Yesterday I spent a little time in the afternoon going for a drive in the hills west of Patterson. The winter rains have not yet started and the grass on the hills has dried out. We currently have beautiful Golden Hills.

I decided to take the road that leads out to the Diablo Grande golf resort.

Along the way there were several places where there were stands of trees with beautiful fall color.

I really liked this row of trees. They were beautiful spots of color, especially as the sun was lighting them each up individually.

There are quite a few cattle ranches out in the hills and here we can see a few cattle grazing on one of the hills.

Here we have a ranch station where cattle are worked or prepared for shipment. Many ranchers today do not live on their land, but will have work stations set up on their grazing land. They will also use stations like this to feed and water their herds.

I really like the windmill and buildings in this picture. They look so rustic and remind me of cattle country back in Kansas.

As you drive down I-5 through the California Central Valley you can look to the east and see the orchards and large fields of crops. However, you don’t often see the animals that are raised in the hills to the west.

Steven