So it is October - nearly a week in. This is our favorite month. It's a strange time of year to actually leave New Mexico, especially at Balloon Fiesta time! The air all over New Mexico is wafting that indescribably inspiring aroma of green chiles roasting, and the brilliant red ristras hang at street corners and vegetable markets all over town. Nevertheless, I boarded a plane and headed to Oakland, to visit the Commander, spend two lovely weeks together, and celebrate our 14th anniversary. The Bay area has so many farmer's markets and in the course of 3 days, we have visited one each day. They are fantastic! And it is pumpkin time. Something about pumpkins, especially multiple pumpkins, causes me to smile. We have been smiling together all over Oakland and San Francisco. And we have been smiling in Wine Country - Sonoma and Napa. As lovely as New Mexico is in October, I must say that Northern California's Wine Country is equally lovely. Maybe not as enigmatically so, however. We went to a wonderful Harvest Festival at Cline Cellars in Sonoma, an event we have eagerly anticipated for several months. It was a blast - music, wine, delicious food, and friendly people. This little family-owned winery sits in a picture-perfect spot in Sonoma. It's one of our favorites, and we return there again and again. Also a favorite of ours in Sonoma, is the Oak Hill Farm, where we feel right at home! Little Bird Farm will be a better place because of our stops at Oak Hill Farm. The spirit and flavor of this place is just right! We drove on into Napa also, and had a bite to eat at Taylor's Refresher in St Helena. The bacon-blue cheese burger and Coffee Bean shake we shared there tasted fantastic, especially because we consumed it while sitting at a big picnic table under a shade tree out back.
Pumpkins, harvest festivals, delicious meals at picnic tables.....sounds like October to me!
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