Well...I tried this a few days ago, and somehow my (very exciting) first blog was lost in the ether.  I'm trying again to share some of the wonders of Sonoma, CA with all of you.  For now, my associate,  Jane Hansen, has written about it on Active Rain and provided some great pictures.   For my part, I'm going to show you a little bit in pictures about exactly where we are in Sonoma! 

First - how far are we from the Pacific?...the answer is about 50 minutes.  Here's what to expect when you rise over that last hill and see what brought so many of us to California and to the western edge of mainland America .....

This next photo is what you will travel through to get from there to the town of Sonoma (headed east).  Have you seen those commercials on TV about contented California cows???  This is where they live - and eat - and start the process to produce cheese that we all enjoy.  (I don't think they really talk to one another, however!)  Well...maybe...it is CA after all.

Zooming past the quaint, but modernizing town of Petaluma, (the Egg and Cheese capital of the world, they say)not too far from the town of Sonoma, is one of our fabulous wineries - Mantanzas Creek.  Not only do they make wonderful wine here, but they also grow lavender.  If you are visiting at the right time,   the scent of this crop is wonderfully overpowering!

Finally for today, only one photo from the festival this weekend...Our next BIG event is Labor Day weekend, though every weekend from here to then (and every weekend thereafter),  will have something going on....That's the way it is in the Sonoma Experience. Come visit! Come buy a home!  (I know a great Realtor (R)) 

Maggie  (all photos are mine, so I guess I get all the credit!)