Hi All,

Don and I had a wonderful time in Parkfield which included doing almost nothing. We found it was way to hot to do anything in the middle of the day, so we took it easy and just let the time go by. We did try to visit Cholame, the nearest "town", but we found there is only one building in Cholame and its a diner.

It was one of those times when timing is everything and we missed it everywhere. We were going to go to Cholame to see what it was like and turn around and go back and see one of the two cemetaries. But once we got there we needed to fill up on gas and ended up driving all the way to Paso Robles before there were any stations.

So once gased up we thought we'd go and see Mission San Miguel only to find it closed 1/2 hour before we got there, but none the less we did take a look around the grounds and the mission was quite large and had a lot of historical items to see and had a quiet serene feeling and was a very peaceful place. It had some semblance to the Petaluma Adobe which has the domed ovens for baking bread and it was worthy of the casual visit.

So then we headed back to Parkfield and wanted to see the other cemetary on our way. The woman at the local store told me it was two or three miles from town and we never saw it. Well, we got a glimpse of it on our way back today and it was a good five miles and there were no road markers to let one know it was there. So cemetary wise, we were aced out.

Now on the more interesting side, Saturday evening we went down under the Parkfield Bridge to collect some rocks. The bridge on top has developed a few bends, but down below there is obvious structural damage and there is much work that needs to be done. We did find a few rocks we hadn't seen before and brought them back. Don can have his geologist friend identify them for us.

Speaking of Don, he really behaved himself on the road fairly well, most of the time, but there were a few times that I wasn't sure if he was speeding or flying low. I suspect he was flying low because when I asked him to slow down and he said he couldn't find a place to land.

We did see some beautiful deer in a couple of places, little squirrels and as usual the woodpeckers were working. However, they were in short supply and last night while eating dinner on the deck of the Parkfield Cafe Don spotted bats flying. I thought they looked like black birds, but he insisted they were bats.

We indulged ourselves and ate all of our meals at the Parkfield Cafe and we can both attest to the extraordinary bill of fare. Whatever we ate was better than most restaurants they have in the Bay Area. My favorite was breakfast this morning when Don and I ate homemade biscuits and gravy and had a side of slab bacon. Oooooooo so good. Of course last nights BBQ ribs were marvelous as well.

We're both sorry we had to come home. It was so peaceful there even when the occasional residents came in for dining. You can't imagine after city life how quiet it can be in a little burg this side of heaven.

We didn't see any hogs, didn't hear any coyote howls or foxes barking. Worst of all, we got aced out on our hopeful earthquake. But on the other hand, Don was out talking to guest and residents about preparing for earthquakes and our web site. I'm telling you, there were times I had to pry him away from people just to get something to eat. He's like that everywhere. He has to talk to strangers and the problem is, they listen.

So we're back, mentally refreshed and physically exhausted, but ready to get down to business again.

Petra & Don