Table of contents for July 2016 in Sunset

WHEN PEOPLE TALK about "living the dream," they might mean a mega-mansion or a first-class ticket to the South of France. We, however, have a few different ideas. Give us a weekend in a simple cabin by the shore, a picnic blanket with a basket of ripe tomatoes, a little corner of a garden in which to turn our faces to the sky. But when it comes to the ultimate Sunset fantasy, one word leaps to mind: Airstream. And that's where Dean and Regina Atkins come in. "We both liked the idea of being mobile and taking everything with us," says Regina, half of the San Clemente, California–based couple whose Instagram feed (@sunsetmagazinelife) started out as a way to chronicle all the adventures they gleaned from the pages of this…

[The following content appeared in the Northern California, Southwest, Southern California, and Mountain edition.] JULY 2 4 P.M. BEER O'CLOCK This is a college town, so it's no surprise that there's good craft beer on every corner. Flagstaff Brewing Company's sunny patio fronts Route 66, and its Weisspread Wheat, a hefeweizen with hints of clove and banana, hits the spot on a warm day. Across the tracks, at Mother Road Brewing Company, the Roadside American Ale and Tower Station IPA honor the famed highway, nicknamed the "Mother Road." Meanwhile, the folks at Historic Brewing Company serve up malty, refreshing Altbier and vanilla-tinged Piehole Porter. Flagstaff Brewing: 16 E. Route 66; flag brew.com. Mother Road Brewing: 7 S. Mikes Pike; mother roadbeer.com. Historic Brewing: 4366 E. Huntington Dr.; historicbrewingcompany.com. 7 P.M.…

CALL IT THE HOUSE THAT SKYPE BUILT. In 2011, while living as expats in Tokyo and then Singapore, Stephanie Kerst and her husband, Stuart, took on the renovation of a Menlo Park, California, bungalow as they prepared to return to the States. "It was a pretty unusual way to build a home," Stephanie says. But through a series of video calls with architect Ana Williamson (awarchitect.com) and contractor Brian Emery (mediterra neodesignbuild.com), they devised a plan to expand on the existing 900-square-foot home in a way that made sense for them—and was good for the planet. "My parents are lifelong environmentalists, and Stuart's grandfather was a game warden," Stephanie says. "So that awareness has been passed down through the generations." The couple hired a salvage demolition crew to save building…

OPEN-PLAN LIVING The split-level design of this 1948 house afforded homeowners Lara and Chad Hogan a multidimensional entertaining space. They opened the kitchen into the dining area, connected by a steel railing. Lara found the counter-height farmhouse table at the Rose Bowl Flea Market. Chad and Lara Hogan went out for a hike and came back with a home. Although the couple had been house hunting around California's Topanga Canyon for a while, they were taking a break when they stumbled on a place for sale. "It's essentially a treehouse in the woods," says Lara. "We wanted it immediately." The couple, recent Brooklyn transplants who were renting in West Hollywood at the time, wound up closing on the post-and-beam structure a few months later—and that's when the real fun began.…

SHORTCUT TANDOORI CHICKEN SERVES 4 TO 6 30 MINUTES, PLUS OVERNIGHT TO MARINATE This version of the classic is super-simple (no tandoor oven required) and very tasty. Add a few vegetables to the grill and some naan to round out the dinner. 1 tbsp. each chopped garlic and chopped fresh ginger 1 serrano chile, chopped ½ tsp. each kosher salt, ground coriander, and ground cumin ¼ tsp. each cinnamon, ground cardamom, and turmeric 1 tbsp. tomato paste ½ cup whole-milk yogurt 2 or 3 skinned chicken breast halves, about 2 lbs. 1. In a blender, combine all ingredients except chicken until smooth. Pour marinade into a large resealable plastic bag. 2. Cut chicken breast halves in half again crosswise and slash each piece diagonally three or four times. Add to…

Rain forest, inlets, seaside cabins, surf: If there's one destination that's top of mind right now on Sunset editors' wanderlust lists, it's Tofino. The laid-back beach town on the edge of Vancouver Island, B.C., is our version of a summer idyll. In the spirit of our August travel issue, we're giving away a Tofino trip for two, including two nights at the Wickaninnish Inn and dinner at The Pointe Restaurant; lunch at Sea Monster Noodle Bar; dinner at Wolf in the Fog; a "Sea to Sky" hot-springs excursion with Atleo River Air Service and Ocean Outfitters; a surfing lesson with Surf Sister; "Made in Tofino" welcome gifts; and $700 U.S. toward flights, provided by Destination BC and Tourism Tofino. Full contest rules at sunset.com/tofinocontest. And don't forget to send us…

ROADSIDE MOTELS REBORN BEST MAKEOVER Chris Sewell and Kenny Osehan, the duo known as Shelter Social Club, have made a business out of sleeping in style without breaking the bank. "All the motels we've taken over are basically run-down motor courts," Osehan (at far left) says of their four Southern California properties, which share a laid-back sensibility while retaining the distinctive elements that make them true to their time and place. "We preserve properties we feel are architecturally interesting and culturally significant," adds Sewell. "They've been neglected, and we breathe life back into them." Their most recent project, the Alamo Motel in Los Alamos, evokes a Scandinavian-meets- Southwestern sensibility inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe's home in New Mexico. Interiors feature furnishings by local woodworker Shaun Wallace, brass sconces by Los Angeles'…

KIDS WHO RUN toward their veggies? It's a parent's dream. And it's a reality in the San Anselmo, California, backyard of photographer Rachel Weill and her husband, David Levitt. When their sons Daniel, 11, and Joshua, 7, get home from school, they head straight outside to pick tender cucumbers, beans, lettuces, and carrots. "They constantly bring in food at random times, wanting to make a salad," Weill says. "And when they have friends over, they like to show off the garden." Formerly a dry, rocky corner of the yard occupied by a couple of gnarled grapevines, the garden got its structure thanks to four raised beds built into the hillside. To fill the boxes, Weill looked to landscape designer Leslie Bennett (pinehouseediblegardens.com), who came up with a plan in which…

BEDTIME SMARTS Sleep sweetly If thinking about the chemicals in your child's conventional mattress—formaldehyde and petroleum, to name two of the scariest—keeps you up at night, consider remaking his bed. Start with the new Zenhaven mattress: Made of natural, hypoallergenic latex and wrapped in organic cotton, it conforms to the body—and lacks that "new mattress" smell that indicates that chemicals are off-gassing. Plus, California organic bedding company Coyuchi has just launched a kids' line, which matches sustainability with adorability. Twin mattress, $1,299; zenhaven.com. Lunar Landing bedding, from $128 for a twin-sheet set; coyuchi.com. MUST-HAVE CLEAR THE AIR Show your houseplant some love. While you've been forgetting to water it, it's been filtering toxins out of the air for you. Want a little more muscle? Dyson's Pure Cool Link ($500; dyson.com),…

WE'RE LOVING All-star sauce We came up with this sauce for chicken wings but found ourselves slathering it on ribs, burgers, and hot dogs too. It even works as a dip for potato chips and shrimp. The magic ingredient is tamarind, a tangy fruit popular in Latino and Asian cuisines. Tamarind Chipotle Barbecue Sauce MAKES 2½ TO 3 CUPS 1¼ HOURS 1. Crack and peel shells from ¾ lb. tamarind pods*. Bring fruit and 2 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan, covered. Reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes, then let stand off heat 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Strain, pushing pulp through. 2. In another medium saucepan, sauté 1 medium chopped onion in 1 tbsp. olive oil until golden. Add tamarind pulp, 1 tbsp. chopped canned chipotle chiles,…

Wake up to birdsong as a breeze carries the scent of a cedar forest into your tent. You've slept peacefully under the stars, and the morning sun prints leafy silhouettes on the translucent canvas walls. Shield yourself from the incoming light by turning over and sinking into a bed—on polished wooden floors between a vintage nightstand and a tastefully obscured Wi-Fi router. Ah, wilderness, from the safari-like shelter of a glamp. The term "glamping," or glamorous camping, may be relatively new, but its history extends well beyond turn-of-the-20th-century African safaris. After all, didn't Marco Polo marvel at the extravagance of Mongolian gers, or yurts, on wheels? But today's crop of alfresco pads goes a step further, running the gamut from colossal yurts to human-scale birds' nests, canvas tents adorned with…

HERE'S SOMETHING we can all agree on: This country deserves to have its very best places protected and enjoyed. That's what happened on August 25, 1916, when the National Park System was born. The first two parks, Yellowstone and Yosemite, were established in the West. In fact, our region is so rich in national parks that one road, U.S. 89, connects six of them, each a world unto itself. The 1,400-mile stretch, bookended by the ice-carved peaks of Montana's Glacier National Park and the symphonic chasm of the Grand Canyon, is a highway of epic proportions. When you visit this summer, be sure to sing "Happy Birthday." And try not to blow out the fumaroles. GLACIER Look up at the peaks of Montana's Glacier National Park—Mt. Gould, Mt. Grinnell, Going-to-the-Sun—and…

It's only noon, but Quinn Hatfield is already putting ribs into a smoker for a party that he and his wife, Karen, are throwing at their home in Laurel Canyon, California, that evening. Starting the meat early and then letting it rest, he explains, takes the stress out of cooking: "When guests come, you do the fun part—glazing. It looks like you're cooking, but you're really not." As co-owners of two popular L.A. restaurants (Odys + Penelope and The Sycamore Kitchen, where they're known for seasonal and live-fire cooking) and as the parents of two young children, the Hatfields keep entertaining as simple as possible. The couple, who met when they were both cooks at Spago in the 1990s, make many components ahead of time and take a divide-and-conquer approach…