Traveller

So my first long trip out of the country is coming up. This time around my search for the perfect packing list is already wearing me out. One of the biggest problems for traveling light, on my trips anyway, comes down to my listening and reading material (Surprise! You probably thought it would be my number of shoes). For this trip my listening will be relegated to my Apple iPhone and all the music stored on it. However my reading material will be a combination of Stanza and other apps that I have downloaded already. The sticky wicket here is that I also need another resource so that when one battery is being recharged, I can still keep myself entertained. We have some long flights and layovers to manage. Now comes the expensive and confusing part, what e-book reader do I commit to? The number of choices out there are overwhelming for this e-book newbie: Kindle DX (it just came out in May) Barnes & Noble nook Sony Reader iRex iLiad Jinke Hanlin e-Reader CyBook by Bookeen The Kin...

One doesn't have to travel far to experience drama and excitement. This spider is alive and "kicking", and living in a web in my town. shudder Sometimes mother nature in your own backyard or porch, produces the best "costume" for Halloween. photo by sfcphotography

Fall is such a beautiful time of year to visit Northern California. Half Moon Bay has fields of golden and orange pumpkins, rows and rows of Brussel sprout stalks. The coast offers horseback rides along the beach and restaurants serving bowls of clam chowder and lobster rolls. If you drive toward the Central Valley along Highway 580 and 205, you will see road side stands and corn mazes to watch the kids race through. Make your way north to towns like Petaluma, Sebastopol or Olema and all around you will be the sights and smells of fall. Gorgeous green thick grasses with sleepy cattle. Buy seasonal Gravenstein apple juice, a thick hand knit sweater, local clover honey, or creamy goat cheese wrapped in a fig leaf at any of the quaint shops populating the main streets. So much color. Glorious sights and smells. Wonderful small towns that hark back to dreamier times. A great way to celebrate the season for sure.

It is amazing how there are so many farmers markets in Northern California now. We seem to have them popping up in city neighborhoods, in empty parking lots and in larger more beautifully organized places like the San Francisco Ferry Building. They make great weekend destinations that's for sure. Alemany Farmers Market Besides buying local foods, supporting local businesses, a great benefit of going to a farmers market is the people interaction. You will encounter street performers with an open guitar case play music for children. The people running their own stalls seem so much more engaged than at a supermarket. Some try to entertain you while selling their wares. Some open markets will have food stands. There you can often meet start up restaurants that will try hook in new customers by giving away free samples. Afghan lasagna Above is a photo taken at a stand selling Afghan foods. The saleswoman was incredibly polished and smooth with her style. She entertained us with her...

by sfcphotography Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming is a favorite place of mine. It is unforgettable. Everything is enormous, the sky and diversity of animals all living within the park borders. Here is a photo taken several years ago on our drive to the Lake Hotel in the center of the park. It was an incredible experience seeing nature find its way through that burned landscape. Watching the Ken Burn's series this week has been wonderful. It certainly reminded me of why we should all support public television. It also reminded me that we have had leadership in the past that valued places like Yellowstone, and set aside thousands of precious acres for future generations.