Wine and more on the Paso Robles CAB Trail
We follow winemaker Soren Christensen to the rear of the barrel room at Hearst Ranch Winery, just north of downtown Paso Robles. The thermometer flirts...
Hit the Road
Paso Robles wineries confront challenge of changing tastes
Ancient Peaks Winery owner Karl Wittstrom is guiding his truck up, up, up a rocky, bone-jolting dirt road bordered by manzanita, white sage and coast...
Replica San Salvador: Step aboard and back in time
The sight of the 16th-century galleon San Salvador slicing through the waters of San Diego Bay and beyond must look magnificent, but we can’t see...
Things to do in San Diego this summer
Summer is here and that means thousands of visitors are descending upon San Diego County. Maybe you will host some of them, so it’s the...
Living Desert Zoo an oasis in rapidly growing Coachella Valley
Say Coachella Valley, and it’s likely you’ll think of music concerts, golf courses, gated communities, swank hotels and endless shopping. The cities along the valley’s...
Museum, spa bring Agua Caliente history to the surface
We are standing in the plaza in front of the Agua Caliente Cultural Museum and Spa at Séc-he in downtown Palm Springs. At first pass,...
Flowers Fields springs to life
Eighty million blooms. Fifty acres. Thirteen colors. Ten weeks. These hefty numbers sum up the Giant Tecolote Ranunculus spectacular that is this year’s event at...
Route 66 turns 100: Read up before you go
Time: Let’s just say it was some time in the last millennium. Place: Gallup, New Mexico. What: My husband and I, on a month-long, cross-country...
After rainy fall, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park ready to bloom
This spring’s flower season in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park may not attain the status of “superbloom,” but it’s going to be a “pretty good year,”...
Offseason a great time to visit Temecula Valley Wine Country
Eat. Stay. Love…the wine, the vineyards, the views. I’m talking about Temecula Valley Wine Country, and though no more than an hour’s drive from any...
Difficult travelers make a tour guide’s job even harder
Let’s hear it for tour guides. They deserve a lot of respect. The job demands many skills — organizer, storyteller, entertainer, mediator, babysitter, crisis manager,...
Here’s to memorable travel adventures!
We missed having our grandson around the Christmas tree this year. He was in Germany visiting a friend whose father is stationed there for a...
A watery wonderland in western Oregon
The trail is steep, shadowy and slippery, but we can’t pass up the chance to see the nearly 300-foot-high Watson Falls, one of a dozen along...
Fall in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and change is in the air
We watch from shore as a young man, sans wetsuit, repeatedly dives into the roiling, white surf. He pops up each time despite what looks...
Autumn’s awesome in Willamette Valley wine country
Dave Lauer, whose family owns Bryn Mawr Vineyards, points to a break in the silhouette of Oregon’s Coast Range. “That’s the Van Duzer Corridor,” he...