Drawn the Road Again

Tag: west

  • Retro Row

    Retro Row

    Manitou Springs has been a tourist attraction since the 1870s—first for its “medicinal” mineral springs, and then for its wild-west remnants and mountain location. For decades it’s been chock-a-block with midcentury motels and vintage neon—and by some miracle, nearly all of them are still around. Every time I come back here, I run around town…

  • Rock of ages

    Rock of ages

    There’s a little trail that makes a circuit around the base of Devils Tower, and it’s not hard to see why. There’s just no bad angle anywhere—every side of the mountain is its good side. For me, the problem wasn’t finding a good sketch spot—it was racing the clock and recording every “shot” I wanted…

  • Ghost palace

    Ghost palace

    Even on sunny days, the Claremont always seems to appear from nowhere as you turn a corner or follow the curving roads uphill. But in the chilly morning fog, it seemed to emerge from some other world.

  • Raindrops actual size

    Raindrops actual size

    Speaking of stormy weather, it’s a little unnerving to be sitting in the passenger seat, happily sketching along, and suddenly be startled out of your reverie by massive raindrops that sound like rocks hitting the windshield. To be honest, though, it also makes for a thrilling sketch session—especially when you live in the Pacific Northwest,…

  • Exit, pursued by a bear

    Exit, pursued by a bear

    Speaking of bears, the great state of Montana must have a lot of them… …since they get their own highway exit and all.

  • Mile High City Hall

    Mile High City Hall

    This has always been my favorite building in Denver. When I lived in Colorado as a kid, and my family would visit the city, I always wanted Dad to drive the loop around the Civic Center. Then, as we passed on Bannock Street, I’d look out the window and crane my neck to watch the…

  • Heaven and Hells

    Heaven and Hells

    I never pass up a chance to visit my friends Sarah and Jesse. Not only are they some of my favorite people on the planet, but they also happen to live in one of my favorite neighborhoods in San Francisco: Dogpatch. (How could I not love a place where my friends live on the same…

  • False fronts

    False fronts

    A perfect sunny afternoon in Napa Valley. The still-bare trees were the only reminder that spring hadn’t quite sprung yet. Coming from chilly, rainy Washington, it felt like summer by comparison.

  • Head table

    Head table

    Well, I wouldn’t recommend this place to a vegan, but if you like Wild West kitsch (or you use antlers in all of your decorating), this is the place for you. The Buckhorn Exchange is the oldest restaurant in Denver: it holds liquor license number one! It has served dinner to both Teddy and Franklin…

  • Miracle Mile

    Miracle Mile

    More vintage goodness along Highway 99: sunny Redding, California is filled to the brim with old neon signs. On this day I was road tripping with a fellow travel blogger, my friend Mary-Alice (and her pup Chloe). The girls were remarkably patient with me while I insisted on stopping every thirty seconds to sketch more…