We had the pleasure of joining our good friends in Paso Robles, California last week. We had to arrange this trip close to the holidays, when the oldest was out of college and could help at home with driving and dog responsibilities as work and dog walking and bathroom schedules were melded together into a multi-page todo list for the kids to tackle. They did great and did not burn the house down, microwave plasma issue notwithstanding.
As is custom, we hit In-n-Out right after landing and before we the timezone change left us starving and cranky. The drive from Santa Barbara to Paso Robles is beautiful with both ocean and wonderful California hills full of wonderful California cows. The hotel and various winery experiences were incredibly bougie and I enjoyed it all. The wine formula seems to be gorgeous plot of land, marketable and catchy story, half-way decent wines, and enough quantity to lower your purchase inhibitions. This does not seem hard, except for the decent wines and razor thin margins of agriculture production.
Our drive back to the Santa Barbara airport took us on an alternative route from Highway 101 to California State 154. When we were getting near Santa Barbara, Google Maps decided the fastest route to our destination, In-n-Out if you must know, was to cut across on the N San Marcos Rd. This is an old stage coach route and is the windiest steepest road I’ve ever been on. I’m certain I lost some of my life force driving down this road.
California is my birthplace and I always am happy to visit, but never stay.