rosa this morning I noticed a large geyser just behind a row of trees along River Road. We decided to stop and investigate and it appeared to be a large water main leak, so Dayadevi called 911 to report it. On our way back this afternoon, we stopped again to see if it was still going on and found that it was. So she called again and was informaed that we were probably looking at a water processing plant.

We also stopped to take some photos of Fort Cook, a place I have often passed on River Road but never stopped to investigate. Apparently a private house and storage yard, across from Cook's Beach (which is a public campground that was not currently open) it features a lookout tower, covered wagon and a beautiful fence .

Huge Golden Budda

In Guerneville we saw this huge golden Budda and this beautifully crafted house . Notice the stone work and the railing that matches the detailing on the house itself.

5/30/05 - Star Wars - Episode 3
We don't go out to the movies very much. We prefer to rent them and watch them on TV, so we can be in our comfortable chairs, with our dogs in our laps, and the refrigerator and bathroom nearby. But today we made an exception and went to see new new Star Wars movie with my Caren, Greg and their younger son Cassidy. It was great fun and I'm glad to have seen all the Star Wars on the big screen at least once.

5/31/05 - Windsorland
Today we washed our coach and then moved it to Windsorland RV and Mobile Home Park, just of US 101 in north Windsor. It's a bit less expensive and there is a great area to exercise the dogs not far from our site. We plan to stay another week or so.

Dayadevi's ankle is still hurting quite a bit from her fall the other day, so we went to Kaiser to have it checked out. Sure enough, there was a clean break just above the ankle. They put a support boot on it and told her to take it easy for a few weeks.

6/03/05 - Master Wu
Dayadevi and I have a spiritual teacher by the name of Margo who channels a Tibetan Monk, who supposedly lived hundreds of years - many centuries ago, and so we went to see her/him this evening. As usual he had many meaningful things to remind us, such as:

• Spend each moment going back to Love - thinking loving thoughts and doing loving things.
• If you are not happy then take a risk. Do that thing you are afraid to do. Excitement will certainly be one result.
• Creativity is not about perfection, it is about expressing and nurturing your spirit. Be creative!
• There is no beginning or end to your dreams or plans. Life is a journey from moment to moment. Live each moment to its fullest.
• Heaven and paradise are in the present moment - right where you are now - if you just look around with that thought in mind.
• I don't know can be a very positive thought. Trust that your heart will know at the right moment, and inform you by your feelings.
• Even when you are afraid, live your life to its fullest anyway!

6/04/05 - Redwood Valley
Today we went for a drive up to Redwood Valley where we lived for about five years. We had lunch with our good friend Isa and then went to see what had become of our ranch. It was actually pretty sad, as my experience of going back to places I have lived usually is - I don't recommend it. They had torn down almost all the fences, some of which I had built, many of which I had repaired, removed trees I had planted, and generally made a mess of the property.

We decided to go to the door and introduce ourselves and got a warm reception and a grand tour. They were in the process of putting in a swimming pool and had done several things to the interior of the house which were very nice. The barn and chicken coup were virtually untouched from when we left. I had heard that they planned on tearing down the barn from some neighbors, but I don't know what there current plans for it are. I was glad to see that they had at least transplanted the redwood tree we had grown from a seedling to over six feet tall.

6/08/05 - Artist Trading Cards
Yesterday we had lunch at a Chinese buffet in Santa Rosa with Caren and Mom. Then they went to run a couple of other errands and drop mom off at Sunrise. We met Caren and Greg at their place later in the afternoon and had a meeting about a program I started writing for them over a year ago. We made some progress, but the ball is still in their court.

Today my wife decided she wanted a new web site. She still hasn't done much with dayadevi.com but she has become very excited recently by Artist Trading Cards, which are 2.5 by 3.5 works of art that are both traded and sold on eBay. She has decided that this will be a good way to get her name and art into the world and has started a Yahoo discussion group on the subject. So we registered the names artist-trading-cards.info, .net and .org for her to use. It will be interesting to see where this idea goes.