A three week long vacation takes a little planning. Where to stay, where to eat, what to see, what to do and how much drawing will I really get done? I did not draw every day while we were travelling for many reasons but I did manage to get a small body of work done. The first destination was The 3rd Annual West Coast Sketch Crawl in San Diego, CA.
On the first full day of our crawl we met at San Diego's Balboa Park. The weather was beautiful all weekend and I managed to find a low wall to sit on with ample shade to tackle this difficult subject. My airbnb room was a short walk to Balboa Park and also to the MTS Green Line which carried me to Old Town on Sunday morning for our last group sketch. I made this little drawing while waiting for the trolley.
A coworker told me about this place, I did not eat here but I stood outside and drew the ladies making tortillas in the window. On a side note one of these women was on my green line train about an hour before I chose this location.
My final sketch with the group was made in the historical Old Town square. After I finished my drawing I went inside and found a square wood cigar box for $5, I think it was my first "souvenir" purchase of our long journey.
After leaving San Diego we travelled a little east into Arizona and then up to The Grand Canyon, I made the first "in car" drawing on our way into Flagstaff and the second on the road to Colorado Springs somewhere in New Mexico.
After many miles thru the desert regions of the southwest, Route 66, a night in Albuquerque and stops in Santa Fe, Taos and a visit to friends in Colorado Springs we made it to Lyons, CO for the 25th Rocky Mountain Folks Festival.
tents are placed end to end at festival campgrounds and the eye level view can be a bit abstract
The stage at Planet Bluegrass is so iconic and beautiful for me, this was my 13th fest here! I also attempted to draw the red cliffs boxing in the St. Vrain river.
Leaving Colorado with a heavy heart we headed for Grand Teton National Park. We have driven by this range before so I was a little perplexed by the fact I could not see the mountains at all on approach. From the time we entered Wyoming til we got almost to Seattle our ride was shrouded in smoke from many fires. One day at Colter Bay Camp Ground at GTNP the haze lifted enough so that I could make a sketch with the official National Park date stamp.
