The Wine Country: Day One

This morning, I woke up early and drove down Russian River Road to the coast.

When the others suggested I "do Russian River," I thought for one panicky moment that they were suggesting I get a tube or a kayak and ride the rapids.

But no.  Russian River is  the name of the road that takes you through vineyards and lands you at Bodega Bay.

The vineyards are so beautiful this time of year that it made me wish I drank wine.
After seeing the golden corduroy fields of grapes for miles, I wanted to drink it all, grapes and leaves and sunshine.

As I got closer to the coast, I noticed the red-golden foliage on the dunes that I've been seeing since I headed north on the coast.  It turns out that the little succulents that give the dunes their autumn color are called ice plants--though it took several interviews with Californians before I ascertained the name so that I could write it in my blog tonight and sound horticulturally savvier than I actually am.

I stopped at Pig's Landing for a spinach and potato galette, then wended my way to Goat Rock, a stretch of seaside that is unlike any I've ever seen before.  Huge boulders in the water--like this:

Every day brings special attractions: today's were long roads fringed with amazing rocks and clumps of yellow cattails.  At one point, a llama was standing beside the road watching the cars pass, a big smiling llama!

And then, of course, there are the harbors. No wonder jigsaw puzzle makers are so fond of making puzzles of harbor scenes--there's something sweet about still boats all huddled together on an October morning, both the ones on top of the water and the ones underneath, reflecting back.

Every morning, I take my map, folded in a square to reveal only the miles I'm likely to travel in one day.  The squiggles that are roads, and the words that are towns, are not yet places until I go there.  A map on the night before  is like one of those pages in a paint-by-water coloring book: the picture is already there,  but you don't see it until you drag your wet brush across it and the colors pop out.