Home Sweet Home, Northern California!

Home Sweet Home, Northern California!

The Active Rain blogging community has been challenged to showcase the state or province they live in ... a challenge that I am certainly up for because I absolutely love where I live.

For starters, California is a HUGE state, and NorCal is so different than SoCal. To tell you the truth, I rarely visit SoCal, so I would just be making stuff up if I tried to tell you what it is like down there. So here goes, this is Northern California ...

The vineyards - I've lost track of how many hundreds of thousands of acres are planted with wine grapes. When fall comes, the leaves turn colors very much like a maple tree. Every varietal has their own palette of colors.

The signage - we really don't care if you know the name of the road you are on, we just care that you find the tasting room you are looking for.

 The Hot Air Balloons - Who needs a large wedding when you can get married in the air?

 The City - San Francisco has so much to offer. Theaters, professional sports, Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge.

The House Boats - Rock-a-bye Baby!

 The Fog - Northern California heats up during the day, then cools down at night with the fog.

The Pacific Ocean - We don't have long, sandy beaches, the coastline is rugged and beautiful. And forget about swimming, you need a wet suit to enter this water. Abalone diving is alive and well here.

The Volcano - Mt Lassen Volcanic National Park

 The Seafood - Salmon, crab and lobster, oh my. OK, just kidding about the lobster. NorCal is ground zero for Dungeness crab, the season usually starts  just in time for Thanksgiving.

The Climate - There might be 5 weeks total out of the year where you need to wear a coat. Otherwise, the sky pretty much looks like this year round.

The fascination with Peanuts - Charles Schulz wrote his Peanuts strip here in Santa Rosa. The town is littered with Peanuts statues of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy and Woodstock.

The kayaking - The Russian and Eel rivers are perfect for kayaking through redwood forests.

 Now ... can you see why I love this place so much? Believe me, I've barely scratched the surface. I'm going to leave you with some parting photos of what dominates the culture of the county I live in ... wine.