I'll figure out how to use the preview/add photo process someday!

Here is a link that might be useful: Mystery Saliva

Detailed photos would help. Where is "Sea Ranch" -- north of S.F.? I don't think any native salvias live north of S.F.

Sea Ranch is around 3 hours north of S.F. --by car, that is.

I think it's not a Salvia, but Stachys chamissonis.

This isn't a species I've seen, but the OP's photos look credibly similar to photos of Stachys chamissonis (Hedge Nettle) in Calphotos (see link). Looking in Consortium of California Herbaria, most specimens appear to come from the coastal area from Santa Barbara Co. and northward, including the north coast. Maybe the OP will feel better about his ID by knowing that Stachys is family Lamiaceae (mint family), same as Salvia.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stachys chamissonis photos

I agree that this is a Stachys, which is the third largest genus in the mint family, after Salvia and Scutellaria.

Many of the California Stachys are stoloniferous and invasive.