Car buffs and chili heads were out enjoying the 70 deg sunshine at this year's Chamber of Commerce event. Besides the typical bland beef and bean chili, some of the contestents cooked up some spicy, smoky, unique blends of meat and chili which put some zing into the competition. Despite this welcome variety, I'm sure the local favorites (the Sons, Rotary or Lions) will, as usual, win, based upon name recognition rather than a superior recipe. Thanks to the T-Rex team from Southern California for showing up again - they cook up some tasty chili.
And now for a little whine. Can somebody tell me why there can't be more benches or picnic tables at the Pinedorado Fair Grounds; is everyone supposed to stand up for 3 hours tasting chili and drinking beer? It's down right hard to drink beer for hours and remain standing!! The crowd started to thin out well before the awards ceremony - there was no place to sit and relax. I couldn't "stand it" any more and had to leave early. Hey, and how about adding some live music to the festivities next year?
The coastal hills are still green and painted with flowers, but the grasses are starting to dry and the hills will soon turn California "golden". I drove backroads to Cambria - Vineyard Rd past all the western Paso Robles wineries; Cypress Mountain Rd over the crest of the hills (with nice wildflowers and ocean view at the top); and Santa Rosa Creek Rd along the clear twisty stream into Cambria. The road was unusually busy as over 100 cars were attempting to park along the one lane road near Lynn's Fruitstand for some sort of event. Later afternoon explorations included climbing up San Simeon Creek Rd to the locked gate below Rocky Butte, discovering the waterfall in the canyon on the way back down, and hiking around the wetlands trails in San Simeon State Park. Wildflowers were still going strong down by the coast, and the deer were happily munching up all the leafy greens.
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