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.
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 🙂
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!
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.
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.
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 :-).
The cluster of houses in the middle distance, on the far side of Bodega Bay, is the village of the same name. This photo was taken from the high cliffs on the ocean-facing side of Bodega Head, some of which you saw in the last “Coasting” entry a bit further down.
These views of SF and the greater region are from the take-off ascent when we flew back to Amsterdam two weeks ago. The photos at top and bottom were selected as highlights for two reasons. First, because they both show the atmospheric effect of heat in the central valley (more than 100km east – right – of what you see here) pulling cool, moist air — aka fog — in from the vast, cold and wet Pacific directly through the Golden Gate (not the bridge, but the small gap in the coastal mountains which the bridge spans) and then inland, following the river that drains the valley then flows into the bay, in the process flowing over both the city of San Francisco, and some of the surrounding cities to the north and east. Second, because they both also show you the lovely north bay and – if I had that degree of resolution – they likely look right over Sonoma Mountain and the other coastal-range mountains to show Santa Rosa, in its little bowl about 65km north of the Golden Gate. FYI, the bridge you do see is the Bay Bridge, its two spans connecting SF with Oakland and the east bay, forming the western terminus of Interstate 80, just as the George Washington Bridge forms its eastern terminus at the Hudson between NYC & NJ. The Golden Gate Bridge, by that particular Monday afternoon, was already well-wrapped in the fog you see :-).
These views of SF and the greater region are from the take-off ascent when we flew back to Amsterdam two weeks ago. The photos at top and bottom were selected as highlights for two reasons. First, because they both show the atmospheric effect of heat in the central valley (more than 100km east – right – of what you see here) pulling cool, moist air — aka fog — in from the vast, cold and wet Pacific directly through the Golden Gate (not the bridge, but the small gap in the coastal mountains which the bridge spans) and then inland, following the river that drains the valley then flows into the bay, in the process flowing over both the city of San Francisco, and some of the surrounding cities to the north and east. Second, because they both also show you the lovely north bay and – if I had that degree of resolution – they likely look right over Sonoma Mountain and the other coastal-range mountains to show Santa Rosa, in its little bowl about 65km north of the Golden Gate. FYI, the bridge you do see is the Bay Bridge, its two spans connecting SF with Oakland and the east bay, forming the western terminus of Interstate 80, just as the George Washington Bridge forms its eastern terminus at the Hudson between NYC & NJ. The Golden Gate Bridge, by that particular Monday afternoon, was already well-wrapped in the fog you see :-).
(so much world, so little time....) 