You know, I've spent most of my life on gravel roads and two-lane highways in the Ozarks, and I'm not what you'd call a festival guy. But I'll tell you what, a good festival in a place you've never been is a fine excuse to put some miles on the truck. And California's got a whole string of them rolling through August that'd make any road trip better.

The crew over at Decor Hint put together a list of the ones worth your time, and it runs the whole range. Food, music, local culture, the works. Stuff that turns a warm August weekend into something you'll talk about for years.

What I like about festival road trips is they give you a reason to drive somewhere you wouldn't normally go. You pick a town you've never heard of, find out they throw down over peaches or barbecue or whatever they're proud of, and suddenly you've got a story. The miles in between, that's where the real stuff happens anyway. A roadside diner somewhere past Bakersfield. A gas station where the attendant actually knows what's good to see in the area. The festival is the destination but the drive is the trip.

California in August is hot, no question about it. But if you've ever driven through the Central Valley or up the coast with the windows down early in the morning before it gets cooking, you know there's a certain kind of pretty to it. Dry heat, golden hills, the road stretching out ahead of you. Makes you understand why people write songs about that drive.

The festivals themselves, they're the kind of thing where you show up and the whole town is in on it. Local food vendors cooking stuff their families have been making for generations. Live music from people who can actually play their instruments. Craft booths with honest handmade goods, not the mass-produced stuff you see at every tourist trap from here to Branson.

If you're thinking about making the trip, do yourself a favor and plan the route, not just the destination. Take the back roads when you can. Stop at the weird roadside attraction. Eat at the place with the full parking lot and the hand-painted sign. That's where the real California is, same as the real Missouri is on the roads nobody bothers to map.

August'll be gone before you know it and summer with it. Load up the truck, point it west, and see what you find. The festivals are just the excuse.