Over the weekend, Sonoma County

I spent the last two days amid incredible natural beauty of Sonoma County with my friend Scott. Saturday morning we drove across the Golden Gate and up the 101 to Guerneville, a very friendly resort town on the Russian River.

The first image is from a hike through Armstrong State Park. Before trekking off into the woods, Scott and I had a couple sandwiches from the Safeway deli back in Guerneville. We also opened a bag of Tuscan Three Cheese Kettle chips, the latest of my new favorite flavors, as I've been making my way through the entire line of ridiculously yummy gourmet potato chips. It's up there with the Spicy Thai and Honey Dijon. I would've taken more pics in the woods, but my camera was not dealing well with the low-light under the thick Redwood canopy. Also, it was a rather relaxing walk that became more about contemplating and experiencing the natural beauty around us, rather than trying to capture images of it; most of the time Scott and I didn't really talk, but every now and then would make a comment about this or that tree or view we saw or sound we heard. The space of the forest had a very solemn effect, and encouraged the sort of introspective, whispered conversation appropriate to a cathedral.

The next day we drove back from Guerneville along the coast, pulling off at one of many amazing vistas of the Pacific Ocean; I can't quite remember the name, but I feel like it was something about a schoolhouse. Anyway, I snapped a few more photos before my camera went dead, including that last one of Scott wearing a fleece and looking out to sea which to me is very Nautica.