Snoopy Day

Today we drove through Sonoma and over to Santa Rosa, destination, the Charles M. Schulz Museum.  But first, I had a friend from Arkansas who is now the Central Library Manager in Santa Rosa.  Today she was filling in at a Branch because that manager was at a meeting.  As circumstances happen, the branch was two blocks from the Schulz Museum, and Charles use to walk over to the mall it is located in to browse the "book store" when he needed a break.  After a short visit with Patty, who use to work at Fort Smith where Roger went to work after leaving Pine Bluff (we visited with in Prescott Arizona), and after quick introduction between Patty and Marcia, Marcia and I were off to the Museum.


Our first stop was the Ice Rink, which we thought was the museum, but it was a pleasant surprise.  The Ice Rink is called, "Snoopy's Home Ice: The Redwood Empire Ice Arena", founded by Schultz in 1969.  Below is the entrance.

Charles loved to play "Senior Hockey", and the arena has hosted many tournaments for all ages, from very young to very old over the years.

Above is the arena where some girls, older teens to young kids, were practicing.  Below is a portion of the "Wall of Champions".  The arena has been used by the community for over 40 years, and in the past 20 years there have been some notable skaters who had their start right here, from Hockey Players to Figure Skaters.

Attached to the Ice Arena is the "Warm Puppy Cafe", and of course, we all know who the puppy is.  Inside the cafe, which we did not enter, is a table which is still reserved for Shultz, where he had breakfast and lunch nearly every day for many years.  He sat near a window facing the Arena where he could watch children and adults use the Arena.  The Arena was something he was very proud about...a great gift and asset to the community.  Below is the entrance to the cafe from outside the arena where the "Puppy" welcomes you in.

We finally made it over to the museum.  $15 allowed us both in, and worth every penny for our hour long visit.  We would have stayed a bit longer, but we had our own puppies, Skruffy and Bubba, out in the car.  

Now I will apologize up front for all the pictures...but how do you leave some of these out?  And yet I did leave many out, and I it was hard to not publish them all.  Also, no flash inside, but I think they came out pretty good considering the circumstance.

Characters can be found all over the grounds for nice photo ops for young and old.  Snoopy invites you sit down above, and Charley welcomes you to the museum below.

And of course, it would not be complete without the WWI ace dreaming on top of his flying dog house.

 Inside there are a few too, and many pieces of wall art...

...and lots and lots of cartoons.  Of course, I favor the ones with Snoopy in them.  :)

Now this next thing you just have to come and see for yourself....it is amazing, and you can stand there all day reading and reading and reading....

....because what looks like a simple display of Charlie headed towards the football to kick it, and we all know that she is going to pull it away and he lands on his back.....but this simple mural is actually...

....about 10 years of comic strips laid out to make the mural of the famous "non-football kick" that we all know so well.

Below are just two of my favorites....

There are many, many more comics and displays, but I will end with this authentic view of Shultz's office, which they recreated in the museum with original desks, chairs, bookcases, and items on display.  The view below is just of the desk area...

To head back to Napa, we drove over to Calistoga, and then down to Napa on along highway 29 and 128.  There are many wineries along this route.

Including Beringer Vineyards, the oldest continuously operating winery in Napa Valley.  The picture below is of one of their many elegant buildings.

 And the Robert Mondavi Winery shown above.


Now our choice was...to drive by them all and head back to the motor home.  There are so many grape orchards around here it can make you dizzy.  So many choices of places to stop, that another choice is to not stop at all.  But it is lovely country, and roads, though busy, were not overly crowded.  And for some, staying in Napa Valley could last a week or more.  For us, well tomorrow we are heading over to "The City" to see my oldest son who lives there.  We plan to take the scenic route over the Golden Gate, but I don't look forward to driving through all that traffic...even if it is just with our little HHR.  On Saturday, we are moving over to Clear Lake.