Travelin' Woman

This has been a great week all week. It was capped off by visiting four counties (including Sacramento) in the last two days.

Yesterday we were in El Dorado Hills (El Dorado County) for a memorial service. This county has gently rolling hills and oak trees. El Dorado Hills is sort of new-development-meets-the-edge-of-gold-county, but the hills themselves are lovely and there is still enough open country to make it a nice change.

Today I was up before dawn and off to Grass Valley for an 8:00 am meeting. When I left Sacramento at 6:00 (yes, in the morning) the night sky was just turning a sort of navy blue and things were starting to emerge from the shadows. I was driving east and thought it would be nice to see the sun rise. Things got lighter during the first 20 minutes or so of my drive. By the time I hit Placer County the sky had lightened and I presumed the sun had come up behind the trees that lined the edge of the freeway. I figured I had missed the sunrise or that it had been a real non-event. I turned off 80 onto 49 and headed north into Nevada County. About 10 minutes into that stretch the sky suddenly looked like somebody had splashed gold paint on the clouds. Luckily it was horse country then (fewer trees) so I got the full effect. I really expected angels to descend. It was absolutely glorious for about three minutes, then it was just a nice, sunny day.

Sacramento County is mostly flat, city and farmland. El Dorado is rolling hills. Placer is foothill country, with the start of the tall trees. Nevada County really feels like you are in the Sierras. The towns (Grass Valley and Nevada City) are the sort of charming small town we like to picture, but which rarely exist. I spent some time just kicking around Grass Valley after my meeting because I was expected back at a friend's house in Auburn (Placer County) about noon. It is an old town built on fairly steep hillsides. The whole day felt like a mini vacation.