My first week with the Tulare County FanForce has been busy. I arrived on Monday January 15th at the home of Mother Palpatine and the Crazy Old Wizard. They gave me a hot cup of "proper British tea" and then set me up in a tent borrowed from their cat Lord Sid'ious. He checked out me and my box and I guess decided I was okay which is a relief. They both say he is a true Sith Kitty.
I got to me my old friend Ben and he introduced me to some other Jedi Masters and we even ran into Darth Vader. But everything worked out well. The Crazy Old Wizard showed me some of his Lightsabre collection. I was impressed especially since he made a few of them including the Dooku and Sidious plus the Tiger, which was my favorite.
On Tuesday evening we went to their sewing class. The Wizard and Mother Palpatine make some of their costumes in this class and have fun taking their Dressing the Galaxy book to show other class memebers. Everyone seems to want to make one of Padme's dresses. I helped Mother Palpatine sew a black top and the Wizard worked on a Jedi robe.
The rest of the week was quiet but on Saturday we really got started. First we went to the Japanese New Year Festival held at the Japanese Art Center. I thought it was very relaxing with the large Koi pond and Zen Garden. I can see a Jedi Temple being a lot like this so you could have a place to rest and think. I watched kids play some Japanese games and make decorations using small bare tree limbs and crushed rice cakes. I then was allowed to go into the Art Gallery where they have traveling displays from Japan. The Wizard and Mother Palpatine had to take off their shoes to go inside but they let me keep my boots on as long as I did not walk on the floor. They also let me take several pictures with various displays. In the Gift Shop we saw many other things from Japan including Kimono's made of silk. In the lobby I met some very nice girls who had their picture taken with me and said I was cute.
After we left the Festival we drove to Tagus Ranch. It was once a famous Country and Western Music Theatre but has not been open in a few years but it is still a landmark for many people in this area. Next we wwent to Mooney's Grove. It is a large park with a lot of oak trees and a large pond with ducks and geese. You can even sometimes take a boat out and row around this pond certain times of the year. There is also a small museum here that covers the history of Tulare County but it was closed so we could nopt go inside. I did see some peacooks that were wandering around. I also had my picture taken with a Staute that is very well know called 'The End of the Trail.' It has been here almost a hundred years.
When we left Mooney's Grove we went to Mearle's drive-in. It is a pink drive-in resturant that was opened 66 years ago. It is said that Mearle's was one of the inspirations for the diner, Mel's in American Graffiti. George Lucas is rumored to have eaten here a couple of times as a teenager. Sadly Mearle's closed only a few months ago but it has already been made a historical landmark in the city of Visalia.
Soon it was time for the TCFF club meeting and we went to Border's bookstore. This was a special meeting because it was one of the members birthday. Mother Palpatine made him a chocolate on chocolate birthday cake with a Spiderman theme. The meeting was fun and after cake we went out to dinner. I found out that because the club covers such a large area and includes several cities and towns they rotate their meetings to a different town each month.
On Sunday the Wizard and Mother P. got up early and we went up to the Sequoia National Forest to visit the Giant Redwwods and take me to see the General Sherman tree. This tree is about 2,200 years old and is 275-foot-tall. They say it is 103 feet around at the base. There was snow on the ground and some of the pathways were frozen but I saw many people from all over the world that had come to see these trees. I would like to see this forest in the spring or summer but it was still beautiful. And the trees are really, really big. One of the Rangers was nice enough to give me a little tour and to point out some things. Mother P. also found a small piece of bark that had fallen off of the General Sherman and arranged for me to be able to take it with me on my travels.
As we drove back down out out the forest we came across about four or five deer. One was in the road as we came around a curve but ran back up when he saw us. The Wizard stopped and took some pictures. They were all bucks and a little nervous. About a mile further down (and I do mean down) the road Mother P. spotted two does. They were on the side of the mountain lying down and didn't seem nervous at all when we stopped to take some pictures. Mother P. thought they looked bored.
By the time we got home everyone was tired and I was glad to get a chance to rest which may be a good idea since they have more to show me in this coming week including a trip to a convention.