A New Adventure

 Yesterday Jay and I traveled over to Santa Rosa to have dinner with a man from his office and his family.  It was our first invite since we arrived.  4 1/2 months, is there something wrong with us???  Anyway, I put their address into Maps! and printed out the directions they gave.  We live on one side of what these California people call "mountains" and had to travel to the other.  We have done this a few times actually, as Santa Rosa is the airport we use.  Normally we travel up HWY 29, which takes us through the center of Saint Helena and then Calistoga.  Take a left and go up over the mountain.

 I really have a hard time not snickering when I say that.
According to Maps!  it was 32 miles to their house and was going to take 46 minutes.  But we were making the turn and going over way sooner.
It did warn us along the way that it was a windy road and to be careful.
OMG!  Hairpin turns with recommended speeds of 10 and 15 MPH.  But gosh it was a beautiful ride.
I had my camera in hand as I have jumped with both feet into this 365 Project.  A website that you sign up with and then post a photo that you have taken

 everyday.
My camera is one I bought about a year ago.  A Lumix, if that means anything to anyone.  Pretty much a point and shoot, though it does have a lot of settings.  And now that I want to really learn about it, I guess I better go and download the instruction manual.
There were many spots along the road that I wanted to have Jay stop so I could get a shot, but he was just too stressed.  Finally we came around a turn and
Voila....the images I have posted to the right were upon us.

 So he stopped and I took this sequence of photos, using the different settings on the camera, so that I could see how it changed the photo.
I was amazed.

Kind of like doing a sample stitch of all the different stitches my sewing machine will do and having it in front of me so I know what I want to choose.  Which is really kinda funny because I do basically a straight stitch and a zig zag.  And with my camera, I have always just used an auto everything setting.

 I will definitely go back up this road on my own over the next several weeks and get some shots.  It was truly beautiful.

Dinner was so nice.  Two of the five of us were vegan, and I am enjoying learning more about what they eat, and why.
Actually one is vegan 6 days a week and eats fish one day.  I find myself actually desiring more fresh fruits and veggies and less meat products since moving.

 And I haven't bought a canned veggie or even frozen since being here.  I'll give credit to Whole Foods and the local Farmer's Market's.  In fact I haven't even bought a canned soup.  Having more time to plan and cook, makes for better choices, I'm finding.
Late evenings are my craving time, and last night what I wanted and what I ate about 10:30 was some fresh tomato wedges and sliced cucumbers with some seasoning and a bit of vinegar.  Kinda scary.

 If you click on the top photo, it should blow it up, and let you click along and see them all in better detail.  It really is amazing the difference of what you see.  Enjoy!



And as a treat, below is what we found at the other side of the "mountain".