Mission Church in Sonoma

Here's the plan- His Lordship and I will not surrender our wee white entry slips to the USA at the airport on Sunday and will become illegal immigrants.
We will not return to a cold wet dreich Scotland, apparently still mired in winter.

We will buy a tent and stay in the field behind Berkeleyblipper and Oilman's house, living a life of indolence in the sun and warmth, wearing t-shirts and shorts like the natives. We will become tanned and beautiful people, not chalk white and shivering. We will read books, take photographs and eat well with the salads and the amazing selection of fruit available in the shops. We will sup wine and marvel at how good life is.

Now, back to reality. The clock is ticking towards Sunday tea time, but we still had another wonderfully hot sunny day in which we drove to Sonoma the capital of Sonoma County on a road bordered for most of the way by vineyards which stretched up and over the hills beyond.

Sonoma was a mission town for the Mexicans who ousted the Spanish rulers of the land now known as California.
The square of grass and trees in the middle of the town is surrounded by old mission buildings. These missions were built by the Spanish all the way from Mexico, at distances measured by a day's walking.

After that, the white population ousted the Mexicans and set up a republic known as the Bear Republic before it was incorporated into the United States and rechristened California. They still keep the Bear Flag along with the Stars and Stripes flying on many buildings.

That's the history lesson for today. If it isn't accurate, Berkeleyblipper will keep me right.