In 1986 I made a 10,000 mile auto trip from Florida across the country. I fell in love with California - the people, the landscapes, the golden sunlight, and the attitudes. A short time after my trip I came across this wonderful book at a local bookstore. It has been one of the best book purchases I have ever made. The photographs capture the essence of the same California that I fell in love with. To this day, when I open this book my senses come alive with the smell, feel, sounds, and sights of one of the most unique highways I have had the priviledge to drive. This is a wonderful book and still one of my all-time favorites! I am now at this site looking for other works by Mr. Wilkes and certainly hope I can find more of his wonderful work. If anyone is aware of other published works please notify me. Thanks.

I never realized how much (and how little) our state parks have to offer those of us who have mobility limitations. The Mitchell's have taken the time to visit every park in their book - and it shows. I was especially impressed with the detailed descriptions of trails and points of interest. Now I have a very good idea of whether I will be able to enjoy each park. Most importantly, I know which parks I do not want to miss. Thanks for your efforts and awareness of the needs of wheelchair users and others with limitations.

This book was very helpful in deciding which spas to to visit. Great description of services offered, lodging, and an approximate price range. This book was great, and I am local to an area where most of the spas are from. Her reviews of the spas themselves was great. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to go visit some wonderful and relaxful spas.

This is a great book to help plan a weekend or vaction trip around exploring California....and what a way to help children learn about the state's history.

I love to go out into nature and view any type of wildlife, especially birds. My husband and I enjoy weekend driving trips in California where we live. The California Wildlife Viewing Guide has been a constant companion for us since we purchased it about two years ago. In fact, I purchased a second copy when I could not find my original copy and we were driving to the Central Valley of California. We wanted to view the migratory ducks and geese that come to that area each winter but needed to know where to go and how to get there. This book provides detailed information on wildlife viewing areas throughout the state with directions and maps and great pictures. It lists what can be seen at what times of the year and what to watch out for (eg. rattle snakes, heat, road conditions, etc.) I found out that the publisher, Falcon Press, publishes these same guides for most of the US states. These guides are apparently the official series of guides for The National Watchable Wildlife Program whose sponsers include Defenders of Wildlife, The USDA Forest Service, BLM, The US Fish and Wildlife Service, The Bureau of Reclamation and The National Park Service along with state sponsers depending on which state the guide is for. As an added plus, as you are driving along, there is often a sign with a binnocular that points to the wildlife viewing spot you are headed for, making it even easier to find the desired location. Wow! Now when I decide to go out of state, I make sure that I have the Wildlife Viewing Guide for that state. I just ordered four more books for a birding trip to Texas, passing through Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.

I am not a lover of "recommendation books," and usually prefer to experiment and find my own "jewels" and "coal."
But, in this case, I am happy to report, I was wrong. This book has given me many a wonderful taste of "B&B cuisine" and a delightful weekend or two.
Buy this book and enjoy its many delights!

California Wine Country is a most impressive guide.

In 1973, I worked in the wine industry and was given the assignment to visit every winery in California of any size. Since then, I haven't been able to duplicate the feat as the number of new and interesting wineries has expanded rapidly.

This book focuses on the highest quality winemakers in the Golden State, and gives you both an advance view and a sense of what's there before you visit. With this guide, you will vastly increase your enjoyment of touring wineries and vineyards by being able to pick from among the most interesting sites for you.

The photography represents a lot of visits to each area. I doubt if you could capture all of these views, variations in lighting and seasons in less than three years of visits. Even areas I know well I saw differently.

The book places about equal attention to the images of vineyards and the exteriors of wineries, many of which are magnificent structures to behold.

Mr. Leffingwell is not as talented a writer as he is a photographer. But his prose is more than adequate to extend your knowledge of the industry as he explains about the history of each region and winery. For detailed information on wine making, I suggest you supplement this book with other resources. There is a limited discussion of the process except as applied to super premium reds and whites. There is no mention of how sparkling wines are made.

The historical information is a little over focused on religion, Prohibition, the Depression and marketing.

I was pleased to see the extensive discussions of the microclimates in each area. Very nice!

I was disappointed not to find a better description of the wine qualities at each vineyard. Again, I suggest you supplement this book for that with one of the better wine guides.

I hope that Mr. Leffingwell will update this book quite frequently.

As a final test of how good this book is, my wife and I visited several of these areas last year around when the book was published. We used another guide, and had a wonderful time. However, if we had had this guide, I think we would have had a much better time . . . because we appear to have missed half of what we would have wanted to see.

A final word of caution: Contact the wineries directly to verify times for tours and tastings. The information here was different from what we discovered on site in July 2002 in a few cases.

Before you leave this wonderful volume, I suggest you consider where else a preview of what you are going to see adds a great deal to your enjoyment. What about a complimentary appetizer from the chef to whet your palate for what is to come?

I thought this CD was wonderful; great graphics that flow easily with wonderful music throughout. Was easy to use and relaxing too! It's like taking a vacation without having to leave home and I highly recommend this CD.

THIS BOOK BRINGS THE CALIFORNIA GOLD COUNTRY RIGHT INTO YOUR LIVING ROOM. THE PHOTOGRAPHS SHOW HOW GORGEOUS OUR CALIFORNIA REALLY IS. EVERYTIME I OPEN THE BOOK I SEE SOMETHING DIFFERENT. IT IS A CONSTANT REMINDER WHY I ALWAYS RETURN TO THE GOLD COUNTRY ON MY VACATIONS. I HAVE VISITED MANY OF THE PLACES SHOWN IN THE BOOK, AND WAS EVEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE IN ONE OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS (UNKNOWN TO ME AT THE TIME) FEATURED IN THIS WONDERFUL WORK OF ART.

This one of the most entertaining books I've read about the region. Mr. Heintz paints a very colorful picture while introducing you to the more interesting facts concerning the areas history.