86/365: Middle Ridge, Henry W. Coe State Park

86/365: Middle Ridge, Henry W. Coe State Park, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

Okay, I need to step away from the panorama feature. But I couldn't resist this one. After the hardest hike I've been on yet with my hiking group, we reached the top of the Middle Ridge trail for a great view out across Gilroy to Monterrey and the Pacific.

66/365: There's a Storm Coming In

66/365: There's a Storm Coming In, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

We desperately need more rain in Sonoma, but as I drove up 280, it looked like the threatened storm was headed directly over San Mateo and sweeping south. (For non Bay Area residents, that blue is a reservoir that is directly on the fabled San Andreas Fault.) I fiddled with my polarizing lens and various settings trying to get more contrast and colors. Then I gave it up as it was just this gray and ominous in real life.

53/365: The Way to San Jose

53/365: The Way to San Jose, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

As I've explained on my blog, we've suddenly had a paradigm shift. Andy, who's been commuting from San Francisco to San Jose up to three hours a day for nearly 30 years, has decided he can't do it any more. So we've got a pad in San Jose and the terriers and I are doing the commuting -- between San Jose, San Francisco and Sonoma! It's a lot of culture shock, but I'm determined -- if I'm going to be here two or three days a week -- to find all the good things in San Jose. Silicon Valley has a reputation of being one big swath of office parks and malls, but in the older neighborhoods, the style of small one story bungalows featuring detached garages in the back, makes for miles and miles where you can walk tree and lawn lined streets without seeing a single parked car on the street.

The story here:

leftcoastcowboys.com/2013/02/22/the-way-to-san-jose/

Plus, if you scroll to the bottom of the post, you'll learn why the Germans might not know the way to San Jose. Because their version of this international hit translates to "The Coffee from San Jose is Hot."

38/365: Ranch Skies

38/365: Ranch Skies, a photo by doglington on Flickr.

Even after the excitement of my Africa trip, it was good to get back to the ranch in Sonoma -- especially since Sonoma looks a lot like parts of Tanzania. We had the same brilliant blue skies, but it was unseasonably cold. (That wasn't like Africa.)