Sunday, October 04, 2009

California Collision: Charlie Brown and Santa Rosa

Our last night in California was spent in Santa Rosa, California. The Sonoma County city is best known as the longtime home of Peanuts' creator Charles M. Schulz. A St. Paul, Minnesota native, Schulz moved there in 1958, although the comic world of Peanuts remained unchanged. Winters were Currier and Ives perfect, and Snoopy and the gang played hockey outdoors.

That's not possible in Santa Rosa, so he had the Redwoods Ice Arena, "Snoopy's Home Ice," built. Schulz, called by his friends "Sparky," played hockey there into his old age. A short walk from the arena is the Charles M. Schulz Museum.

Last fall I attended the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, and in Rice Park I saw several bronze statues of Peanuts characters, all similar to the one on the upper left. The Peanuts-on-pedestals pictured are scattered in downtown Santa Rosa.

It's with a heavy heart I post the Woodstock photograph. Only one misfortune occurred during our week in July in California. I parked right next to the wacky bird--and received a parking ticket for an expired meter. Woodstock, not the meter, caught my eye.

Hey, if that's the worse thing that happened, then I know it was a successful trip.

Next: More Santa Rosa

Related post:

MSNBC, the RNC, and Rice Park

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