Another weekend spent illin'. In fact I took friday off, and over the 3 days, I really did little but curl up in bed. However, since the weather was so nice, and my time before going under the knife so short, I forced myself to get up and go out to see something. It needed to be nearby - an easy daytrip was about all I had in me - and there had to be virgin mileage involved.
A quick look at the map told me exactly where I would be going...just to the southeast of Clear Lake - just over the hills from the heart of the Napa Valley - was a place I have long known I must visit: Butts Canyon.
As you will see, it ended up making sense for lots of reasons; and I found the day was well spent as both recreation and a learning experience. I don't want to give too much away, but here's just one example. As I approached the entrance to the 'Butts' (as the locals call it), I was able to dispel a myth long spread by those with Heartland Values. At first, I wondered if there was anyway to actually get in Butts; I have long heard from our moral beacons that Butts' was designed as "Exit Only", but sure-as-yer-born, I saw people going in AND out! I myself went in and out of the Butts. It was unfamiliar territory to me, so I went in with caution; but by the time I was done, I was flyin'! And it wasn't just me. Some people seemed quite comfortable charging their way in, using the one passage there was at the bottom of the Butts. People of all kinds were going in and out of Butts all day with no problem.
The more you know!
The major subplot to the weekend involves my lovely little gatos, specifically Zyzzy (who I also call Stinky.) A large portion of my tax refund this year went to a visit to the vet for Farty, Stinky, and Boner. It ended up being quite expensive since there were booster shots a-go-go to be had, plus the older two, Boner & Farty, both needed blood tests. I am still waiting to see what is up (each had a heart murmur, which I must admit is no small source of distress for me, and we are waiting to see the cause and how serious the situations are...I don't even want to think of life without the Bedlam Boys as they are! Anyway...)
When I take my trips, I find myself wishing I had a dog to come with. Dogs are awesome fun at the beach and in the park, and I end up out in places that would be great fun to play with a pooch. Not only that, but taking all these trips solo all the damn time does get old. I would love a companion. To this end, during the trip to the vet, I found that Zyzzy was quite easy going about getting in the carrier and hanging out with the doctor and such. My other two degenerates are 100% scaredy cats who cower and whine like you wouldn't believe on trips to the vet. With the visit to the vet fresh in my mind, I decided to do an experiment and see if Zyzzy likes coming with on little road trips. I packed him up, and off we went!
All in all, the little guy held up quite well. If anything, I would say the trip was a little bit long for him, but the experiment was more a success than a failure. Whereas most cats I have had in cars usually go looking to hide under the seat or whatever, little Stinky actually was out and about, looking for a perch from which to take in the action. The only downer was that he didn't like how loud it got with the windows down, so I did have run the AC when we were going fast, but when we were going slow enough to keep the wind noise down, he liked putting his nose up to the opening to take in the smells.
To be fair, Stinky is actually the least stinky of the felines BY FAR. He got the name because of the way his tummy reacted to the diet they had him on at the pound. When I went to pick out a cat, and I decided to see what was up with Zyzzy, the first thing he did when we got in the play room was rip a serious room-clearer. After that he got all friendly, and I had to have him whether he farted a lot or not. Once he got on a regular diet of food he liked, he hasn't produced anything noteworthy in the olfactory department. Even so, the name was already given, and he is stuck with it (Farty, by way of contrast, can still produces smells that would make a sewer rat nauseated.) And while I freely admit he causes my nasal passages no grief, I also find it quite fitting that our first trip together, and indeed his first recreational journey, should be to Butts Canyon & Valley.
My original hope for the day was to do what I have been doing most often on my recent trips out, which is to get out and see something new, but also look to find a nice old tree to sit under, do some bird watching and cat nappin'. To my surprise, the way the roads were set up out that way, it was kinda hard to find a premium spot that had a big old tree one could easily pull off the road and sit under. There were loads of candidates tree-wise, but almost all of them were either too close to the road, or they had nowhere to park under.
It was tough to find a tree so it actually ended up taking awhile to find a place to stop. That ended up being a little rough on my travel companion. The roads were also quite curvy and hilly, so being a rookie at standing in a moving car, my little buddy eventually got tired of the hard miles and found a little spot in the trunk to doze, clean-n-preen, and just chill. As I said, it was a first try, and the choice of destination was somewhat last minute. I really didn't put together anything that I knew would be super easy for the beast to enjoy. We had to learn by doing, and indeed, we did. I learned that ya gotta get to a stopping spot early and can't expect the youngin' to put up with too many long stretches without a little payoff. Point taken.
Eventually, rollin' up the Butts caused us to make contact with a big ol' log of a tree. The tree was awesome, but the only place to park was in front of the fence of a cow pasture. It wasn't ideal for birds either since the branches were so high in the air. Even so, the shade was nice and I love the old trees just because they're old trees.
Once we stopped and the youngin' was slopped and watered, he was ready to recreate a little. There was at least one birdie right above us letting out a big ol' tweet every so often, and I could tell Zyzzy was into that. Seein' the cows walk around was also clearly a first for him. He fancies himself a tough guy around the house, but I noticed that the first move by a nearby cow brought a very quick stop, drop low, and low-roll like kitties do. Eventually, he decided the lumbering cow was no threat to us and he went back to his laps within the car; window, to other window, to other window, to front seat, and then repeat.
For me, the Butts was a bust in the birdie department. I did get to see an old rail flatcar turned into a bridge; other than that, I really caught a only small mix of birds, most of which I see in my neighborhood. I would say the highlight (and don't get me wrong, it is a real highlight) was getting to hear a Western Meadowlark cycle through his song over and over. I never got to see him, but I love the Meadowlark song and just sitting there in the sun with my buddy having him sing for us was a good time in and of itself.
If y'all ain't been up Butts before, I would guess that is because it is a little inconvenient. I hadn't really heard much chatter about it so I assumed the Butts is a well-kept secret or people just don't know much about it. For one, it is wedged in between a triangle of Napa Valley, Clear Lake and Lake Berryessa. That gives it much to compete with. At the end of the day, there isn't too much to it other than the fact it is just one more perfect golden California Valley (the green is already gone for the year - that was hella-fast!) I am not sure there are tons of reasons for me to find myself back in the Butts, but ya never know. The area's old claim to fame seems to be that it once was a place used for GI training of some type. That area is under clean-up of some type. but I could definitely see it being the basis of a beautiful state park one day. I can only imagine what name they would give it (I have some ideas.) I also would suggest they repave the roads (or in this case, maybe send a sand truck out with a load of Preparation H in the spreader) since they are a little bit bumpy. So far, it appears that the people of the Butts are trying to figure things out.
One decision that has been made in that area could be a hint of things to come. Keep in mind that the city of San Francisco has only been able to get ONE medical pot dispensary licensed so far, and here the little burg of Middleton has a large one right on CA29 (about where the coccyx would sit if Butts Canyon Road were the rectum.) I suppose with Napa & Sonoma just over the hill being so well known for their intoxicating agriculture, the Butts Canyon/Valley could try to lay claim to being to bud what Napa is to the grape. I tried to avert Stinky's eyes when we passed, but he has seen footage of people blowing pot smoke into cat's noses. He started crying out, begging me to stop, but I refuse to poison the lad in this way. He's just a boy!
The ride home was a little easier once we made it over the mountain to Napa. It was mostly straight and took much less time. After the curvy hills up and down the mountain, Zyzzy gave up and got into his carrier and tried to sleep. Overall, he seemed to have a really good time, however this wasn't the ideal trip for him. Too much jostling and not enough time under the big tree. This is something I may work on later.
He was definitely wiped out when we got home. He joined the other delinquents on the bed and conked out pretty quickly. Unfortunately for me, when we had pulled into the lot, he caught sight of some of the strays that live in the neighborhood. I made the mistake of letting him watch them for awhile because when he awoke later that night, he started standing at the door, baying and meowing to get me to let him out so he could hang with the common strays. This has actually gone on for a few days now. It is driving me batty. If he doesn't let it go very soon, then I won't be able to take him out of the house for anything. There is NO WAY I would let him out to be an outdoor cat, yet now that he has seen the big world out there, he thinks he is ready for it. I tell him that his be-hymen wouldn't last 10 minutes in the Butts let alone walking around with the street cats of Oakland; but like I said, he thinks he is tough.
So young. So dumb. So loud.