Northern California

"The landscape of monotony is elsewhere," Jack Newcombe writes, and the routes he traces through the vineyards, towns, and parkland of northern California-along with the variegated pleasures to be explored en route-bear the proof:

• Mud baths and wine tasting in Calistoga
• A view from the top at Mt. St. Helena
• Wine touring, the slow and selective way, in the Napa and Sonoma valleys
• "A Beer Experience" in Petaluma, and a dining treat at the New Boonvile Hotel
• Whale watching on the Sonoma and Mendocino coasts
• Walking the redwood forest trails
• Finishing fleets and Victorian mansions in Eureka

These attractions and more-and the colorful past that gave rise to them-are presented in Northern California: A History & Guide, an exciting, indispensable travel companion for a most spectacular region.