Charming Chico, CA

P and I had an overnight getaway to Chico. He had a radio appearance on their local public station, and a book store event at Lyon Books in the evening. We had an easy drive up, via Sacto and highway 99, and stayed at the beautifully restored Hotel Diamond - the first hotel in Chico from around 1904, that had closed due to fire in 1912, and not reopened again until 2005.

I talked a meter maid out of a parking ticket, everywhere we went people were kind and helpful. And it was a gorgeous day! We had a delicious Mexican dinner at Tres Hombres with two 100% blue agave tequila drinks each, to celebrate the wonderful day - and P's great talk - 40 people showed up, and listened enraptured. Amazing.

Today we had coffee in our room while listening to a little music, and paging through a History of Chico picture book. We saw a picture of "the big fish" and it became part of our day's pursuit. I took a 4.5 mile walk from the hotel and up into Lower Bidwell Park - it was a stunningly bright day, and met P back at the room to shower and pack. We picked up sandwiches to have a picnic by the creek back in Bidwell Park, after driving out highway 32 east looking for the fish.

We filled our gas tank with $3.99 gas! And on our way westward out highway 32 to connect to I-5, we found THE BIG FISH! A perfect day...

We're back home now, resting a bit. And I'm packing for my girl's getaway to Laguna Beach tomorrow bright and early!