Pacific

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?

A good guide for those who need a reference to plan the perfect romantic weekend get away. All you romantic gentleman could use it as a handy guide to woo that special someone and take her to a place which she will definitely enjoy.

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.

An excellent value. Beautiful photographs, with concise text on natural history, including geologic formation, human history, ecology, climate, and flora and fauna. A well balanced, informative introduction to the region. I plan on buying more from Wuerthner.

What Cooper's book is not: ponderous or trite, heavy-handed or unthinking. On the contrary, Cooper does a wonderful job of blending keen observations with a terrific simplicity. It didn't tell me what to think or see, but it did a wonderful job of showing me what the state was about--warts and all. Rarely have I felt that a place was so well captured. And it took all that Cooper did, the pictures and the text, to pull it off. Without either, it wouldn't have worked, falling into simplicity or pedantry. But it does work. Imagine Bruce Chatwin with a sketchbook. It was a real joy to read.

This is a very helpful campground guide for Oregon. Each listing gives a description of the campground and its surroundings, as well as vital stats like how many campsites there are. It includes out of the way forest service campgrounds with no amenities, as well as larger state campgrounds with many spaces and RV hookups, so this is a great guide for all campers.