On the road again.

Sitting on the bed in Arroyo Grande, watching the hundredth episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations, eating fresh mango, papaya and pineapple salad and planning our winery tour of Paso Robles for tomorrow. Don't be jealous. We are miserable. Seriously.

*wink*

A big thank-you to all of those who receive the blog via email. I appreciate the fact that not one of you pointed out my grammatical errors. My faithful proof-reader had already crashed for the evening and I was at the point of having to pin my eyelids up with bobby pins.

One thing I forgot to include yesterday was an amusing conclusion Mick and I came to on the drive out of Yosemite. Our combined knowledge of the US wilderness and it's wild inhabitants is directly linked to the number and variety of American cartoons we watched as children. Woody Woodpecker, Heckle & Jeckle, Mac & Tosh and the Looney Tunes family. These shows probably set the groundwork for our developing funny bones as well.

So, to the point, today was another driving day. From the Sierra Nevada ranges West back to the coast. A comfortable 300 miles (482km).

We both enjoy the open road and the Californian "dust bowl" was stark but dazzling. Undulating ranges, bereft of trees as far as the eye can see. The dry pastures glowed like golden velvet. The flatlands are planted with uniform rows of corn, almonds and stone fruit. They were irrigated in a manner strange to my eye. The trees appeared to be flooded, water a foot or more up their trunks. Not something I've seen back home.

Off to bed now. Sitting in a car all day is draining.