Santa Rosa, California

After washing the trailer, we headed up Route 1, leaving behind the San Francisco RV Resort and heading toward Santa Rosa. We were a bit concerned with driving the truck and trailer thru the General Douglas McArthur Tunnel but made it just fine. The view of the San Francisco Bay as we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge was spectacular.

About 70 miles up the road we stopped at a lovely city by the name of Santa Rosa. which is centrally located in Sonoma Country. We were close to wineries, the coast and the Russian River.
The California Welcome Center is located in the historic Railroad Square train station. When you walk into the station, you will find yourself transported back in time. Rebuilt quickly after the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake (which did more damage in Santa Rosa than San Francisco) Railroad Square now is made up of specialty shops and restaurants.

One of the most interesting things we did while in Santa Rosa, was to visit the Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center. As you may remember, Mr. Schulz was the illustrator who drew the Peanuts cartoons for the papers. Schulz, who was nicknamed "Sparky"at an early age by an uncle, picked this spot for his museum because his life was centered around this area. He built a small restaurant named the "Warm Puppy", where he had breakfast every morning and lunch every afternoon. A table was reserved for his use alone and today still stands there as a tribute.

In 1969, he built the Redwood Empire Ice Arena so children could skate all year long.

For those of us who grew up with Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Woodstock, Peppermint Patti, Schroeder, Linus, Lucy and Pig Pen, just to name a few of the more renown characters, every day was a new adventure. Here's a chronology of the Peanuts comic strip.

On October 2, the Peanuts comic strip was first published in 7 U.S. newspapers, introducing Charlie Brown, Patty and Shermy. During the same year, a little dog named Snoopy appears. Snoopy was actually created as a beagle because Schulz had a beagle named Spike. In 1951, Shroeder was introduced and in 1952 Lucy and Linus made their debut. The first Sunday comic strip was published in this year also. In 1954, Pigpen is introduced and in 1958, Snoopy abandons his four-pawed pose and begins walking on two feet. Sally debuts in the strip in 1959 and in 1969, Woodstock flutters in while Snoopy first appears as the "Flying Ace" , flying in his Sopwith Camel plane in the first Red Baron episode.

Peppermint Patty was introduced in 1966 and in 1969, Franklin was first intoduced into the strip. 1971 dawns with two new characters, Joe Cool and Marcie and in 1973 "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving" wins an Emmy Award. "You're a Good Sport Charlie Brown" earns an Emmy Award in 1975 while "Life is a Circus, Charlie Brown" earns one in 1980. In 1984, the Guinness Book of Records names Peanuts the world's most popular comic strip.

George Schulz warmed up with pencil sketches on notebook paper before he inked a comic strip. Once he had his sketches perfected, he would wad the pencil sketches up and throw them in his wastebasket and then begin the finalized comic strip. His secretary pulled the penciled sketches out of the wastebasket each evening, took them home and ironed them flat - holding them for posterity. It usually took Schulz one hour to create a daily strip. Many examples of the final strips as well as the sketches can be seen in the museum. As you walk into the museum, on the left side you will see an original three-dimensional sculpture constructed with 43 layers of maple veneer which measures 25 feet long, 9.5 feet high , 10.5 inches deep and weighs 7,000 pounds. The title of the work is "Morphing Snoopy" and it emphasizes Snoopy's evolution from the 1950's when the inspiration for Snoopy came from Schulz's childhood pet, Spike, to the 1990's.

Another unusual piece is a mural on the back wall which is composed of 3,588 ceramic tiles,or about ten years worth of daily comic strips. The artist, Otani, hand selected each strip to compose a secondary scene of Lucy holding a football for Charlie Brown.

In 1981, Schulz had a quadruple heart bypass and in 1998 began planning for this museum. He announced his retirement due to health reasons on December 14, 1999 and his last daily comic strip was on January 1, 2000 with the final Sunday comic strip being shown on February 13, 2000. Schulz died on February 17, 2000.

Many of us remember avidly reading these comic strips and laughing at the antics that Schulz created for us. It helps us to remember a more gentler and easy going time and a time when simple things made us laugh. Schulz was truly brilliant and we miss him greatly.