Monday, February 7, 2011

The Adventures of Manny Kin

Let me introduce you to Mr. Kin, his friends just call him Manny.  He's an easy going guy and up for any adventure.  Some folks who don't know him well might say he seems a bit stiff and wooden, but once you spend some time with him, you find really has a magnetic quality about him.

Manny had a great time this weekend hanging with the ladies in the fabulous town of Copperopolis (maybe the town isn't truly fabulous, but it sure is fun to say Copperopolis, Copperopolis, Copperopolis, go on try it).

Our first stop of the day was to check out the brand, spanking new Town Square with a vintage vibe, cuz' nothing says vintage like the smell of fresh paint and concrete ; ).   Manny, nature loving soul he is, just shook his head at our cynicism and enjoyed the flowers.

We were feeling a bit peckish and stopped for a quick bite at Panini's grill.  The ladies at the restaurant were quite taken with Mannie and fussed around him almost to the point of annoyance, but our Manny was unfazed by their attention as he leisurely perused the menu.

He went with the Caesar Salad as he has to watch his androgynous figure.(thx Di, wink, wink)

Properly fortified we set off to explore the window shopping delights of the Copperopolis Town Square.  The Olive Oil store purported to have tastings, but the staff were engaged in a stiff competition of cards which clearly couldn't be interrupted to provide any actual tasting service to the potential customers, so on we went to the knick knack store (I'm sure it had a fancy name, but really who needs another scented candle holder, soooo knick knacky).
Manny, ever the perfect gentleman, charmed the proprietress into letting him handle the merchandise in his unique way.


The wind, bringer of allergenic pollen, seemed to be calming a bit so we pondered what outdoor entertainments were available in the Copperopolis (Copperopolis, Copperopolis, it just never gets old) locale. Manny suggested we consider an Equestrian Adventure as he was feeling quite the horseman after his brief sit upon the Trojan horse at the Knick Knack store.

In spite of being within, literally, spitting distance of the rental stables, his lady companions sadly declined as they were  neither financially nor sartorially prepared for galloping about on huge, smelly and quite frankly, a bit scary, beasts.

After further discussion we agreed to explore around to find the actual, historical part of Copperopolis, which we learned was founded in 1860, because..., yep, you guessed it, a large deposit of Copper was discovered.

It has 4 locations in the National Register of Historical Places.  We were interested in learning more about the Copperopolis Armory , but had to settle for enjoying this lovely sign only. I suppose our dwindling tax dollars can no longer fund the retired veterans to play docent at these sorts of places.  Manny got a big kick out of pretending to be one of the guys and begged us to take this picture of him (he's the one on the left).

We found another olive oil tasting place (odd, really, to find not one but two, olive oil tasting shops within 2 minutes of each other), where the man at the counter was actually friendly and knowledgeable.  It turns out he is the son of the man who brought back olive tree saplings of the oil producing varietal directly from Italy, perhaps in his very own suitcase, but I missed that part of the sales pitch.   And, in a very small town twist of fate, it turns out that they no longer have their own orchard as they sold it so developers could build...

wait for it...


YES, that's right, the new vintage vibe COPPEROPOLIS TOWN SQUARE!

The olive oil was quite tasty and we learned a bit about the difference between the supermarket olive oil (apparently, bad, nasty, dregs of Italy to hear the "son of olive oil man" say it) and the fruity, green goodness of the local varieties, especially when infused with fragrant herbs and spices.   Manny preferred the simple, almost astringent flavor of the Frantoio

Having exhausted the, admittedly limited, shopping and historical sightseeing options we headed off to find some easy hiking.  We drove past the picturesque Tulloc Reservoir, by the Tabletop hills.  One of the roadmarks we looked for was the Sierra Conservation Center, which I naively assumed was a nature center, however this should have been clue one that we were headed towards jail ( in case you chose not to explore the link, the SCC is a prison inmate assistance program).    No matter, we were a band of intrepid hikers, not to be put off by a little trifle such as a prison, no, we were told there was good hiking to be had and we meant to have it.   Manny insisted there was no danger, he would gladly lay down his life to defend our honor and safety, that is, if he wasn't off climbing trees




or climbing rocks.


At the end we simply couldn't stop him from putting his feet in the stream, he only recently started walking really and he needed a bit of a rest and cool down.





We made our return approach to the parking area from a different direction than where we left. From this perspective it was startling to notice the hundreds and hundreds of strange, grey cylinders stretched all across a rather large field.

Upon closer inspection we determined these must be rock core samples from the nearby mining operations.  Some of the samples had veins of quartz, others that looked to be shale or slate were shearing apart into perfect ellipses.
 
and so concludes this weekend Adventures of Manny.  Our perfectly relaxed and slightly educational day at an end, we piled back into the car for the long drive home.

Manny loves to travel and has extended his offer of companionship should any of his dear friends wish to include Manny on their own travels; he packs light and sleeps heavy.