Drawn the Road Again

Category: Highways and Byways

  • New England transplant

    New England transplant

    You wouldn’t normally think of the Pacific Northwest as covered bridge country, but we do have a few here. Southern Oregon is home to a real beauty, and the last covered bridge still standing along old Highway 99. Of course, the rainy Northwest weather and towering conifers gave it away, but otherwise, the place made…

  • Mission Control

    Mission Control

    This is the fourteenth installment of my Mission Mondays series, exploring all 21 Spanish Missions along the California coast. You can read more about this series, and see a sketch map of all the missions, at this post. I had some technical difficulties with the site this week, so Mission Monday couldn’t happen on Monday—but…

  • Neon queen

    Neon queen

    If you’re into neon signs or period architecture, Fresno is something of a wonderland. But truth be told, I planned this entire leg of my trip around this sign alone. I mean, look at her! She might have seen better days, but to me she’ll always be a masterpiece.

  • Birdland

    Birdland

    I’ve written about California’s Central Valley before, and I have a feeling it’ll come up again. But there are just so many things to love about the place. Perhaps the best part of all is the birdwatching. The Central Valley is a main thoroughfare along the Pacific Flyway, and hosts thousands upon thousands of both…

  • Jumbo java

    Jumbo java

    Need a Scandinavian beverage to wash down all that krumkake and hvetebrod? A cuppa of Swedish coffee might do the job nicely.

  • The jewel of SLO

    The jewel of SLO

    This is the tenth installment of my Mission Mondays series, exploring all 21 Spanish Missions along the California coast. You can read more about this series, and see a sketch map of all the missions, at this post. Unlike last week, where we were smack in the middle of the California countryside, this week’s mission…

  • The road overhead

    The road overhead

    We got stuck in some serious traffic on our way to the game yesterday, which had me wishing we had taken the Viaduct into town instead. That made me remember this sketch I did a couple of summers ago—one of several I’ve done over the years, knowing full well that the Viaduct’s days are numbered.…

  • Rural retreat

    Rural retreat

    This is the ninth installment of my Mission Mondays series, exploring all 21 Spanish Missions along the California coast. You can read more about this series, and see a sketch map of all the missions, at this post. Mission La Purisima Concepción was probably the one for which I did the least amount of research—the…

  • Soup’s on

    Soup’s on

    Now this is more like it. Solvang might have seemed a little too much like a polished Disneyland for my taste, but in the next town over was something much more my speed. Though its name has changed slightly over the years, Pea Soup Andersen’s has been a Santa Ynez Valley institution for over 90…

  • Cheese Danish

    Cheese Danish

    I think you know by now that I’m a fan of roadside attractions—anything cheesy, hokey, corny and kitschy has a special place in my heart. But I need to clarify something: I’m pretty snobbish about my kitsch. It’s got to be either bizarre but well-executed, or so bad it’s good, or of epic scale—or else…