Yantai Trip

My one day trip to Yantai was as spontaneous as some of my other trips, the location decided about 3 hours before the flight would be leaving Beijing. My decision was based on what I could find on the coast, that still had tickets available before 2pm.

As my plane descended over the new landscape of Shandong, I found myself reminded of the terrain of central California, the rocky formation specifically rung similar those around San Luis Obispo. The whole ride into town from the airport, the song Ventura Highway stuck in my head as we passed imagery reminiscent of one of my many rides up the coast.

After I got to town and walked around the beach front area in the center of town, I checked into my hotel and did some googling. What I learned made it all click into place, the area surrounding Yantai is considered the 7th best wine making climate in the world.

Rocky hill tops caught my eye

Windmills

Camping at Big Sur

During the week I decided to try some camping at Big Sur on the coast of California. I started by meeting up with my friend in Hollywood on Wednesday and loading both of our tents into his Volkswagen, by 9:30 am we were well packed and got onto the road. Three hours later we stopped in San Luis Obispo at some place called Firestone Grill, where I was forced into ordering a tri tip sandwich by my friend. I wasn't into the idea at first but someone else in the line told me it was the best tri tip sandwich in California, so I got it and I wasn't disappointed  From there we drove up to Cambria to stock up on our food and beer, and then made the final leg of our journey toward Big Sur. Upon arrival in Big Sur, we selected a campsite on the edge of our campground and put the tents up while the sun disappeared.

The morning broke with strobes of light beaming though the trees, I took the opportunity to take some snapshots of the campsite:

rays of light in the morning

Wine Tasting in California

I'm back in California for a little bit, so I'm taking the time to explore some of California's nicer areas. I've been staying in the town of Lompoc, near Vandenburg air force base in Santa Barbara county.

Last week I ventured out from Lompoc up to San Luis Obispo for some wine tasting and some food with a friend. Our attempt to get to the wineries in Edna Valley failed as we were unable to locate the turnoff from shell beach, so we drove all the way to SLO and then turned south from there and drove passed the airport. The first place we hit was Edna Valley vineyards, the view out the window was awesome as usual and the traffic low. I tasted through the reds, and decided that this was exactly as I remembered these wines from years before, peppery, acidic and smokey.

View From Tasting Room At Edna Valley Vineyards