Harbin

California is a disconnect of traditional seasons. For instance, fall in here is a mish-mash of spring, summer and fall depending on the week, your location, and the time of day. Some of the leaves on some of the trees are turning yellow and orange, but this turning is no blast of color like one finds in Wisconsin or Colorado. There can be crisp days with blue skies and yellow leaves, just like a perfect autumn days. But these days are nearly as common in January or April or July. We've had rain, which is a part of fall as well. Yet, because its a little warmer here, and rain is the first significant precipitation since April, green grass is sprouting everywhere, like spring, in a place with cyclical seasons. Thus, while jogging across campus, I get confused, thinking its summer, then fall, then spring, in three separate steps.

Our weekend in Harbin was a perfect example of this strange phenomena. We saw blue skies, turning leaves, hot canyons and green grass.

We drove two hours north to a lonely canyon off a forgetten valley north of Calistoga. Tucked against the cliffs at the end of the canyon there is a hot springs retreat called Harbin.  Harbin Hot Springs comes complete with naked hippies and camping in a vegetarian, alcohol and drug free utopia of enlightenment. We camped there one night, soaked in the hot springs, did some reading in the sun, and relaxed before driving back to San Francisco through Napa Valley. Here are a few photos of our adventures:

Camping with the turkeys (you can't see the turkeys in this photo, but they're just to the right of the tent):

From Harbin Weekend

Fall colors:

From Harbin Weekend

Fall colors in Napa:

From Harbin Weekend

Vines turning red:

From Harbin Weekend

From Harbin Weekend

From Harbin Weekend

We stopped at Greystone for lunch:

From Harbin Weekend

yum.

And we did a little peeking at the wineries for old times sake:

From Harbin Weekend