In the California Mountains

California is certainly a diverse and beautiful state.

We landed in San Francisco late Wednesday afternoon, and enjoyed some time with Jon and Nat at their place in San Mateo. They're just a few blocks from B Street, which is lined with restaurants and stores. In just one block, on one side of the street, I counted seven restaurants:

Within walking distance of their condo, I think Jon and Nat could eat at a different restaurant every night and not hit them all in a month.

Thursday morning my sister and two nieces arrived to pick us up and take us to their place in Nevada City. Since we last visited them (six years ago) they've bought a house in the country and have been busy working on the property. After a couple big storms that first winter felled a number of trees, including a couple that landed on the roof of their two-story garage/apartment, they had a crew come in and cut down over 150 trees. Sounds like a lot, right? But you can barely tell...

And it's like this every direction you look...trees, trees and more trees.

Aside from clearing out the diseased and dying trees, they've also had the driveway paved, built a new deck, added two grassy areas, and refurbished this gazebo:

It's absolutely gorgeous up here, although I think I could do without the wild animals that turn up on occasion. They had a lot of problems the first couple years with bears, that would go right into the garage to get to the garbage cans. Since getting a dog in February, they haven't seen any bears -- but that's not to say there haven't been any, just that the dog seems to be keeping them at bay. And one day while Beth was sitting on the front porch, she saw what she initially thought was the neighbor's dog coming closer, only to realize it was a bobcat! Needless to say, she made a hasty retreat into the house.

I've always loved the Little House on the Prairie books, but the reality is I probably wouldn't make a very good country girl because I'd be afraid to leave my house half the time, for fear of running into an animal bigger or faster than me.

But I am enjoying my visit with Beth and her family, and feel fairly confident that the dog's barking will give us enough advance warning should any wild animals come around.

I hope.