The Seasons in all their Glory: Part II

Just an update from yesterday's post.  The forecast for today ended up being SNOW HARD ALL DAY LONG, instead of "occasional snow showers at times".  We definitely enjoyed getting that 3:42pm work email reading, "Everyone will be dismissed at 3:45pm today due to treacherous road conditions."  All of the sudden I feel like I'm in 6th grade again!  Snow days are waaaay up there on my charts...i mean, almost like mini-Christmases.  Going to work on snow days feels sinful.

So...back to my autumn memories.

We had a fun backyard bonfire party with friends where we drank homemade cider and carved pumpkins!

Apple Tart with Walnut Crust..Mmmm

Farmer John's pumpkin (those are trees, not aliens)

Beth's "punkin'"

...and we saved the pumpkin seeds to roast!

My valley-dwelling friends and I celebrated the coming baby boy of our friends Heather and John Mark.  A festive co-ed party!

Mere and her girls going for a ride around the block

 

The beautiful mother-to-be

A little angel enjoying some cider

And last but not least, Farmer John and I ventured out west for a little R&R time.  John was already out in San Francisco for a work training, so I cashed in some miles for a flight out to meet him.  From there, we got a rental car and headed up through Northern California for a week long tour!  Some of the highlights...

Napa Valley

Castello De Amorosa

the California coast

We loved the Redwoods!  (Humboldt Redwood State Park)

This was John's favorite part of the trip

One of many fallen log crossings

Fern Canyon

more Fern Canyon

 

Searching for agates on the beach

beautiful beach rocks as we looked for agates

We stopped to let John fish for a bit on this gorgeous river along the way

So many beautiful sights along the way

Camping in Yosemite

Mirror Lake in Yosemite

John in front of Half Dome

We had the best time throughout the whole road trip!  We're already looking forward to our next adventures somewhere next year!