Apr 07 2016
Field Trip
Megan and I set off on a sunny Saturday morning for a road trip to Willits. Willits is best known, if it is known at all, as the home of the racehorse Seabiscuit*. It also has a more modest arch sign made by the same folks as those who made Reno’s, donated by the city of Reno:
and has the oldest continuous rodeo in California. But we were headed that way for non horse related reasons. Our destination was the garden supply store, for unglamorous things like deer fencing for the pea prisons and iron (or possibly copper) for the orchard trees.
As we wended our way up and down and around and around the curvaceous highway, I thought of how it had been a covered wagon track and how hard it must have been for the horses dragging those loads, or the kids walking behind them, if the Little House books are to be believed.
Our brother was on a road trip of his own, a much more ambitious one heading to Oregon. We always text each other from the road, those of us at home with pet updates and those of us away with what we are seeing and doing. While we sent Jonathan a photo of our view from the apex of Highway 20:
He sent us his of a vertiginous view:
which quite rightly had a sign telling visitors to keep their dogs in their cars to keep them safe. I can see why.
We arrived safely in Willits as Jonathan and Rio arrived at Belknap Hot Springs (which he gave two giant thumbs up). While they soaked, we shopped, getting garden necessities and, in my case, being charmed by a little wooden bear:
Necessities out of the way, we poked around a bookstore, where I picked up a couple of things for Christmas stockings (I know, I know, and it seems particularly absurd since it’s an unseasonable and unreasonable 80 degrees as I write, but I will be glad I did when December rolls around), ordered dinner to go, and stopped in at a mysterious store where we bought: dog food; a pair of shoes; and iced coffee from the soda fountain/bakery section of the store. I have never seen such an unusual mix of items in the same store. Only in Mendocino! All in all, it was a successful field trip.
A YEAR AGO: An unsuccessful (attempted) blood-letting at work.
*I tried and failed to read that book.
One Response to “Field Trip”
Boy, what you guys call a field trip, most people would consider a mini holiday, what beautiful photos, no wonder dogs would have to remain in the cars judging by the photo your brother took. I for one also like the carved bear, a charmer.