Clik here to view.
A view from Chuckanut
[Click on the picture for a larger image.] On an evening last month, this was one of our views from the Chuckanut Manor along Chuckanut Drive, north of La Conner on the northern Washington coast....
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Paso Robles Inn — a garden hotel in wine country
[Click on any picture for a larger image.] / The Paso Robles Inn isn’t just a hotel. It’s a garden with rooms scattered around it. Oaks and olive trees spread their shade over the lawns, and beyond to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A scenic country road . . . Pescadero to San Gregorio
[Click on any picture for a larger image.] It’s called Stage Road. There are are two little towns on the rural coast south of San Francisco. Pescadero and San Gregorio each sit a bit inland from the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gold rush country wine
[Click on the pictures for a larger image.] One of my favorite wineries is Dobra Zemlja, in Amador County wine country. (It’s pronounced “DOB-ra ZEM-ya,” Croatian for “Good Earth.”) Its big,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A very out-of-the-way wine country
[Click on the picture for a larger image.] This mini-wine country is so out-of-the-way that it may give you the feeling that you’re the first person to have discovered it. And to me it was quite a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Big, bold and luscious reds at DeRose Vineyards in California’s San Benito...
[Click on any picture for a larger image.] It’s a small winery with some very old vines . . . . . . and some pretty exceptional wines. In the Cienega Valley, near Hollister, California, DeRose...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spring drives on California’s central coast
[Click on the picture for a larger image.] This is my favorite time of year. For months the hills were a golden brown, and now the new grass has colored the landscape in emeralds, all around. It was...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Old Coast Road near Solvang, California
[Click on the picture for a larger image.] Emeralds run riot in a Steinbeck country spring. After the rainy season has begun in earnest, the new grasses shoot up and push aside summer’s color of coyote...
View ArticleClik here to view.
California central coast: on a back road near Santa Margarita
[Click on the picture for a larger image.] One Friday in April, I followed a hunch, and it led me along this road. I’ve shown images from Big Sur, Yosemite, Monterey, San Francisco, and Los Angeles....
View ArticleClik here to view.
California central coast: Santa Margarita back country
[Click on the picture for a larger image.] On this April afternoon, east of Santa Margarita, the shadows of the valley oaks played across the grassland. The California oak savanna has its own seasons....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Big Sur at Kirk Creek
[Click on the picture for a larger image.] Just south of Kirk Creek campground, this is the view of the Santa Lucia Range and the Pacific. Here, the Nacimiento-Ferguson Road meets the Pacific after a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
California central coast: Los Olivos
[Click on the picture for a larger image.] In Los Olivos, the grass-covered hills, dotted with valley oaks, roll to the horizon. On this March day, the first lupines were blooming. There are many...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A French chateau in Paso Robles — Tablas Creek Vineyard
[Click on any picture for a larger image.] Although Paso Robles is known for its zins, it has a lot more to offer. Even surprises. For example: Tablas Creek Vineyard. Tablas Creek is the California...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Valley oak and grassland, Paso Robles wine country
[Click on the picture for a larger image.] At seven p.m. on an April evening I found myself here, in the range land east of the vineyards of Paso Robles Wine Country. Earlier that day I stopped at Vina...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Prairie, Fort Casey Hill and the Olympic Mountains, Whidbey Island
[Click on the picture for a larger image.] After 7:30 in the evening, the light is especially rich. It’s a good time to follow back roads and see where they lead. On the island prairie, this is the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The bay at Orcas
[Click on the picture for a larger image.] If you like back roads, you’ll love Orcas Island. Every road on Orcas is a back road. The main road — or the “mainest” road — is no wider than, say, a side...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Solvang and the emerald hills of spring
[Click on the picture for a larger image.] At least on California’s central coast, when the choice is between a freeway and an old, narrow back road, I take the old, narrow back road. The scenery is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Oaks and grassland, Paso Robles wine country
On an April afternoon I followed Chimney Rock road in Paso Robles wine country through this classic central California countryside.
View ArticleClik here to view.
Central California: In Paso Robles Wine Country
The first day of spring. I had plenty of time on my way south. So I turned off the highway and followed a back road into the hills to the west. The countryside was green and lush from the winter...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Country road, Orcas Island
The countryside of Orcas Island is like this — meadows and forests, rolling valleys and mini-mountains. And little country roads. This was a little before 6:30 on a July evening. You get a little more...
View Article
