David is working for a month in Martinez in Contra Costa County, about 75 miles north of Santa Cruz. I drove up to spend a few days with him on Wednesday. It was a beautiful day, there was no traffic,the surrounding hills were beginning to turn green and the drive was pleasant- until I got to Pleasant Hill. I came near to having a panic attack trying to find the place he was staying. I had directions but I kept missing the building which was at the end of the parking lot for a shopping mall. It was a somewhat seedy studio in an equally seedy "extended stay residence.
I brought some food for dinner and realized I left the corkscrew behind so I set out to get one. I went into all of the stores I've never been in- Best Buy (like Circuit City but bigger), Kohls (like Gottshalks but the size of Costco) and a few others. I found a $20 dollar corkscrew but decided to buy a $5 wine with a screw top instead. Forgot milk and butter too. Had to buy a half gallon of milk and a pound of butter. The stores sold things in large sizes. The shoppers were large too and could be seen pushing oversized carts with three-gallon containers of ice cream, 5 pound cans of coffee or wall-sized televisions. Driving around brought me to more shopping centers- one pretending to be fancy. It posted a plaque in various places with a code of conduct. The area consists of almost contiguous cities with a plethora of shopping malls and fast food places everywhere and many cars. My worst nightmare.
I was happy to see David and stay in to eat the spaghetti dinner I brought.
On the internet I read about the various towns in Contra Costa county and decided I wanted to go to Knightsen. It is 30 miles east of hwy 680 with a population of 1200, has six parks, and is bordered on two sides by the delta. Sounded good to me. Thursday it was raining lightly. I drove 680 and then route 4 east. After leaving route 4 I was in a different world. Passing through many small burgs with 1950's style small tract houses with names like Oakley and Brentwood , some grape vines still holding on to their red autumn leaves, and old commercial buildings that had seen better days, I was almost at Knightsen. I passed a large open front one story business called Statues and Stuff. Outside was a plastic statue of a horse up on two legs about 10 feet tall, a rooster at 6 feet, monster turtles and rabbits, and many, many others creatures. I regret not stopping to talk with this person.
Downtown Knightsen was one small street with two businesses- Sonya's Country Inn, that looked like a seedy, decrepit bar, and the Red Coach Deli that resembled its neighbor but sold food. (Click flickr link for photos.)
I continued to drive. Ranches and farms everywhere. Animals- horses, sheep, goats and dogs. I pulled up at one red barn to take a photo and two uber-friendly black and white border collie type dogs came running to greet me. The happier of the two, pictured above, walked on three legs and held one stiff front leg straight out and smiled. Made my day.
I drove on following the delta highway into some very beautiful areas. Trees with golden leaves reflected in the still water.Houseboats moored along the roadside and no people to be seen and few cars. I felt good and enjoyed the morning. I like being near water and animals.
In the afternoon I met with two women who had studios for short term rental and enjoyed meeting them both. One was a Chinese woman who just published her autobiography about growing up in China during the cultural revolution with a father who was persecuted. I will read the book. The other woman was a sculptor.
David is moving to a motel next week that is 3/4 mile from the hospital in the small and retro town of Martinez which we both liked. It's got a pool, HBO, internet access, a spa, fridge and microwave and he can walk to work. No shopping centers, one starbucks and lots of funky antique shops. Surrounded by beautiful hills and also on the delta.
I will continue to explore for the rest of the time he is there. There's got to be more than shopping malls.
Evelyn
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