Ellipsis: Can Every Day Be Rob Lowe Day?

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Can Every Day Be Rob Lowe Day?

Preston Castle Boys Reformatory

Ione, California

October 14th, 2017

"You need a break every once in a while to enjoy the everyday

and you need the every day

to enjoy the break you take every once in a while."

~S. A. Tawks

Mule

Okay, well, this is how it went. Our vacation this year began on a sad note. Every single thing I had planned, fell apart a little before it officially began. I had several day trips to cities in Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino Counties, unfortunately, most of those areas were on fire! It was a sad event, not for us, but rather for the folks caught in path of the devastation. So, as disappointed as I felt about not being able to see some of the places I had looked forward to, that was really nothing, compared to what all those folks were going through. But as our vacation came closer, it became more and more apparent, we would need to make other plans.

We usually start our vacations in Orinda, California, at the Orinda Theater. The second Thursday of every month is free movie night, and each October they tend to show a Halloween themed movie, and this year it was A Nightmare On Elm Street. Neither Alan, or myself, had seen the film, so we thought it would be terrific to see it, for the first time together! Well, when it came time to go, we found out that the air quality in the Bay Area was so bad, the powers that be warned against going outside there, if you didn't have to, and because we both suffer from allergies, and breathing difficulties, we also had to cross that off the vacation plans.

On October 13th, our wedding anniversary, we got some take-out food and tried to plan our next course. Neither one of us knew what we wanted to do next. NO CLUE AT ALL. So, we decided to give it a couple days, and see what we could come up with, and that's where Rob Lowe comes into the story! One night I was up really late, looking for something spooky to watch on TV, when I came across a new show on the A&E network, The Lowe Files. I hadn't heard anything about it, so I decided to watch the first episode to see what it was like. As it turned out, the first episode was set out here in the Central Valley, at Preston Castle Boys Reformatory, in Ione, California.

The show is about Lowe and his two sons, traveling together, looking for ghosts, Wood apes, Bigfoot, and so on. Mostly it's about their spending time together, having little adventures, and enjoying being a family. The show is funny, heartwarming, fun, and at times it was fun to watch Rob Lowe get scared! The show doesn't take itself too seriously, like some of those shows do, which I find refreshing and I really hope there is a season two coming along next year! Check it out, it's truly worth watching!

But back to Rob Lowe Day. After we watched the first episode, we decided to follow in Rob's footsteps, and that all started at a donut shop in Galt, California! Now, this was big for me because I am a bit of a donut snob. I am definitely a Krispy Kreme girl. I like how light and airy they are, and they just melt in your mouth, so getting me to go to a different donut shop, especially in Galt, was, just a week earlier, quite the change of pace for me! Galt is a very small Central Valley town, with not much to see, other than a small amount of public art, some strip malls, and lots of farmland. In other words, it's like every other town in the Central Valley... rural. If you've seen one cow, you've seen them all... right? But Robe Lowe seemed to think the area was so pretty, it reminded him of England! Um... what, Rob Lowe? You can't be serious! But it made me curious, what did he see? And would it be possible to see it differently, like through his eyes?

I didn't think there would ever come a day, when I would look forward to a visit to Galt to buy a donut, but it was part of the whole Rob Lowe adventure, so I played along, and to my delight, the donuts at the shop he visited, Happy Donuts, were pretty good! I had to admit that now, there was another donut shop, that I liked almost as much as Krispy Kreme! Alan loved that, because he has never been a fan of Krispy Kreme, so at least we now have a place we both enjoy! And he also enjoyed how giddy I was to go into the shop. I still don't know why I so weird about it, it's not like Rob would be there that day, but it was strange feeling to know I was standing where he stood, trying to pick out a donut!

After picking up the donuts, it was time to head to Preston Castle.We laughed along the drive, and I played the theme song to the Lowe Files, Don't Fear The Reaper, on my bluetooth, and of course the theme to St. Elmo's Fire, my favorite Rob Lowe movie. We talked about the show, and how one day we would love to go on a ghost hunt of our own, and just forgot about Trump, and the fires, and the other problems we are going through right now. We just had fun together, and it was just about the adventure. It's not like we expected to see a ghost, in the middle of the day or anything, but we did some speculating on what it would be like if we did!

When we arrived in Ione, we hit the downtown first, and as we drove into town, we saw witch, and yes, a tiny ghost, with a candy bucket, doing a little early Halloween celebrating or perhaps some Trick Or Treating! We laughed for a few moments about that, walked around the old gold rush town, and then headed up to the castle. It was closed, but it has a long driveway, and I was able to get some photos of the Gothic castle, and some trees, and I even got to photograph a new bird for my files that I hadn't photographed before! The beautiful Acorn Woodpecker.

And then it was time to head back home. We still laughed most of the way back home, and debated the best Rob Lowe movie, we both have our favorites, and we watched several of his movies that night, and yes, ate our donuts. St. Elmo's Fire and Stephen King's The Stand. I loved him in both, but I still think I enjoyed him in St. Elmo's Fire the most. I don't know, maybe because it was made during the 80's and there were some things about it I could identify with.

Plus we are the same age as the Brat Pack, and I think it's a generational thing. Either way, because of Rob Lowe, we had the best day, that was truly a departure from all the cares of the world, that he and I tend to get caught up in. I really need to stop following politics, but I know I can't, and that's why our next vacation can't come soon enough! If things had been different, maybe I would have taken some sort of job relating to politics, or perhaps put my love of photography in the mix, maybe as a campaign photographer, shrug, If I could, I probably wouldn't change my life much, I like where I am, but I could do with less stress. So I will be looking forward to our next vacation coming around, and when it does, we will be celebrating Rob Lowe Day, October 14th, 2018!

My Rob Lowe Day Album

October 14th, 2017