Even More Family! Part 3

On the last blog, Mom and I ventured from Santa Barbara through Solvang and Pismo Beach, ending up in San Simeon at Hearst Castle.  Upon finishing our Castle tour, we hopped back in the car and turned inland, driving another hour or so to make it to Paso Robles.  We wanted to hit up at least one winery tasting room before checking into the Airbnb for the night, and since we arrived right around the normal 5pm closing time, we picked Eberle Winery off our list, solely because they stayed open until 6pm (they were on our list anyway, because they have good stuff, but they were open later than anyone else - hey, worked for us!).

Cheers!

Chris and I have always wanted to hit up Eberle, as there's a huge banner on the main road outside proclaiming that they have cave tours.  When one of the guys working there announced the last wine tour of the day immediately after our tasting concluded, we jumped right on that!  As it turned out, the two of us were joined by just one more couple, so it was quite the small group.  Our guide rushed us a bit (he seemed more than ready to go home for the day), but it was cool to wander through the man-made cave where the winery stores and ages its wares.

Shots from the wine cave - 

they're big on the hogs around here; 

it's something to do with their name.

After the tour, we finished up in the tasting room, grabbed our purchases (Mom got a bottle of their port, I nabbed a white, and we picked up some olives for Chris) and headed into downtown Paso proper.

Attempting an artsy shot with

the boar sculpture

Grow, little grapes!

Our lodging for the night wasn't a separate casita, like in Santa Barbara; instead, we had essentially an entire flat in one corner of an old craftsman house, just .7 miles from the downtown section of the city.  It was absolutely lovely, and we kept being surprised by what we discovered around each corner.

Standing at the front door, looking toward the bedroom

While there was just one bedroom,

there were two beds, divided by this handy curtain.

They put a lot of amenities in this small space.

Our gigantic living room
(that's the front door in the middle of the shot)

Lots of antique furniture everywhere - 

there's the galley kitchen, through the doorway

Our cute little kitchen!

The fridge was well stocked - 

we brought the water bottles,

sliced cheese, and half sandwich

(from Chipwrecked in Pismo),

but everything else was provided.

Honestly, this Airbnb was fantastic!  If you need a spot to stay in Paso, let us know and we can find the info for you - we highly recommend it!  After settling in for a bit, we got ready for the evening and headed out on foot to our dinner destination, Fish Gaucho.  I'd first eaten at Fish Gaucho just a few months earlier, when we were in town for the Firestone Walker Beer Festival with Jake and Keeli, and I was excited to have another meal there.  Fish Gaucho serves nuevo Mexican food, and all of it seems to be consistently delicious - our meal was no exception!

Mom with her DIY posole

Churros!

After a great meal, we rolled ourselves back home (bringing back more leftovers - some of the churros and a container of cheese dip), and after a quick check-in with Chris, I headed to bed.

Kaylee wants to say goodnight!

The next morning saw me doing some hill repeats (half marathon training plans wait for no man!) and wandering around Paso trying to find chai; when I made it back to the flat, Mom was awake and we made ourselves some breakfast from the wealth of options in the fridge.  

I also made friends with this bird

Mom: "Did you know you slept under this picture?

Will you see that in Paris?"

Me: "I did not realize that, and yes - or should I say, oui!"

Guys, only a few weeks to go until Paris - 

I'm so excited, I can't stand myself.

After breakfast, we packed everything up, hopped back in the trusty steed, and set a course west to our first winery stop of the day, Adelaida.

Said steed - this is a comfy car.

Chris and I are members of the wine club at Adelaida, and we really like their offerings; we try to stop each time we're in town, and I was happy we could fit it into our schedule for the day.  Adelaida is on the west side of Highway 1, in the prettier section of the area, and there's lots of lovely scenery to see on the short drive to their front door.

A shot from the tasting room

The shots above are all part of Adelaida's property -

it's one of the oldest developed pots in the area

The neighboring winery

Since we made it there right around opening time (10am!  It's never too early for wine!), we were the only folks there for most of our tasting, and our wine steward took great care of us.

On the way out - as always,

we found stuff to bring home

They really have a lovely place here

After we finished up at Adelaida, I took Mom to Calcareous, another of our favorite spots in Paso.  Again, we were alone in the tasting room for most of the time (one of the nicest parts about this wine region - it's still fairly quiet compared to Napa/Sonoma), and the som was attentive and knowledgeable.  Of course, we found some bottles we had to pick up.

Calcareous is up on a hilltop,

so the views and pictures are normally pretty

See?

Although there were a million more wineries to visit, we knew the drive home would put us into LA traffic right at rush hour, so we wanted to head out before too much longer.  We stopped back in downtown to grab some sandwiches/salads for lunch, which we'd eat on the drive back.  We made one quick stop for other snacks (candy and nuts) and souvenirs where Highway 46 joins the 5, at Blackwells Corner, also known for this:

Apparently, James Dean did his last drive

around here somewhere.

It was a pretty uneventful trip back home - lots of freeway miles, so not nearly as scenic as the drive up, which was mainly along the coast.  We did see lots of farms and several of these guys:

Tons of oil pumps, just working away

We stopped just outside of Santa Clarita for one last bathroom break before we hit the LA madness, and it was good we did, as we crept slowly through the area for the last hour and a half or so.  We finally made it home, and we enjoyed having a "clean out the fridge" dinner with Chris once he joined us after work.

The next morning, I drove Mom back to our delightful little Long Beach airport, and we wished each other adieu - until next time!

Later!

Amy