Blogs from Sonoma County, California, United States, North America - page 3

The Sea Ranch is about 40 minutes south of Mendocino. We like to come up here and rent a home along the ocean. Very relaxing and there is a lot to do if you are active. Hiking, kayaking, golfing, swimming, wine tastings, whale watching. ... read more

Winehiking: Sipping into a Recession. Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino & Marin, Oct. '08 Vineyard, Dry Creek Valley, Sonoma County We had planned this winehike since last May, when we had flown out from Miami to backpack at Point Reyes National Seashore. We spent the last two days of that trip up in Sonoma Valley and had joined the Landmark Vineyards Heritage Wine Club after being plied into submission by a very good Chardonnay. At the time we promised each other we’d return for their annual Heritage Days festival in late October. But my how times changed. Fuel skyrocketed. The Stock Market, well, the Stock Market crashed and the economy took a nose dive. I found my company (an airline) wanting me to take money to go away, so they saw the back of my he... read more

Sept. 9. Back from Sonoma - a diversion from our intended foray into bike-riding. We were headed for the bike shop in Sebastopol. After lunch yesterday at Alice’s Restaurant there (served by Alice herself, aka “She Who Must Be Obeyed”), we scoped out bike rentals in that town and set our sights on a ride today. But the fog that has returned to the coast persisted inland today, with a slight drizzle to boot. So we headed for Sonoma on a more gustatory expedition. We drove through ranches, orchards, and vineyards - in sun! Sonoma has a pleasing central plaza and garden anchored by a former city hall and surrounded by several historic Spanish buildings dating back as far as the 1820s when Sonoma belonged to Mexico. (Apparently the city declared itself an independent state for ... read more

Late, late and late... that has been our story for the last two days. We made it into Sonoma late last night. 1:00 a.m. to be precise. We were SUPPOSED to be in at 4:00 p.m. We made it to Sacramento at 10:00 p.m. That's just six hours late. Let's go back to the re-cap of the momentous train trip. So my dad wanted to travel through the Rockies on the California Zephyr in December. I think, based on a fall trip with no potential weather issues, that I would NOT take a train trip through the mountains in December. Our train originated in Chicago, left on time, and in less than one states travels it already fell behind 1.5 hours. Oh well, that's the trains in America, right? By the time it got to Denver ... read more

Some of you may have been seeing California in the news with quakes and forest fires but you should rest assured if you were worried because we are all fine. We left LA a couple of days prior to the quake and the fires…well, we have decisions to make based on the fires in Yosemite. The last time I wrote we were leaving Carmel and heading to San Francisco. Actually I am not sure right now where I left off in my writing since I am not connected to the internet so I think I will talk about Carmel one more time. Have any of you been to Carmel? Well, what a lovely little seaside city/town. There was definitely a Newburyport feel to the place. We were there on a Sunday as the shops closed and ... read more