Coming up on Rob on the Road... Did you know there once was a thriving farm town, now, at the bottom of Lake Berryessa?

Join me as we discover an exhibit that explores the hidden history of Monticello.

Plus, a powerful story of survival and beating the odds with the owners of Smash Sacramento, a "rage room" designed to release stress.

And Rob on the rails?

Check out this one of a kind train track excursion through Yolo County on specially designed rail bikes.

Plus, dive into Amatoria Fine Art Books, a Midtown Sacramento treasure trove where books are celebrated and given new life.

Rob on the Road... [smashing sound] starts now.

[Laughter] Wow!

And now, Rob on the Road exploring Northern California.

We are in Winters, California, at the Winters Museum, and inside is a story of a hidden gem.

When you go by Lake Berryessa, did you know that underneath the water used to be a town?

It's called Monticello.

And the story is inside here.

♪♪ In its prime, Monticello was a thriving community, home to about 500 people in the 1940s and early fifties.

But you could say Monticello died young.

A sister city to Winters, the Monticello Valley was a rich agricultural hub and even home to one of the largest rodeos of its time.

This museum shows a really deeply rooted chapter in a lot of people's lives.

Um, you see them in the pictures.

You see some of the last people leaving.

Yeah.

Uh, you see homes being moved out.

You see families walking away from their property.

And you see even cemeteries being dug up and moved.

Uh, it's an emotional exhibit.

It is.

And I think those people that came back to visit the graves after the- after they were moved- That was sort of the beginning of the museum because those families that returned- I mean, they were- It was like a diaspora.

All these people had been scattered all over to, you know, Napa, Fairfield, uh, Esparto, Winters.

And every year, uh, just about the time they used to have the rodeo, they would come back at... at the... at the cemetery and they would have a big picnic, and they'd bring pictures and they would, uh, you know, talk- tell old stories from Monticello.

[Rob] Those stories live on, thanks to Remembering Monticello, a display of memories from days gone by inside Winters Museum.

There's also a lot of joy here because you get to reminisce.

So, it... it's bittersweet.

[Woody] Yeah.

I feel like we've recreated a community.

Got Henry's hat, my grandpa's hat, and my dad's hat.

They're kind of like the storytellers of... of, uh- for me, growing up.

[Rob] These hats and the signs are as close to home as you can get for sisters Carol McGinnis Fitzpatrick and Barbara McGinnis Hanson.

Barbara was the youngest and last person to leave Monticello in 1956 when the town was claimed by eminent domain and demolished, making way for the Monticello Dam and the construction of Lake Berryessa.

Right here, tell me about this.

This is my brother, Ron, and my grandfather.

And this is the house that my grandfather built and raised his family in, in Monticello.

When you look at these things, what do you... what do you feel, when you see these pictures that were right here, in you, and right here?

[Barbara] Uprooted.

[Rob] Yeah.

[Barbara] Sadness.

[Rob] Is it emotional?

[Barbara] Oh, very.

Yes.

[Rob] Because I still see, when you talk about it, I still see the tears in your eyes.

I see water.

Yeah.

[Inhales] Mmhmm.

[Piano] Has creating this helped or hurt?

It helped because it's like telling the rest of the story.

'Cause when everybody left, all the relatives and friends, they all had to go and move ev... everywhere else.

And now, people are coming back in.

They're- You know, we're finding new relatives and... and stories that... that are, you know, put together now.

I think what we're trying to show here is that that impact was... was quite severe.

That impact- That- They paid a... a... a heavy price for it.

They lost a community.

And we're trying to recreate that for people to a... appreciate.

[Rob] And here's the Valley, Berryessa Valley.

And all of that is filled with water.

That's right.

Yeah.

Probably 150 feet under water.

Monticello, named after the home that Thomas Jefferson built, "MontiCHELLo," was incorporated in 1866.

And within a decade, the town was off and running.

What are some of your favorite things that you discovered along the way in here?

I'm glad you asked.

My favorite thing- I mean, it's sort of like my little thing.

Dorothea Lange was commissioned by Life Magazine to do a study of the destruction of the town, and she took 185 photos.

Pirkle Jones took, uh, around 2,000 photos.

[Rob] Wow.

[Woody] The two of them went up there and, little by little, they started documenting what was going on as the- as people were moving out.

And so, they did, uh, a very professional, very dramatic group of photographs that are compelling.

They're dramatic, they're- obviously, because the people at that time understood what was going on.

[Rob] Life Magazine never published the images.

Many of these powerful pictures seen here have never been printed before.

When you go by Lake Berryessa, when you drive around and you can see it, you see the... the big glory hole there in the middle, and the dam and everything- This was underneath.

The valley was underneath.

Well, it's an untold story that most people who do drive by have no clue.

[Rob] What is the main thing you want those people to know?

[Woody] That, you know, water is a commodity, that, uh- You... you can live without oil, but you can't live without water.

So, I get it, but we've paid a price for that.

And some people paid more than others.

I think they should recognize that, and they should remember Monticello.

[muffled, distorted noises] [door closing] [loud smashing sounds] [metal clanging] [Rob] It's all the rage... and it's a smashing good time.

And if you've ever wanted to beat the heck out of something or take a sledgehammer to your computer, this place is for you.

You are now inside Smash Sacramento, a place for anyone to cut loose at either the multiple rage rooms or axe throwing stations.

We have, uh, many names and are many things, but definitely, uh, an indoor rage room for people to come out and let that stress out, you know?

[Rob] This is the Broadway location in downtown Sacramento.

There's another one in Carmichael, both run by this daring duo- David Messier is an Army veteran who co-owns Smash with his partner inside and out of these rooms, Breanna Wilkie.

You were mentioning to me that you have all kinds of groups come in.

Go through some of them.

You talked about mothers.

Yeah, definitely.

So, um, Smash Sacramento, we've had so many groups come in.

Specifically, we have a grieving group for mothers that have lost their children.

Um, we have Wounded Warriors Project, which is veterans that have been in combat that have been deeply affected by it.

They've come in.

Um, we've had foster group of kids come in as well as my favorite is the Youth Impact Program, um, which is run by the Sacramento Sheriff pro- uh, Sacramento Sheriff's Office and they bring in their kids, their troubled youth, and they bring 'em out to have a good time.

Um, they're very respectful and deeply disciplined.

[Rob] Smash Sacramento opened its doors in 2018.

Both David and Breanna worked around the clock to pay and build a business where others would hopefully come to pay and tear things apart.

It worked!

But just to be clear, smashing things wide open stays at work.

How many times do the fights- not fights- How many times do the arguments come to the smash room to get solved?

Very not often at all, 'cause there are no fights.

Yeah, actually never.

I've never been like, "I need to go to Smash Sacramento really quick."

Or, I'm going to be at work tomorrow, only 'cause we are the ones that have to clean it up.

[Laughter] So, it makes it very less appealing to do so.

Well, we do have to clean up our own messes.

Yeah, exactly.

I was like, you know what?

I can't call her and say, "Hey, honey, can you come clean this up?

I just broke a bunch of dishes.

And I wasn't thinking about you, I swear."

[Laughter] You know?

But... but here, you don't have to clean up your own mess when you come in for this experience.

David knows firsthand how messy and painful life can be.

David's mother died when he was just 15 years old.

And in 2017, David's wife was killed instantly in a car crash.

David found himself in the midst of rage.

What would you say to someone who's just in the beginning of the grief you're experienced in your life and then where you are now?

I would definitely say "day-by-day."

It is a day-by-day thing, and time heals on.

But it sounds like, to me, it's not just time, but what you do with that time.

[David] Very true.

So, what advice would you give for someone at what point to stop remaining in the pain and jumping into purpose?

And I know everybody only knows when that's right for them.

[David] Yeah, exactly.

[Rob] But what... what was the point for you, where you had to do it?

It was tired of... tired of, uh- sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Sick and tired of doing the same thing over and over again.

It was... it was time for a change.

[Rob] With help, and by launching Smash Sacramento, David was able to find relief.

And he's not alone.

"Rage Rooms" swept the globe after finding popularity in 2008 in Japan, when Japan's economy sank into a recession.

The first rage room was in Tokyo, called The Venting Place, where locals would relieve their stress by smashing dishes and plates.

Then, COVID changed the world, and many people were aching for somewhere to express themselves.

Axe throwing or smashing printers and other objects became the perfect fit.

Up to four people can smash and shatter in one room at a time, using baseball bats, crowbars, sledgehammers and even a bell mace.

Do you feel better?

[Laugher] Yeah!

All right.

What in the world?

What is this?

It's a bell mace.

[Rob] A bell mace.

Yeah.

And you just were making a ton of noise.

Oh, yeah.

This thing just cut straight through that printer.

[Rob] Wow.

[Dom] Yeah.

So- And you had a windshield?

Yeah, I- Yeah... HAD.

[Rob laughs] I had.

All right.

So, before and after, how do you feel?

How'd you feel coming in here, and then now?

[Dom] You know, I felt really excited coming in here.

You know, like, there's no feeling than just taking a bat and going straight to that windshield.

You know, there's... there's no feeling.

You can't really describe it.

You just gotta experience it yourself.

And you're in one piece.

[Dom] Yeah!

[Rob] But nothing else is.

[Dom] Nothing else is!

[Rob] All right.

There it is, there's Smash!

After all of this smashing, I had to see what the rage is all about.

Welcome to Smash Sacramento.

[clapping] Yeah!

That felt so weird, but freeing!

I like it.

It feels fantastic.

We came out after the smashing, and things got real, quickly.

Um, we talked about our struggles in life.

We talked about things we've been through and you shared something with me that I really wanted to bring.

And that's how you grew up... Yeah.

...and what you've done with your education as well.

Talk to me about that.

Yeah, definitely.

So, um, for a time period in my youth, I grew up in the foster care system.

So, I feel, you know, a very big importance to give back to my community and to influence the kids that are going through it right now.

Um, I actually just graduated from California State University of Sacramento with my criminal justice degree, and less than 3% of kids that go through the foster care system will ever go to college, let alone graduate.

So, I am- That is an accomplishment that I am deeply proud of.

You should be.

Thank you.

I'm proud of you for that.

That is absolutely phenomenal.

I'm so proud of you.

Thank you.

Rob, hit it hard!

[loud smash] There you go!

[clapping, laughter] Wow!

♪♪ [Rob] Hey, Rob!

Hey, how are you?

Good to see you!

Good to see you!

This is so exciting.

We're underneath the overpass.

Is that 5?

Yeah, I-5 North.

Wow!

And there's a train right behind us, which you run as well.

That's right.

The River Fox Train.

These are the railbikes.

We're going on a ride right along the river.

We're gonna go on adventure.

That's awesome.

All right, let's load up.

Let's do it.

All aboard for a round trip railway excursion like none other here at the River Fox Train Station.

This is launch point on Old River Road near Highway 117 and the Sacramento International Airport, nestled along the banks of the Sacramento River on the West Sacramento side.

Riders get a quick orientation and safety training to get familiar with the gear.

The bikes hold two people, a driver and a rider.

Even kids six and older can do this!

Your main task is when to apply the handbrakes.

Jen, if you copy, we're ready to take Rob on the Road on the, uh, railbikes.

Wait, which Rob?

Because you're Rob too!

[Laughter] Do I do anything?

[Rob Peterson] No.

[Rob Stewart] No?

[Rob Peterson] You can just sit back and enjoy.

[Rob Stewart] Oh, you don't have to pedal?

[Rob Peterson] No!

[Laughter] [Rob Stewart] Who's driving?

[Rob Peterson] I can...

I can pedal or I can just use my little thumb.

[Rob Stewart] It's electric?

[Rob Peterson] Yeah.

[Rob wheezes, laughter] [Rob Stewart] Ha!

I thought we were getting a workout today!

[Rob Peterson] No, no, that's a bit misleading, see.

[Rob Stewart] I- That's fine with me!

♪♪ And we are headed out into some of the most beautiful farmland agricultural area, um, that I really feel is some of the prettiest in the state.

What do you love about what we're seeing?

[Rob Peterson] Well, I just...

I just love how natural it is, and it just takes you back in time.

You get in and you... and you see people, you know, earning a living, growing things, and, uh, sometimes you take things for granted.

[Rob Stewart] So, now, we're starting to turn away from the river a little bit.

Is that right?

[Rob Peterson] Yeah.

We're... we're starting to bear a little bit more South direction, and we're going to, um, cross.

This is our... our one and only major, uh, traffic crossing.

We're crossing Old River Road.

[Rob Stewart] How do you cross the road on this?

[Rob Peterson] What's going to happen is our lead guide, uh, he has on- a radio frequency where he can control the, uh, the lights and the, uh, the bells and the arms.

[Train warning sounds] [Rob Stewart] Y'all have the power to do that?

[Rob Peterson] Yeah.

[Rob Stewart] That's pretty cool [Horn] [Rob Stewart] All aboard!

[Laugher] This is awesome.

[Rob Peterson] Here we go!

[Rob Stewart] I'll definitely remember this.

This experience- I feel like when we're out here, Rob, that it, first of all, it's not physically exhausting at all... [Rob Peterson] No.

[Rob Stewart] ...but it is mentally exhilarating.

[Rob Peterson] Yeah, exactly.

[Rob Stewart] Um, and I just- I can't think of a... of another experience that takes you on this adventure.

[Rob Peterson] Yeah.

Yeah.

[Rob Stewart] Because we go through farmland.

This is a way of seeing farmland that I've never seen before.

[Rob Peterson] Yeah, well it is... it is... it is absolutely unique because you go- There are- There's no vehicle traffic anywhere around.

And we're on a track that was built in the late 1800s, 1897 to be exact.

[Rob Stewart] Gosh!

This track?

[Rob Peterson] Yeah.

[Rob Stewart] Holy cow!

You know, Yolo County has so many sunflowers, but I did not know you could get this close to them.

[Rob Peterson] Yeah, this runs right on top of them.

[Rob Stewart] How beautiful.

How many miles out are we?

We've come out about six miles.

Wow!

That's amazing to me.

[Rob Peterson] What our guide's doing right now is he's, uh, he's putting them on this turntable and he's flipping the bikes 180 degrees so that we will be pointed back towards the station.

[Rob Stewart] The origins of these railbikes began in Fort Bragg, Mendocino County, a spinoff of the famous Skunk Train, the sister company of River Fox Trains.

The railbikes were such a success that in 2020, Sacramento got its own fleet of 10.

Since then, the number of weekly riders has grown every year.

You have, during the pandemic, transformed the area where this starts into a beautiful place.

Start to finish, how long does it take?

When someone would come here and get on the bike, and when they get trained and do it and everything, what is it?

[Rob Peterson] I would allow 90 minutes.

[Rob Stewart] 90 minutes.

[Rob Peterson] Yep.

We're going to come on.

We're going to check in.

We'll do some orientation.

We're going to take our trip.

And then, you know, turn around, come back.

It'll take probably a little over an hour.

So, I would allow a 90 minute block of time.

And then after that, you can sit in the park.

You can have a picnic.

- Yeah.

It's probably one of the prettiest spots over about 30 miles of the Sacramento River.

Truly.

You can sit there and look and watch the water go by.

The... the homes are gorgeous, the scenery is beautiful, and our park is literally at the edge of the... of the river.

That's fantastic.

You're right across from Alamar Marina.

[Rob Peterson] Yes.

[Rob Stewart] As well as Swabbies.

That's right there, too.

And now, we're about six miles out into Yolo County, in the middle of agriculture farmland.

The feeling is so serene and enjoyable, and it makes you truly be present in the moment.

Right.

Right.

Do you feel that way still?

I do.

I do, yeah.

Every time I take a ride.

And sometimes, I'll take 10 to 12 rides a week and still enjoy it every time.

[Rob Stewart] What's the reaction that you get from guests?

[Rob Peterson] The main reaction is "How unique" and "I never knew this existed."

So, you know- And... and... and, um, my favorite is "I'll be back."

[Rob Stewart] Yeah.

[Laughter] Um, but I will be back because this immediately makes you think, "Oh, my gosh, I could bring this person here, this person here, this person here."

Also, when someone comes in out of town, you talk about showing them a great experience.

This is so unique.

♪♪ And as we pull back up to the River Fox Train Station, I arrive here with memories I will never forget.

Rob, thank you so much.

- Absolutely.

- This has been remarkable here at the River Fox Train Station in West Sacramento and the railbikes.

What an experience!

Thank you.

[bikes pedaling] ♪♪ This is the heart of Midtown in Sacramento, and at the corner of 19th and F Streets, you'll find a thriving community hot spot- Amatoria Fine Art Books.

Amatoria is a one-stop shop for artists of all kinds, a creative haven owned by two female artists.

I truly feel like there is something magical about this place.

Yeah, you would be right about that.

Uh, I like to say that, uh, a used bookstore has what we just refer to in the trade as "book magic."

And that means that books flow in here in a very sort of- what seems like a random way, um, in a way that does not happen with new book stores.

[Rob] Used books are often a treasure trove of works both famous and obscure, books that have stood the test of time.

There are thousands of books here, all used, but not in a way that you might expect.

You said something to me that really stuck with me and will stay with me, and that is that books are a friend.

Yes.

[chuckles] They are.

Books are friends.

And when I say that, I mean that I feel like I have a relationship with that book when it walks in the door and, uh, that I get the opportunity to visit with it and connect to it.

But then, I find it another friend and that, uh, all of the great booksellers that I've had the privilege of working with, they have said to me, in not so many words, you know, you don't really own a book.

A book might come into your possession for a short period or a long period of time, but it's always going to pass back out of your possession.

And once I understood that, that sort of continuum of what books represent, it made it a lot easier for me to not hoard them.

[Laughter] [Rob] You can see how that would be difficult.

The original collection belonged to Richard Press, who gathered one of the rarest used book collections in California.

Miranda Culp and Laurelin Gilmore bought the store in 2020 and have extensively added to the collection with some of the rarest books you'll find anywhere.

[Miranda] Yeah.

We have books that basically came into being right after the printing press was invented.

Um, you know, we've even had- We don't have any now, but we've even had books that predate the... the printing press.

So, you know, handmade paper, handmade ink, you know, down to the very, very basics of, uh, the fundamentals of what bookmaking is about.

[Rob] The fundamentals of books, and what it takes to make them, are first nature to these business partners.

Miranda is a writer, and Laurelin is a painter and fabric artist.

But books are the tie that binds this team together.

[Laurelin] We're book people.

Um, so, art has always been my first love, but literature, books have always been kind of a very, very, very close second.

So, for me, it's incredibly, incredibly fulfilling to be able to present this to the world.

Aren't they beautiful?

Yeah!

[Miranda] When I came into this store, like, everything that I had done in my life, up until this point, was preparing me for this.

And you don't have that experience a whole lot in your life, that, uh, you know, all of my, you know, failures and dead ends and, you know, um... - Chapters.

- All of my... all of my struggles and various chapters and various pursuits, that they all kind of, like, led to this point.

Even the hard days are okay because of what I get to do, being a business owner in Sacramento.

Like I said- I don't know if I told you or not, but I used to work for- I've worked for two governors, um, and that felt like being a part of the workings of Sacramento in a really deep, important way.

This feels like being part of the root structure of this community... - Oh, how cool.

- ...because it is so much a part of how this community grows and how it kind of- I don't know- shines.

[Rob] I love that for you.

[Laurelin] So it's- For me, it's- Yeah, I- The path to here is, uh, I guess it's just been one of, kind of, following the things that make me happy.

It sounds cliche to say follow your bliss, but, like, really, honestly, dedicating my schooling to something I love, not knowing that I was ever really going to be able to use it, so that if this- something like this came around, I'd be able to step up.

Imagination is the thing that allows us to go from our own experience to understanding someone else's experience.

And that... that transference, that ability to transcend our own experience, that is what connects us.

That is kind of the binding agent in a lot of ways.

We don't think about that at all, but that... that one quality of, um, you know, being curious and... and utilizing your imagination, uh, that wellspring of, um, inheritance that you have as a human being, just by virtue of owning a brain and a heart, those... those qualities, uh, that enables us to connect to each other, to love one another, to agree to disagree, to find compromise, you know, all of the things that we actually rely on every day- there's imagination behind all of that.

♪♪ ♪♪