Big Sur coast ...



Having an ab-fab time in California. Lots happened just today... We started out from a town north of Cambria which exists pretty much to serve tourists visiting Hearst Castle, which we did last night - and it was spectacular. At the turn onto Hwy 1 we met a homeless man wearing a lace skirt and pushing his shopping cart who we'd seen several times since the start of the Big Sur coastline, about 90 miles north. I was hoping we'd see him, and really if we had left the hotel 10 mins earlier we'd have been ahead of him. I gave him some money and chatted with him for a good while. Quite an odd person to talk with, very smelly, but my impression was that he was an honest man. His physical performance walking over those hills, now wearing one leather boot and one flip-flop sandal, was most impressive. I recorded some video of him which I will post later on, then wished him luck several times. Seemed he had a huge defecit of human contact. Couldn't help but feel horribly decadent as we waved to him while passing in our open top sports car.



We proceeded to have a wonderful day, pulling off Hwy 101 onto steep backroads where the only car passing us for many miles was a UPS truck. Stopped at a couple of wineries for generous tastings. The second vineyard we chose for its namesake - Fess Parker (aka Daniel Boone in the movies). We took the last spot at the 'bar' where they pour you a selection of five or six wines to taste for $7 (but ya get a glass with a coonskin cap logo on it). After a couple of pours, we were approached by a documentary crew from the PBS station in San Antonio, of all places, who asked if we were willing to be the background customers for a travel show piece they were taping. Turns out that was the very spot where the guy in Sideways pours the spill-bucket full of wine into his mouth and all over his shirt. So they had to stage a little chat with a winery manager, with us nodding and sipping in the background. The manager asked what my favourite wine was and comp'd us a bottle for our 'trouble'. Could it have been our homeless friend paying us back? If only I was sharp enough at that moment to say my favourite was the pricey Pinot Noir.

Tepusquet Road ...





Cambria Winery vineyards ...





  posted by John : 6:47 PM

 
Pics from the summer so far...

photo gallery

  posted by John : 9:19 PM

 
We left Texas on Thursday afternoon, with a temperature of 100F reminding us why it is we like to head north for the summer. Drove the backroads to Texarkana, which is always a nice route, shorter distance and just as much time a taking the insterstates through Dallas. In the morning we were wakened by very loud diesel pickup trucks idling in the parking lot of the Days Inn, our road-trip motel of choice. Staying in a basic place helps us to get on the road quickly. Got as far as the Kentucky suburbs of Cincinnati, where the next Days Inn was notably funkier. Cops pulled up to interrogate a young black man, and a disgruntled worker was shouting and swearing at the guy at the front desk, screaming about why couldn't she get the 4 hrs pay that they owed her before the weekend ($28). The air conditioner was as loud as if a car engine were running in our room, but we didn't notice once we got to sleep, as we were pretty tired. Final day I thought would be spent mostly at the border, being the long weekend, and with that Live 8 concert happening in Ontario. Turned out to be one of the easiest crossings ever. Hardly any questions asked (only: where you from? how long you staying?). Usually the Texas plates seem to prompt them to ask about firearms. Got to Toronto by 4pm where we were happy to find the temperature was 30F cooler than where we'd left. We can actually spend the days outdoors!

  posted by John : 9:02 AM