Sonoma & Napa

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Country Canals.65


Village Views.75


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County Views.135


Coasting.94


Village Views.74

No, the Sonoma County village of Sebastopol has not been invaded by godzilla. 🙂 I finally managed on this last visit to spend time wandering a street or two that I’d previously only biked or driven through in a hurry but never managed to explore more fully. Among which, this street where nearly every yard (far more yards than I could photograph) had sculptures, all or most of which I believe were made by an artist who lives and works on the street.


Ah, Royalty.24

Apples did indeed once rule in lovely Sebastopol, but these days the noble wine grape has become both Queen and King. Still, the annual Apple Blossom Festival parade draws a good crowd and many floats, which we’ll be showing you in future posts 🙂

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Country Canals.63


Islands.53

So yes, there’s actually an island in this photo, which you can see more clearly and easily from the other side of the lake, in the photo below :-). (Above, look for the taller pines that seem to grow from closer to or in the lake – yep, that’s the island.) The joy of my various series are that they help me see things in new ways – this is Spring Lake right near the apartment I lived in when I was in Santa Rosa, and despite many bike rides and afternoons reading on benches along its shores, I’m not sure I ever noticed the little island before!

From The Air.13

Last photos from the airplane when I left SF after my last US visit in early April, all three in order in which they were taken as our plane flew north along the central valley not long after take-off from SFO. I’m reasonably confident that’s Lake Beryessa in the first photo, and then more of the Snow Mountain Wilderness area.


County Views.124

Nikos leading the way on the steeper ascent of Henry’s Knob, in Annadel, a fitting last photo from the most recent visit to good ol’ SoCo. 🙂

Coasting.53

Last Pacific coastal shots for a while…though I might have something left from Hong Kong that I could drag out if I had to, but not a very high-quality shot, for sure :-). Bodega head, looking south toward Point Reyes peninsula in the shots below.

County Views.123

View from a Lake County Winery with some of those hills also in northern Napa County. Second-to-last evening of my most recent stateside visit.

County Views.122

Yes, we’ve shown you Bodega Head before. But can one really have too much of such beauty? 🙂

Coasting.52

Those are pacific harbor seals at the mouth of the Russian River in Jenner, plus a surfer or two.

County Views.121

On the drive up to Humboldt, we took the coast road which meant we got to stop at one of my favorite county parks with its lovely seaside redwood forest :-).