Wine Country

We had family in town from Ohio so we ventured west on I-80 to the Napa Valley for wine tasting, picnicking and sightseeing. We loaded up on sandwiches and chips at Safeway in Napa and drove north on Highway 29 where our first stop was the iconic Robert Mondavi Winery. It had been years, but I remember how my wife and I dropped in here when we were newly married in the 1980s. The grounds were immaculate and so was the sense of the good life in California, in the pairing of good wine and good food. This is a feel good place, carrying on Mondavi taste, which is now part of a giant global corporation.

Redwoods

Having moved to California 35 years ago I know it's nearly impossible to take a great picture of redwoods. They're too big, too much. You have to capture them in your mind. Not so, however, the great outdoor furniture and walking infrastructure that accompanies them in places like Muir Woods National Monument north of San Francisco. When we visited recently I was taken by the four bridges spanning the gently running creek that meanders through the woods, the wooden plank walking trails and the fencing that keeps you where the rangers want you. A lovely place for looking up, down or  straight ahead on the trail.

A Beach House for Climate Change

We visited Stinson Beach recently in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area north of San Francisco. Here's a beach house ready for storm surges and sea-level rise, estimated at up to five or more feet by 2100, according to a National Research Council assessment for the State of California. Surf's up!