My 47thbirthday was a day filled with adventure, which is very fitting because I have chosen “adventure” as my word of the year for 2012. I woke up, grabbed my trusty sidekick Bonsai the wonderdog, and we hit the road! First stop was McD’s for breakfast, where I was able to bring a smile to a homeless man named Jonathan when I bought him some breakfast.
We hopped on the freeway heading South, and just dilly-dallied on down the road, stopping whenever a photo opportunity or something of interest caught my eye. I had some vague ideas of places I might like to stop, but was content to go wherever the spirit lead me to go.
I stopped at a place called “Tie Dye 2” in Laytonville. The painted pick-up truck caught my eye. I went inside and met the owners: a sweet couple named Terry and James. They came up with a whole new way of tie dying where they use stencils and other items and spray bottles to apply the color. We chatted for awhile, and as I was leaving Terry handed me a gift: a geode that looks like a tiny crystal cave. It really touched my heart, and I went smiling on down the road!
The next thing that caught my eye was the exit sign for Booneville. Going there has been on my list of things to do before I die for awhile now. Years ago I met an artist who carved jewelry out of abalone shells, and he told me of his home town of Booneville where the locals came up with their own language called “Boontling.” (Click this link for more info on Boontling: http://www.andersonvalleymuseum.org/boont.html)
I have always been fascinated by this and wanted to find out more. So I decided to take the exit and followed the long and winding road to Booneville. I was hungry when I got there, so I searched for somewhere that looked homey and inexpensive: a place where the locals would be likely to hang out. I settled on a Mexican joint called Alicia’s. They had an outdoor patio and Bonsai was welcome to join me. As I waited for my food to arrive, I asked everyone who came and went if they happened to know the language of Boontling. Finally a couple of men arrived who knew a lot about it and we talked at length while I took notes. It was a really interesting little sojourn.
The museum was interesting. My favorite part was the recreation of his office. There is a video of Charles Schultz drawing the whole time, and talking about his different characters. My favorite character was always Peppermint Patty. That was my husband’s nickname for me, and indeed, it fits! I look and dress a lot like her. She was also one of Schultz’s favorite characters. He was quite instrumental in moving the cause for equal pay for women to the forefront using his comic strips as his method of communication.
I drove off into the sunset to my last adventurous stop: an Asian market. I wanted to get some of that honey citron tea, but the prices were so reasonable that I ended up getting myself a tea pot too! I could have stayed there for hours and wouldn’t have seen everything! They had kimonos and bamboo rugs, pork rinds dyed pink and shaped like flowers, spiky durian fruit and many other roots and things I have never seen before. I was truly awe-inspiring and I’d like to go back there again someday when I have more time.
By the time I got out of the Asian Market, it was dark out, so I started heading home. It’s hard to believe that all of these adventures were completed in 12 hours! What a wonderful way to kick off my year of adventure!