Now for the Paso Robles Wineries

On our last day, the temperatures were perfect. The high was 80 and the sun was shining. We decided to drive to Paso Robles to visit some wineries. We packed our lunch and other snacks and embarked on 45 minutes of beautiful scenery.

We began at J Lohrs winery. You earned your visit on a road that was probably laid 50 years ago. We actually had to pass a gigantic grape harvester on the road. It is huge, and drives over the grape vines. A sign that harvesting is around the corner. Gerald likes the blend of the J. Lohrs wine so we stocked up. This is a nice small winery.

Our next stop was Eberle Winery. The construction was a little tricky to get into the winery. It did not stop the masses. The winery was quite busy. They had tours every half hour for the man made caverns down below. We spent quite a bit of time at this winery. They were harvesting grapes and mashing their viognier grapes. This was a dog friendly winery. On our arrival the winery dogs were roaming around the entrance. Lexi liked this and asked if we could go to more wineries with dogs. The picture is Lexi with Cabernet, the black poodle.

When we arrived back to the trailer we had a snack and tasted our wine selections. This was a great last day. Time to drive the 12 hours back to reality.

Let's Talk About the Food

I just want everyone to know that everything here tastes a million times better than at home! When we lived at Vandenburg AFB, we would go to farmer's market sometimes more than once a week to get our produce.

On this trip we went to a few farmer's markets. We also went to the Old West Cinnamon Roll for cinnamon rolls. They are the best, we would always stop by when we lived here. The picture above is fresh berries and oranges we picked up at the farmer's market. We reheated the rolls each morning in the oven with our percolated coffee and fresh fruit. Delicious!

The SLO farmer's market was very busy on Thursday. We were so weighed down by what we bought that we had to leave early. We bought carrots, spinach, oranges and berries. I cooked the spinach the next day with just butter and salt. Lexi added to the meals ambiance with a scowl and the statement, "I don't want any spinach". I told Lexi it was from the market and then after she gave it a try was selling it to Gerald about how good it was, and how he has to try it. On a side note, wilted spinach is my favorite and I should have just eaten it and never said a word to the now converted spinach lovers.

I thought the farmer's market would suffice for the trip, but I needed more. I had to go to the farms that provided all this good stuff. It was apple harvest time so we went to the orchards. The road to the orchards was a 5 mile narrow winding road. This was going to be an earned visit.

Before I begin, you have to visualize that it took 10 times reversing and pulling forward to just get the F-250 out of the parking spot in downtown SLO. It was like a moray eel trying to wiggle out of its cave. A slow and long process. The smug Prius owners who were waiting for the parking spot, were probably sneering at our very gluttonous choice of vehicles.

Now we were on a winding road, along a creek, and crossing bridges that only allow one car at a time to cross. Cars continuously came the other way around the mountainous bends. The only time we screamed was when we were facing our equal match, another F-250 coming the other way. I thought the tow mirrors were going to have a kissing moment, but we made it through. Of course, the mailman was also delivering the mail with his truck parked on the side. They say that mailmen have an easy job. I can tell you that mailman has the most treacherous route.

It was all worth it in the end. The cider was probably the best I have ever tasted. I am not a cider lover at all, until we lived in the Central Coast. Lexi was asking about it and I told her my traditional, I don't want to share statement, "You won't like it." She is learning that means you really want to try it. I think she figured this out a long time ago at See's candies. The apples were so good and sweet it did taste like candy. Anyway, we did that trip again because I needed more cider.

Bob Jones Bicycle Path

Each morning Max and I go on a bike ride. The path is named the Bob Jones pathway. It starts at the KOA and it is an incredible path to the beach. I read that in the future the path will start in San Luis Obispo and end at Avila Beach. Currently it is around 2.8 miles one way. It is an incredible ride that doesn't feel like you have ridden over 5 miles when you are done. I decided to take a pictorial of the trip so you could virtually ride with me.

It couldn't be a more perfect ride. You ride along a creek, by the apple orchards, through a golf course and then end at the beach. What could be more perfect.

Tourist Attractions

It started to rain so we stayed in the area and went to a few local wineries. We started collecting our bottles of wine. Wine tasting isn't the same with an 8 year old. After the initial excitement of the very cool gift shop(picking up everything glass and telling us the price) and wanting a $7 tiny candy bar we started to enjoy ourselves. We went to Leticia and Edna Valley Vineyard and found a few bottles, but nothing that says, "Wow, you NEED a case of this!" The pourer, who also doesn't like Chardonnay, said we needed to goto Paso Robles for the grapes grown in a hotter climate so the berry flavor comes through. We are planning to go there on Friday when the vineyards have their cave tours and BBQ's. We checked the weather that evening and it said that the pouring rain would continue for the next 24 hours.

Lexi said she wanted to goto Hearst Castle and started to recite all the cool things she learned on the last tour. We made reservations for Tour 2 of Hearst's private rooms, office, and kitchen. We started our journey early and stopped at Costco for a jacket and soup for dinner. Then we stopped at Morro Bay to feed the seals. Lexi liked this last time and insisted we returned.

We arrived too early for our tour at Hearst castle. The Park Ranger gave Lexi a Junior Ranger activity book ,and that helped passed the time. The tour was incredible. We were with a small group of 12. At the beginning of the tour, everyone said where they were from and we were the only ones from the U.S. The crazy part, the people did not know each other. We had people from Germany, Wales, the U.K. We have been feeling like we are the only Americans here, especially at the RV park. Everyday, the caravanning Europeans swarm the RV park with their RV rentals. The men wear interesting outfits such as tight capris and the women all need their bunyons and teeth fixed. During the tour I was so shocked to see this ladies crazy big toe going over all the other toes, and the fact that she was actually wearing sandals. Oh, I know I can wait for government health care!

We loved the tour and the Europeans had great questions. One group was into antiquities and the others had toured many castles. Normally, when someone has a question, I am thinking in my head, "oh great, another stupid, irrelevant question that the docent can't answer or just told you and you weren't listening". I get this all day at work, I really don't need this when I just paid $24 for a tour. The Europeans had toured the castles in their country and were asking questions about the ceiling and all of the Europeon art that the churches sold to the wealthy Americans after the war. There was this statue of Madonna in Hearst's bedroom and they asked about the artwork. The statue is valued as the most valuable piece of art in the house. We are talking about thousands of pieces of art and this was the most valuable! The docent said it was a gift to Hearst from a friend. The docent wasn't even going to tell us that, if he hadn't asked. They really added to the tour.

My favorite room was where Heda Hopper would stay. It was in the tower and above the pool. The docent said that the voices from the pool can be heard very well in the room. Probably, a good source for information for her gossip column. We also liked the library with all the gates and locks to protect the books. The story behind this was Charlie Chaplain was misusing a book and holding it over the pool, then the locks were installed. It was a great tour. I can't wait to do tour 3 covering the Art Deco rooms of the castle.

Life Is Always Good at Avila Beach

We were sitting at Joe Mommas Coffee house that overlooks Avila beach and the worker said to another patron that "life is always good at Avila Beach". We thought he couldn't be more right with that statement! So far, we have biked to the beach everyday with Max. We love the Bob Jones Bike path. It is paved and meanders by the creek and apple orchards. It is about 2 miles to the beach but it doesn't feel like it. Max sleeps very well at night and is behaving like one of the Dog Whisperers followers. It must be the beach air and his daily 5 mile run.

Our schedule has been pretty laid back. Everyday we goto the Avila Valley Barn. The barn is across the street from the KOA. Lexi feeds all of the animals and we get fresh fruits and veggies for the day. We make fun of Lexi that the animals will starve if she doesn't stop by for the day.

We did goto Ciopinot for a fabulous meal. Lexi loves this restaurant and immediately requested crab and the chocolate mousse. Crab was not available(our wallet was relieved). She did get the chocolate mousse all to herself and only let Gerald have a little bite. Gerald and I enjoyed everything and went home so happy but miserably full.

Gerald had his traditional Central Coast nap in the afteroon. No sun, and Gerald can't stay awake. We know this from when we were stationed here. Lexi and I took the truck to the beach and to the pier. Of course, in our haste to leave, we forgot the camera. The tide was out and we were able to walk to the cliffs. A family was walking the other way and asked if we had found any sand dollars. In all my time on the beach I have never found a complete unbroken sand dollar. I want you to know this was a quest of mine. We said no and they gave us a perfect sand dollar! They said they had already found three and we could have one. Wow! Lexi was happy and I was shocked. I also thought they may have bought them at the store.

Lexi and I walked the 100 year old pier to the Old Porte Inn. I was not driving on it in the big truck. We checked out the prices for the fresh seafood and of course watched the sea lions sunbathing. There is this sign that cautions people that the sea lions bite and aren't friendly. Of course, there was a family that opened the gate and was on the stairs with their 2 year old who could haplessly fall onto the sea lions. The sea lions were barking and warning them not to get any closer as they took each step closer. The family spoke and they were from England. At least it confirmed that there are dumb parents worldwide and not just here, like the media implies.

Banning to Avila Beach

We took two days to get to Avila Beach. Towing through California isn't easy!!! Small gas stations and parking lots with limited entry and exit points were challenging. We made it here with a drive time of over 12 hours. We made too many stops. This time we are travelling with Max and it was challenging at first. Within the first hours in the middle of the desert Lexi found a tick on him. Gerald was driving and there was no where to pull over so Lexi had a life lesson of pulling the tick off of Max. I was pretty much grossed out thinking we have to be in the cab for 4 more hours with the tick dog. The first thing on the to do list was to purchase a tick collar. We stopped in Banning for the night. The KOA was nice and very rural.

We got in the car early in the morning to get through Los Angeles before the traffic. We made good time and made it to Buellton around noon. We stopped at our favorite restaurant Andersons. We were craving their Monte Cristo sandwich and famous pea soup. The fog was really thick on the way up so we couldn't see much of the ocean. As we entered Buellton the sun came out.

We arrived at Avila Beach around 2pm. We unhooked the trailer. The KOA is pretty empty and we have all the spaces around us to ourselves. We went on a bike ride to the beach. The path is paved and starts right behind the KOA. It is a 30 minute ride to the beach. Lexi played and Max slept very well when we got back.