Many going to the country for 'haycation' The setting sun gilds the blond grasses covering the rolling hills of western Marin County, Calif. I am sitting on the front porch of the bunkhouse at Cow Track Ranch, rocking in a rickety yet comfortable chair and looking out at a herd of 160 Black Angus beef cattle. They are milling and mooing outside their barn, anticipating the evening feed. A horse watches me from an adjacent pasture. The earthy scents of grass and animal blend with the smells of ripening tomatoes, lavender, garlic and parsley growing in a garden just a few feet from my feet. I'm only 20 minutes from downtown San Rafael, yet I'm in the heart of the country, reveling in a pastoral scene so timeless it's like being inside a Grant Wood painting. Call them haycations: It's a chance to spend a night or two on a working farm or ranch and enjoy the comforts of an inn or guest home while you learn about your hosts' approach to agriculture. Traditionally, they're known as farm stays. "People are looking for authenticity in their vacations today," says Sonoma County rancher Alexa Wood, who runs Beltane Ranch in Glen Ellen with her mother and her daughter. The ranch also has a bed-and-breakfast inn....