Santa Rosa/Sonoma County

The end of our trip and sabBRADical involves attending the National MB Conference in Salt Lake City. Since we were "in the neighborhood," we stopped for the weekend to visit our good friends, Roger & Joyce Bastow, in Santa Rosa, CA. The Bastow's used to live in Hesston and attend our church.  

Friday evening we drove toward the coast and had a wonderful dinner on the patio. Coming from the climate in Kansas, the weather there is delightful throughout the day. Key factor = no humidity. 

As the restaurant's name indicates, there is a fog and clouds that roll in late in the day. After supper, we went another 10 minutes to reach the beach. We decided we would hike the path until we found something "beautiful." 

Mission accomplished! Side note- the sea lion was beached and exhausted. We called 911, who transferred us to the department of wildlife. They said they would address it. Saturday included a morning dip in the pool before heading to the Hook & Ladder Vineyard for lunch and Bocce ball.  

Side note- Sally and I started slow, but came back for a stunning road victory. A key moment was when Sal, aka the Gentle Bowler, pushed the pallina (target ball) down the court for a 5 point swing on her final toss. On Sunday morning we attended the Spring Hills Church. It was refreshing to worship with the believers through music and studying God's Word. 

In the afternoon we went to the Rodney Strong Vineyard for supper and the summer concert series. Melissa Etheridge was the featured musician. Don't generally listen to her music, but she is an amazing artist to hear sing and play guitar/ harmonica. The food, friends, weather and setting made this evening memorable.  

But the best part of Sonoma County was typified by our evenings playing cards and talking around the table. What a blessing!