Sonoma & Napa

From the Air.53

The last shots I’ve not yet posted from our May departure from SFO en route to Pittsburgh. Still plenty left, of snowy Sierra and Rocky mountains and so on. But this is another farewell to the bay-area shots from my most recent trip. For those unfamiliar — open a map of SF and the bay, and then it’ll make sense. SF city itself is that white area in the upper left, while Alameda island is in the middle right, below the wing. The rounded bay you to the top middle is San Pablo bay, which we’ve shown you before – it’s part of the SF Bay but separately named b/c as you see it’s a bit distinct, having various peninsulas and such to define it a bit more clearly.

Mountains.43

Hood Mountain as seen from Annadel, above; other shots of the peaks and valleys in and around Annadel and Santa Rosa in these last photos from the time I spent in SR itself during that April visit. Plenty more from California still to come (think Redwood Forests in Mendocino and more of the coast line, etc.)…but these are my last visuals of my once and presumably future home for the time being 🙂

Image

Small Wonders.243


Lake Living.33

Above, Spring Lake; at bottom & in the  middle below, Lake Ilsanjo as seen from close up and then near the top of one of my favorite trails. All from April, first day back in these parks whose hiking and biking trails I do so love, on that lovely visit in April and early May.


Small Wonders.242


County Views.142

Sonoma County – turns out I didn’t manage to identify all the photos with Mt St Helena somewhere in them when I tried to put them all in one big post early last month. So herewith a few more images from the place that’s still the home of my heart 🙂

From the Air.51

Since I’m scheduled shortly to be flying off again for very distant parts for work reasons, I thought I’d fondly remember another of these lovely moments as our plane gained altitude after departing from my beloved spiritual-home airport of SFO. If you follow the line of the lower fin on the plane’s tail, I’m pretty sure it’s Mt St Helena that you’ll see as a bump on the far horizon.

County Views.141


Image

Mountains.41


Image

Signs of the City.89


Lake Living.29


Image

Urban Entrances.129


Image

Country Canals.69


Village Views.79

Sebastopol’s annual Apple Blossom Parade, during my visit in late April. Ah, the joys of small town parades 🙂


Mountains.38

In this case, really one mountain – Mt St Helena. This mountain of volcanic origin has several peaks, the highest of which reaches 4,342 ft (1,323 m) in Sonoma County – other peaks are in Napa and Lake Counties. It’s also the highest peak in the bay area, which includes all the counties bordering SF Bay. You’ve seen it often before when I was still based in Santa Rosa, but I devoted more time to contemplating it on this last trip and am sharing my favorite photos of it in various moods and lights here. It’s easily recognizable and always fun to contemplate at all times of day, from many perspectives.