We spent several days in San Francisco this past week, visiting family and old college friends, and then we headed down the coast, first to Paso Robles for an afternoon of antiquing and winery visits, and then out to Cambria, which sits right on the coast and is a super place to visit for its natural beauty, great beaches (complete with wonderfully built boardwalks high up on the cliffs), charming little town, and surrounding forests. We stayed at a lodge above the town and had great fun taking nature hikes, watching resident birds, and keeping an eye out for mountain lions (which recently had been spotted in the vicinity), as well as otters, deer, tidepool creatures, and the lodge's resident kitty.
I love the colors of this area -- that rich, velvety gold on the hillsides, the deep greens of the coastal oaks, the gray hues of the fog, the blue sky. You understand why the locale has inspired so many plein air artists - the light plays off the hillsides incredibly.
I am so often tempted to pack up everything and move us all out to a countryside like this. It would be a crash course for me in living more simply and leaving behind the city life I love, but Central California is so appealing for its agriculture and ruralness, grape fields, its forests, and its sea. Sigh.
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