Off to Calistoga!!

And a big thanks to Kerne Erickson, artist, and AllPosters.com for this illustration of the Napa Valley in all its fruity goodness.

To me, the sight of rows upon rows of grape vines on a rolling hillside is mesmerizing. It has texture, it has beauty.

Anyway, being farmingly and gardeningly challenged, i don't know what will be the status of the grapevines in October, but i'm just happy to be going! There's a room at the end of our travels today that i don't have to clean, with a bed i don't have to make. There are meals i don't have to prepare. i'm happy!

When i was a kid, we had an uncle who was a traveling salesman. (Please hold the jokes--i'm trying to.) He traveled to that far away golden land of *California*. We lived in Portland, Oregon, the land of a winter full of gray skies. He brought us a map of the Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino area, and spoke of Wine Country. i memorized that trio of delightful words that felt so good on the tongue--"Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino. Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino." It meant vines full of juicy grapes and the land of neverending sunshine, to my young mind. The words still roll from my lips from time to time, like imagining my happy place.

Of course, back then i had no idea i would one day LIVE in that magical land, California... There are no grapevines in my neck of the woods, but we do have some rolling hills, and the sun really does shine and the skies really are blue a huge percentage of the time. And unlike my childhood winters, here my wool coat very seldom gets worn, as i can usually settle for long sleeves and closed-toe shoes, and maybe a sweater.

But regardless of the state of the vines in the Napa Valley in the month of October, i'm thrilled to be headed to Calistoga.

i'll keep you posted.