April Showers bring ?

I am back home in Kingston with California stories to tell and pictures to share.

Since enjoying sunshine for 10 days in California, I should be better prepared for the rain and cold weather that greeted me in Kingston but that just isn't how it works. I did get 2 great afternoons this week to catch up with the weeds a little bit and hope for more time soon. The spring is moving slowly so at least I did not miss many blooms. Spring is always so hopeful, with the season ahead to watch plants struggle, get eaten by deer and slugs and languor from the lack of sunshine-but for now we hold high hopes.

Where's Anita?

The real news is the fun Anita and I had in California. We stayed in some great places and ate great food everywhere. We visited art museums, listened to symphony orchestras and walked all over San Fransisco. We road the buses, as well! Anita became a professional public transportation passenger, chatting with fellow riders where ever we rode and learning lots of new information about San Fransisco as a result. We even took the bus in the evenings, to dinner and to the symphony. Real city people!

Mary Ann, John and Anita

But as much as we enjoyed visiting the Bay area again, our highlights we clearly the smaller spaces. Anita is ready to move to wine country as soon as she wins the lottery. It didn't hurt that we had cocktails every night, wine tastings and beer tastings and then wine with dinner!

Along with the great meals and fine wines, we had excursions all over northern California. After visiting Jack London's Ranch (now a state park) I was greatly inspired to write at least 500 words each morning. Jack London wrote 1000! You can see by the lateness of this posting how long that inspiration lasted. The walk through his 140 acre ranch-park was spectacular and a real look at what California has been and is today. We also visited Old Sacramento and the State Capitol building and drove the gold rush trail. It is astounding the breadth and scope of California's natural and historic treasures .

Probably the most adventurous activity as far as Anita was concerned would be her ride around Davis with Colin on the tandem bike. We took a LONG ride but she was rewarded for her courage and balance with a beer tasting at the new beer stube in town.

 There were so many high spots I can not keep you attention and mention them all. Seeing Kyrsa and Dave and Colin and Susan  made everything fun. It was also nice to visit Mary Ann (Anita's sister) and John. It had been several years since I had seen them. There home is in a beautiful area just blocks from Folsom State Park. It is hard to believe the trip is over and California is so many miles away. But such a fun visit just reminds us all that visits do happen continually. There is always one to look forward to in the future. Thank you everyone for great times, great food, great laughter and always lots of love,

Mama Llama