Sometimes, the best trips are the spontaneous ones undertaken at the spur of the moment with no real plan. Like the short trip my son Chris and I took on a hot August in Sonoma County. We first stopped at the award-winning Wilson Winery on Dry Creek Road just west of Healdsburg, California. First photos are at Wilson Winery. We had a great Zin from Wilson out on the picnic tables next to the giant 7-ton sculpture of a coyote. The coyote was designed and sculpted out of steel by artist Bryan Tedrick for Burning Man, and made an appearance at the Burning Man festival in 2013. Post-festival, it ended up displayed on Hwy 101 as a piece of eccentric public art. The owner of the Wilson Winery, northwest of town, acquired it in 2014. Of course Chris had to climb into it for a few photos.

On the way back to Healdsburg, we drove through the little town of Geyserville and Chris wanted to stop at the Isis Oasis Sanctuary where he has visited a number of years before. In one of the photos, Chris stands at the door of the temple at the Sanctuary. Word is that The Grateful Dead recorded their Terrapin album in the temple. The Sanctuary was originally the home of the Bahai School for 70 years, and later was owned by John Muir’s granddaughter. In the center of the property, is a 600+ year old Russian Fir tree, which the famous arborist Luther Burbank marveled at. Geyserville School of the Bahai faith was founded in 1925 and run until 1973. The music is (appropriately) the tune “Dervishes” by jazz legend Bobby McFerrin. From Midnight Oil Studios at https://midnightoilstudios.org. Shot with a Sony RX 100 VII. Photos taken using High Dynamic Range photography and processed in Photomatix Pro 6.