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Typical Day on the Road

August 2006

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August 1

Pulled out of Ukiah, Ca. and headed toward the Bay Area - back to our roots, as it were. On the way, we passed through wine country, where we'd hoped to do some biking, but we didn't really have a great deal of time, and also it was rather warm. We passed by a chateau belonging to Francis Ford Coppola (we know because a sign proclaimed it). We made several stops on the way, attempting to locate a place with wireless Internet access, but it was unbelievably difficult.

In Santa Rosa, we stopped to visit the mother of Kimberly's high school friend Tania. We hadn't been there 5 minutes before a policeman pulled up behind us and questioned Zephyr (who had gone back out for a moment) about our plans in this neighborhood. It seems that someone had called the police claiming that we were "looking in open garages" (of which there was perhaps a total of one). It's certainly not unheard of for people to extend this kind of welcome when we arrive in their neighborhood; but this definitely set a new record for swiftness - in fact, the officer's arrival was so prompt that someone must have called 911.

After a couple of more wild goose chases in search of the elusive Wi-Fi bird, we ended up going all the way to Dublin, near the site of tomorrow's show, where we at last spotted the creature in a shopping center and pounced on it.

Aug. 2

Performed at the Livermore Library, our first time here in years. Last week, Livermore reached a record temperature of 115, and we're very glad that now it's cooled way down to 95. Had a very large turnout and a very responsive audience. John, the librarian who booked the performance, was a high school classmate of Kimberly's not too many years ago.

Aug. 3

The first part of the day was taken up by technical maintenance. First, we stopped by Camping World in Fairfield to buy replacement covers for our two ceiling vents. One of them broke loose a couple of days ago, and has been flapping as we drive, despite our best efforts to secure it temporarily. The other, we discovered on inspection, is close to doing the same thing. While at Camping World, we also had a repairman take a look at our refrigerator, which has been exhibiting some oddball (almost human) behavior: at about 10 or 11 at night, it ceases operating, and then it will resume again the following morning. It doesn't matter what the propane level is, or how fully the battery has charged. The repairman examined it and concluded that the propane pressure was low. He adjusted it, and said he thought that would do the trick.

Next stop was the Sprint store, to have them look at our cell phone, which has not been charging properly.

The problem turned out to be twofold: a bad charger, and a bad connection on the phone. The former they replaced, but to correct the latter, we'll have to send the phone in to be repaired.

On to the Fairfield Library, and another large audience. We were unable to decide if we've ever performed here or not. We thought we had, but the place didn't look familiar.

Aug. 4

In the East Bay town of San Leandro, we picked up our mail. Our passports, however, were not in the batch, even though they were supposed to have been delivered to our address in Burbank a couple of weeks ago.

Nervously, we called our mail forwarding service, and learned that the passports in fact, had just arrived.

Phew! Only a few more days until we leave for Japan.

This evening we had dinner with Kimberly's old high school classmate Mark and his son Anthony, who's about Zephyr's age. They came up from San Diego for the weekend.

Aug. 5

Performed at the San Leandro Library for the umpteenth time. The librarian, Penny Peck, has been with us from the beginning. In addition to having booked our shows, she for many years hosted an annual showcase for performing groups that was attended by librarians from all over the area. (The showcase is still going, but she's passed it on to someone else.) We appeared at this event several times over the years, and got quite a bit of business out of it.

The performance was attended by several old friends from the Bay Area. In addition to Mark and Anthony, there was Kimberly's high school buddy Tania, and our friend Liz, who brought some kids along.

After the show, we chatted for a while in a coffee house, and then Zephyr and Anthony, decided that they wanted to go to a concert in Berkeley, at a small venue that specializes in showcasing unknown bands - this is in fact where Green Day got its start.

While they were rocking out, the adults were at Tania's home in Oakland viewing the movie "Independence Day", so everyone could spot Kimberly's brief appearances in it.

Aug. 6

Had brunch at the home of our old friends (well, they're not really that old) Sue Ellen and Ron. She's the one we hold responsible for Dennis and Kimberly meeting in the first place.

Back to Zocala coffee house in San Leandro to get some more Internet work done.

In the evening we met up again with Kimberly's former classmate Mark and his son Anthony, and we went to a miniature golf place in Castro Valley that's been a landmark for ages. It's really one of the more challenging miniature golf courses we've encountered.

Aug. 7

Today we returned to perform at the Castro Valley Library, which was the library Kimberly frequented as a child. But it seems to have considerably more patrons than it did back then, to the point that the librarians had a hard time coming up with a parking space for us. But a new, larger building is being planned for the near future.

Aug. 8

Toured the Jelly Belly jellybean factory in Fairfield.

A bit of a disappointment, although none of us even liked jellybeans before we went. We were amazed to see that even though the company makes (and sells) Bernie Botts Every Flavor Bean, there was no mention of them or of Harry Potter on the tour, except for a couple of inconspicuously displayed posters. There were, however, NUMEROUS mentions and displays honoring Ronald Reagan, who became the patron saint of jellybeans as California governor and then as president.

On to Sacramento, where we returned to the Sylvan Oaks Library for a show.

Aug. 9

Another very hot day in the Sacramento area. We performed at the Walnut Grove Library, a few miles south of town, where the librarian always schedules programs to start a couple of minutes before the hour (today's show was at 2:58) to make the time stick in people's minds better and encourage punctuality.

Aug. 10

Another Sacramento Library show, this time at the North Highlands Library. Then we stopped by to visit Kimberly's brother and his family, who live in Sacramento.

Aug. 11

Returned for the umpteenth time to perform at the Rancho Cordova Library. Kimberly's relatives were there, including Mom and Dad, who drove in from Reno. They stayed at an inn and afterward we all went over to cool off at poolside.

Aug. 12

Another performance at Rancho Cordova Library, this time doing "Alias Don Quixote" especially for teens, although we also had some repeat audience members from yesterday, including Kimberly's folks. After the show Mr. Tim, an utterly incredible librarian, invited us to join him and his wife for dinner.

Aug. 13

Drove back to the Bay Area to stash our motor home and trailer at the home of our friend Liz, who'll be babysitting it during the two weeks we're out of the country.

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