Cali Style

Now that I think about it ... I've basically never been to the Napa Valley. I've driven past it and around it to the left of it (101) and right of it (I-80) many times but never really been to Napa or Sonoma. You hear the names, you see the coffee table books ... but for some reason I've never made it over here. And I've been missing out.

Sonoma is pretty much the most picture perfect idyllic amazing little place you could imagine. We rolled in at sunrise after a random adventure partying in Dunsmuir for the evening ... and this place is just heartbreakingly beautiful. Lovingly constructed and kept and with the most pleasant climate and rolling hills and vinyards. Like ... it's just painfully beautiful and chilled out and just ... stunning. I would be happy to work at freakin' IHOP if I could live here.



I was thinking that in retrospect it seemed kind of odd to have spent my winter exploring a continent so far away when I've nary spent time exploring my own back yard. There's tons of places in Oregon, Washington and Northern California that I've never seen or really experienced and it's every bit as cool. Certainly not as cheap as rolling in South America, but ... whatever. I remember when we were visiting the wine region in Argentina ... and people were asking if I was excited to see some vinyards and wineries and I was like ... you know, I've never seen any wineries (except Tim&Cam's) in Oregon, much less the famous Napa Valley.

(I skipped the wineries in favor of the pool, btw)

Certainly there's a lot to be learned and experienced about other cultures and languages and far away places, but ... to a degree people are people and their similarities are many. And I thought it odd that I was trekking around the other side of the globe when I've not really spent time in places like Tahoe ... which would be kind of the equivalent of what we were seeing in Argentina. And it's $100 in gas to get here in a car vs. $2400 in plane tickets (and a lot of fossil fuels) for two.

Dunno. Certainly I don't regret getting to see South America, but this planet is so immense and so fascinating that you have to realize there's a lot of stuff closer to home to experience. Made me think about what the bias is for foreign travel vs. domestic explorations.

One of these days I'm gonna jump in my bus and come down here and spend a couple months just kicking around Northern California.

So yeah, we're in Sebastapol ... which is west of Napa on the other side of Santa Rosa, between the 101 and the coast. Just north of San Francisco. Sonoma County. Leia and Jeffrey and Sahalie have the cutest little cottage tucked away up an old winding street in the middle of Sebastapol. The grounds are crazy beautiful and the yard is out of Sunset magazine. The quality of life here and the vibe is boggling my mind. So beautiful and chill and just ... lovely. Everyone has gardens and farm plots and cute little cottages and the trees are rich and healthy and the flowers are everywhere. Folks have it made here. Leia's house chirps with the songs of parakeets and kids playing outside and it's almost comical how beautiful it is.



Certainly, this all comes with a serious price tag. For sure. Housing is probably twice as expensive as Bend but you wonder what better thing to spend your money on. And not that Bend isn't beautiful ... it certainly is as well.

Erica and Leia and Sahalie are off to a bellydance conference/summit/party and I'm catching up on some quiet time. If we can tear ourselves away from here we'll be headed down the 101 tomorrow or so. Hope everyone's well.