Whale watching? Drive to the Coast on Bodega Highway. En route tuck into Freestone for the best sticky buns on the planet at Wild Flour Bread.

Take in some old-fashioned fun at the Apple Blossom Festival in Sebastopol.

Visit the Luther Burbank Home and Gardens in Santa Rosa.

Summer

Visit local artists in their Open Studios (Art at the Source). Take a hot-air balloon ride.

Meander along the Farm Trails to select the best fruits and vegetables in the land. Hike or take a horseback ride with the Armstrong Woods Pack Station.

Pick pears in our orchard and take home all you can pick. Fall asleep to the enchanting song of crickets, awaken to birdsong and the fountain outside your window. Swim,  kayak, canoe or fish on the Russian River.

Cycle the backroads. Visit the wineries during harvest.  Join the fun at the Celtic Festival.

Get a jump on your holiday shopping on ARTrails (juried Open Studios). Plan a few hours for the Harvest Fair, the showcase of Sonoma County’s agricultural heritage. 

Experience Safari West (Africa without the airfare), a dozen miles from the Cottage.

Gird yourselves for the busy times ahead with a massage and enzyme bath at Osmosis, eleven miles away.

Visit the Charles Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa. . . and try Snoopy’s Home Ice for a vigorous winter workout.

Be awed by daffodils on River Road; then curl up with a good book back in the Cottage. (If you forget to bring a book, we have a wide selection of “take home” paperbacks.)