Weather Update

Well, I've been a Sonoma County resident for sixteen years now. And I have to say ... THIS IS THE COLDEST WINTER I CAN REMEMBER!
For several weeks now the mornings have dipped into the twenties and some of the roads are red and rusty from the salty gravel treatments on the ice. I took my hubby to the airport recently and returned around 8:30am to see many frosty vineyards - sparkly canes amid white grassy rows. Pretty and also pretty unusual. A week ago my honey and I escaped the chill and went to the lovely island of Maui. I can still hear the waves that we listened to each night while falling asleep. Here's a pic:

This is Napili Bay - a charming little beach in Maui where I snorkeled for the first time and encountered turtles and the beautiful state fish called the Humuhumunukunukuapua`a.
(say that three times really fast!)
I think I can still count on one hand the number of sunrises I've actually seen - voluntarily! Getting up at 3:00am, we went to see the sunrise at the top of Haleakala. When we left the condo it was 71 degrees outside. When we reached the top of Haleakala in the dark, it was 36 degrees. Wait a minute, I thought we left Sonoma to escape the cold!? It was majestic and beautiful ... would I do it again? Probably not. It did make for a productive remainder of the day however. By noon we had already had tea, toured a botanical garden and visited a Hawaiian winery.  I would go back to Napili Bay - it's not full of thousands of tourists, the location is great and the prices are not bad.
Now ... back to my coffee ...