This drive, with its transition from flat valley floor to rolling, tawny hills dusted with sage and brushy trees, and then crescendoing to golden, oak tree-scattered slopes, was a hint of what we were to discover at our destination. It's impossible not to wonder what views and sights lay throughout the many canyons and hilltops we passed along. The shifting, gray clouds only added to the mystery and wonder of it all. Such gray skies, a touch more rare in the sunny state of California, are always a delight to watch and to photograph.

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