Drawn the Road Again

Tag: Highway 101

  • Lonely outpost

    Lonely outpost

    This is the thirteenth 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. The “Soledad” in Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad means “solitude.” And boy howdy, is that ever…

  • Village sanctuary

    Village sanctuary

    This is the eleventh 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’m not entirely certain why, but this place also makes the list of my favorite missions. Mission…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • Mixed-metaphor mission

    Mixed-metaphor mission

    This is the eighth 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. For most of the missions along El Camino Real, the mission itself is the main feature (and…

  • Pastel parish

    Pastel parish

    This is the seventh 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. Now, here’s a lovely thing. Mission Santa Barbara is one of the most well-known and beloved in…

  • Reconnaissance mission

    Reconnaissance mission

    This is the sixth 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. Well, I don’t have much to report this week—because this was pretty much all I was able…

  • Goonie weekend

    Goonie weekend

    I’m a bit of a movie nut—especially for anything shot on location. I’m a sucker for films that center around real places—and Astoria, OR has featured prominently in so many movies that the entire town has become a cinema icon. This Sunday marks the 30th anniversary of the release of the 1980s free-range-kid classic, The…