sea ranchers for a weekend

we made our first trip to The Sea Ranch this holiday weekend. It was David's combination Valentine's Day gift/surviving our 2-week holiday in the UK with cranky baby, and it was lovely.

The Sea Ranch is ten miles of coastline on the Sonoma-Mendocino border, famous for its environmentally senstivive-architecture. Residents actually sign a covenant with nature, kind of like a home owner's agreement with the land. You'd think that would be the creepiest thing about Sea Ranch. But the creepiest thing was seeing "Private Property. No Tresspassing" signs everywhere, albeit "tastefully" embedded in rocks and wooden markers to blend in with the surroundings. These signs successfully mar an otherwise beautiful view with needless and constant marking of territory. And I thought our dogs were bad.

Actually, here they are being quite cute, after a nice long hike and play. blythe knows how to "pet gentle" now.

After you get over the initial creepiness, the Sea Ranch is a perfect weekend getaway to watch the surf, dip your toes in the tidepools, read by the fire, jump in the hot tub and grill on the deck. You can't do that too many other places in mid-February.