We live in the upper foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our location is about 225 km due East of San Francisco, California, on the west coast of North America. Our altitude here is a bit over 1000 meters. That puts us just below the winter "snow line". We DO get a few inches of snow, occasionally. The terrain is rolling grassland with chaparral and many non-deciduous small oak trees.

Only 3 km east, and 300 meters higher, the mountains begin, with dense stands of pines and cedars, 30 meters tall. This is summer resort area with many privately-owned small vacation houses. In winter, a large ski area functions another 20 km east, at about 2000 meters

  Our summers are very dry...only an occasional thunderstorm. We have about 300 sunny days each year, the humidity is quite low, and the air is quite clear. Though we have little to fear from earthquakes, forest/grass fires are a real threat to this area.

The main town, trading center for us, is 12 km "down the hill"in Sonora, a small Goldrush town. We can find everything we need in town. Also, there are two hospitals, with the latest technology, inumerable medical doctors and dentists to provide for our health needs.

The Zweedes have been busy all the summer, and we will let you in on some of the activities. Although even in the winter one is not truly housebound here in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, the summer months pull us out of doors all the time.

Enough talk...on with the photos!