Tag: #ontheroad

North of Cuesta Grade

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Driving up the Cuesta Grade

Today was a road trip to North San Luis Obispo County. One of my favorite places for wine and frivolity.

I usually schedule a full day for wineries and a stop in Moro Bay. Today started out cold and overcast by the coast but slowly burnt off as we traveled inland.  Going up the Cuesta Grade, just north of San Luis Obispo, we were heralded with patch works of green and bright yellows from all the winter rains dressing the mountains with wild mustard scattered amongst the wild grasses and live oaks.  We noticed that many of the grape vines were pruned down to stubs and new sets had been planted. No doubt due to the bad drought that this area has witnessed for the last four years. Thank God for the winter rains, for everything looks very healthy now.

We were on a mission to pick up our wine club order from Peachy Canyon Winery so that was our first stop.

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Peachy Canyon Winery, the best place to find a Zinfandel 

Peachy Canyon is a small winery that the locals love best where you will find a great Zinfandel. I have been buying from them for years. I joined their wine club once I moved to Arizona so that I could have their wonderful Zins shipped directly to me.

After visiting with the staff, we continued our tastings of some of the other fine vintners on the Central Coast, and then it was time to fill up with food to soak up all that wine. So we headed south on California Rte. 1 to Moro Bay and my favorite lunch spot, Bayside Cafe.

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Bay Side Cafe, always the best for fresh from the sea fish

OK, I had been waiting all day, heck, all week for this.  A fresh Salmon filet on a pretzel roll and their California Chowder. (Basically clam chowder and green Chilies). The perfect end to a great day of road tripping.  I gathered a ton of reference photos and I can’t wait to get back in the studio to paint the memories.

If you enjoy road tripping or painting the Central Coast, join my blog or visit my website at https://pameladunmirefineart.com

 

 

 

 

 

Switching Gears

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WATER WORLD

“Water World” In a private collection

Today is one of those days when I start “Switching Gears”, wrapping up all my projects, that are due now and planning for the week ahead’s media for a marketing blitz.  Then packing and planning for my road trip to the Central Coast of California starting next week.

It always takes me a few days to switch gears…  Frankly it is hard for me to leave the studio. It really is my sanctuary and a place I love to be.  It is my creative space, meditation space, growing space, and retreat. It is where I self-actualize, move from one thought to the next, place one stroke and then another on canvas creating my story.

Road Tripping is a way to gather more inspiration to bring back to my studio; to constantly keep my flow going and to stop the blocks that hit me as a sledge-hammer hits a brick.  So it is time to switch gears, move forward and seek some down time.  Down time to me is seeking the ocean, feeding the gulls, dinning on fresh fish, sipping my favorite wines and visiting old friends.

After a long trek through the deserts of Arizona and California, my first stop will be at Hadley’s.  Here is where I replenish my supply of nuts and the sweet dates that grow in the Coachella Valley, below the towering mountain of San Jacinto.  The wind blasts the hot air captured by the giant arms that whirl along the highway, and I will need a drink to quench my thirst.

As we drive up California Route 101 after the smog and grit of LA, I will switch gears again.  That first waft of salt air and the feel of moisture that gently pats my cheek and caresses me with a kiss, signals it’s time to let go.  The ocean will come into view and the green rolling hills of the Central Coast will beacon to come further and I will have reached my inspiration.

So follow along as I travel on my first “Road Trip” of 2017.  Let’s see where inspiration will lead me as I gather resources for my “Road Trip” series.