…Monterey, but with a stop in San Jose?

But first – all about the heartland. A quick breakfast at the hotel. Still worrying about those eggs. But my, oh my, the fruit in this area is enough for any meal. We saw orchards of cherries driving in, And watermelon–all kinds of melons–raspberries, sweet oranges.

Driving from Santa Rosa, to Sacramento, to Stockton has a middle-earth feel. You’re leaving the foggy coastlands, mountainous terrain for the heart of the state, the flatland center where drama is left behind.

Goodbye Napa – hello Sonoma! Found two good independent bookstores in the town of Sonoma. Sonoma is a picturesque town with a slower pace than Napa. Harmony reigns. And it’s unusual to find two really great independent stores in a town of this size. In my view, independent bookstores have a special charm–different personalities, like people.

Long flight from New Orleans to San Francisco, and long drive from SFO airport to Napa, through bumper to bumper rush hour traffic. Beautiful sunset as we arrived though. Relaxing after preparations–having to ship boxes of books and bookmarks to our hotel ahead of us. Too heavy to carry on the flight. Last time I did this, UPS had a freak fire in their warehouse and the books arrived days after I’d already left for home and smoke damaged!