Over the River and Through the Woods

After stopping for a few days on the Russian River, taking in the wine country's fall colors, and in the Sacremento delta (in central California, they just call it the Delta - an unremarkable area after the last 4 or 5 months) and getting some meds to halt a flare in my COPD, we continued south toward a Thanksgiving date with our daughter and her California family in the Channel Islands Harbor area.

We had a stop in Avila Beach - that's Ahvila Beach, forget your Spanish - we walked the docks with the seals and sea lions, and shopped at a farmers market (the rooster was showing how happy he was to not be a turkey.) Then we were off on a repeat visit to Rancho Oso on the other side of the mountains from Santa Barbara.

This area is already coming back from the fires that were scorching the forests and chaparral when we were here in the spring. A few weeks ago, they received nearly four inches of rain up here. It's amazing how quickly the land could recover from the ten-year drought (LA has had a total of nine inches of rain for all of 2009) with a few rainy years - come on El Nino. We enjoyed a great birthday dinner (how can I possibly be 68???) at the Cold Spring Tavern - a 120-year old stagecoach stop in the mountains - with rack of lamb and filet mignon our choice du jure. Woo-hoo!