I’ve never taken magic mushrooms and wandered through a meadow at dusk. But I imagine it feels exactly like walking through Sensorio Field of Light (from €44; sensoriopaso.com).
In a valley near Paso Robles, the artist Bruce Munro has set more than 58,800 fibre-optic stems into the sloping fields, which morphed into shades of blue, purple and pink as they undulated in the breeze. Every few seconds, this rainbow of lights throbbed and changed in front of my eyes, silhouetting the trees against the navy-blue sky and creating a tangible ocean of colour.
It’s as trippy an experience you can get without risking arrest.
It’s also one of the newest additions to the Californian region known as SLO CAL. The name is taken from the initials of its main city, San Luis Obispo, but it’s also a fairly accurate portrayal of the easy-going, laid-back pace of life you’ll find there.
It stretches from Nipomo up to Ragged Point, heading inland to the vineyards and mountains around Paso Robles. Roughly speaking, it sits about halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, at about a three-and-a-half hour drive from either city. In the past, people have whizzed through it on the famous drive along the California coast, stopping at the odd scenic viewpoint or staying the night at a roadside motel. But to rush through SLO CAL would be a big mistake. This is California at its finest, a blend of sun-scorched mountains, laid-back cities and, of course, a hell of a lot of wineries.
It was just after 10am when I was passed a snifter of rosé at Cass Winery (casswines.com), just a few miles from Sensorio. The morning sun was cranking into gear, getting ready to turn my cheeks as pink as my breakfast wine. Under a giant oak tree, a hammock swung ever so slightly, and I longed to spend the entire day rocking beneath the branches, watching the butterflies flit around while I did a whole lot of nothing.
But I didn’t. Instead, I did the exact opposite and got on a horse.
I’m not exactly at ease around horses. Really, I’m not at ease around any big thing that wants to kick me. But in a fortunate turn of events, I ended up meeting my spirit animal in the form of Frank, a stubbornly lazy steed who didn’t seem to mind me hopping clumsily on his back. Frank and I lumbered slowly at the back of the pack as an impossibly handsome cowboy led the horses through the vines, while fat bees buzzed around the tiny green grapes.
In true California style, Cass Winery is more than just a vineyard — it’s a hotbed for outdoorsy activities. As well as the aforementioned horseback riding with Central Coast Trail Rides (€98, cctrailrides.com/rides), you can stomp your own grapes, perfect your outdoor photography, or even try your hand at archery, all with a glass of wine not too far away.
Wherever you are in SLO CAL, you’re never too far from a winery. Drive along the highways and, on either side of the road, you’ll always find a few vines snaking their way into the landscape. High in the mountains of the Coastal Range, up a winding road that zigzags through lavender fields and forests, Daou Vineyards (daouvineyards.com) is a winery that wouldn’t look out of place in Tuscany.
You’d be hard-pushed to find a better spot for a tasting. Squishy couches and lounge chairs are dotted around the periphery of the mountain estate, all shaded by tree branches or parasols. It’s there where I flumped myself down for a journey through their wines, from the estate Chardonnay to the Cabernet Sauvignon named Soul of a Lion. “I call this my smile wine,” said the waiter, Gabriel, as he poured me a glass. “Because everyone who drinks it smiles.” He wasn’t wrong.
But there’s more to SLO CAL than its wineries. The central hub of the region is the cool inland city of San Luis Obispo, where I’d stayed years before, stopping on the way back from San Francisco to LA. I was instantly enamoured, thanks, in part, to the lingerie shop I’d discovered named Fanny Wrappers, a name that tickles me to this day.
On Thursday evenings, the Spanish-style main street is taken over by a huge farmers’ market, with stalls selling everything from giant, glossy strawberries to homemade jerky. Hickory smoke rises from the BBQ stands, tamales are whipped up on the sidewalk, and churros are fried until golden and doused in cinnamon sugar. It’s the kind of place that makes you linger at estate-agent windows, wondering how much better things would be if you could just up sticks and start a whole new life.
If you’ve ever driven along California’s Highway 1, you’ll be familiar with the stretch of coast that forms part of SLO CAL. From Pismo Beach in the south to San Simeon in the north, this section of shore has some of the best stop-off points along the scenic byway. Ragged Point, which marks the portal to Big Sur, is everything you want the California coastline to be, with dark grey boulders tumbling down the cliffs toward a vivid turquoise sea, and tangles of spiny agave plants interweaving under the tall pine trees. Drive to the south, and the beaches broaden out to become the kind of wide, golden sands the Beach Boys would sing about.
The afternoon was fading when I got to Oceano Beach, but the party was just getting started. This is one of the few spots in California where you can light a beach fire (if you get a permit, and it’s not wildfire season). People were starting to gather around fire pits, coolers of beer by their side and music drifting out of portable speakers. But there are fancier options afoot if you’re arriving empty-handed.
Beach Butlerz (butlerzrents.com) create super-swish set-ups on the sand, with a ready-made fire pit, loungers and blankets — kind of like the fancy beach picnics you see in Below Deck. But it’s Project XO (project-xo.com) that really ups the ante. I arrived to a table loaded with miniature baked potatoes, prawns wrapped in crispy prosciutto and, thrillingly, a full s’more station. There’s nothing quite like making s’mores in their land of origin, getting yourself covered in charred, gloopy marshmallow and hoping against hope you don’t get any in your hair.
There’s one other thing that Oceano Beach is known for, and that’s the 18 miles of sand dunes behind the shore. And the best way to see them? By hummer. I hopped on a military-grade Humvee from Xtreme Hummer Adventures (from €54; pacificadventuretours.com), driven by a man with an unnerving sense of serenity to him (you can never trust the quiet ones). It took a while to reach the dunes, driving past the people setting up tailgate parties. When we finally reached them, it was like landing on Mars.
As far as the eye can see, the sands ripple and curve, forming giant mounds and sharp, jagged crests. But I only had a second to drink in the views. Suddenly, the engine was revved and we flew, sand flying in our wake. I was flung up from my seat at the back, landing with a smack as we hit the bottom of the dune. With nothing to grip but my seat belt, I was thrown from pillar to post as we navigated the peaks. When we reached the precipice of a vertical drop, there was nothing to do but scream. We sped down the crevasse, whooping with that special combination of terror and joy that comes when you defy both gravity and common sense. In short? It was epic.
Early the next morning, I took to Pismo Beach to make the most of the sunrise. The sky was that misty shade of amber you can only get from a Californian dawn, the skinny palm trees rising out of the morning fog. There were a few people out already — some walking their dogs along the pier, some with fishing rods flung over its wooden edges.
From the shore, the waves broke in a messy crash of foam, the sea roaring as it pounded the wet sand. But from the very tip of the long pier, I had a bird’s-eye view of the waves right at the moment they started to form, some whimpering away into nothing, and others forming a perfect barrel that the surfers jostled to reach. From above, these giant waves were calm, leaving gentle ripples that moved like silk, the water in its wake left glossy and still.
As each wave hit, the boardwalk swayed, and I with it. It was meditative, the old wooden pier rocking with the thrust of each wave. If Sensorio were a hallucinogen, then this was nature’s Valium.
Details
Platinum Travel (platinumtravel.ie) has an eight-night fly-drive holiday stopping in San Francisco, Ragged Point, San Luis Obispo and Santa Monica in September or October, from €1,899pp. The price includes car hire, checked luggage and flights from Dublin to San Francisco, returning from Los Angeles, with Virgin Atlantic via Heathrow.
Nicola travelled as a guest of SLO CAL; see more at slocal.com.
