Our final full weekend in Paso was perfect.  Dory came up from SoCal to effectively see us off and we made sure to go out strong sampling our favorite vineyards, eating delicious food and enjoying the outdoors.

Immediately upon Dory’s arrival we headed out to Sculpterra for a tasting and after getting our bellies nice and primed, the evening quickly merged into the night where we enjoyed yummy cocktails at one of our favorites, The Hatch.  For dinner we decided to try La Cosecha which had been our go to for brunch and we were not disappointed.  The night gets bit blurry from there and looking back we realized there were no pictures taken.

While the effects of the night before were taking its toll, the gorgeous Saturday morning did a lot to dull the pain and we decided to sweat it out by climbing Cerro Alto.

The hike was strenuous, but since we had made the climb a few weeks ago we were able to pace the 2,600 ft. ascent.

The summit was worth the trip.

To reward ourselves for a climb well done, we headed to the Adelaida region for a tasting at Kukkula and left there with a bottle of Sisu for the steak dinner that was to come.

We ended a fantastic day with bellies full of wine and perfectly cooked Rib Eye & Tenderloin.  Life is good.

Before we knew it, the weekend was coming to an end and we ate some bomb Mexican at Habaneros prior to Dory heading back down to SoCal…couldn’t let him go on an empty stomach!

The Final Week

Just as we have experienced with the previous departures from CO and TX, the final week is awkward.  Since packing doesn’t take too long we live as if nothing is about to change and all the while there’s that nagging knowledge that EVERYTHING will be totally different in a week’s time.

But we made the most of it living as normally as possible and taking in the routines we’d become accustomed to during our stay including one of our favorites: the afternoon walk through the Vineyards by our house.

There were many establishments we didn’t get to try during our stay, but we decided to enjoy our favorite staples for the last time, notably Adelaida Cellars, The Hatch and Fish Gaucho.

And before we knew it, it was time to pack up; the fact we were leaving just got real.

Just like that, this portion of the journey has ended.

We’ve come full circle departing as we arrived: car packed, trailer in tow and on to the next adventure.  Bitter sweet is the only way to describe it.

So grateful for this experience.  The Central Coast is a magical place and El Paso de Robles will be forever dear to our hearts.

The first two weekends of May presented us with a unique scenario: we had no travel plans, no visitors and no obligations.  After an insane month of April it’s assumed a lazy weekend of lying around the house wouldn’t be frowned upon, but we just couldn’t sit still knowing there was so much untouched territory and only a month left on the Central Coast…so we explored.

Lake Nacimiento

While on our first free Saturday we wanted to get out, keeping it easy was preferred and Lake Nacimiento being about 20 minutes away from our house in Paso was the perfect choice.

I read about Shorline Trail (which has since been renamed 5k Trail) and figured it would be a nice easy day.

While a good portion of the trail leads across main roads and campsites, the shoreline portion was awesome.

It was beautiful, peaceful and exactly what the doctor ordered.

Cerro Alto

After a relaxing day hanging out by the lake, we got antsy and took on a much more ambitious challenge; the most worthy destinations take the most effort.  This is about a 5.5 mile out and back trail that elevates >2,600 feet…time to put in some work.

The beginning of the climb is a tree covered trail surrounded by beautiful hills and it gives you the impression it will be somewhat easy going.

Once the tree cover is cleared there’s a well placed bench with the first views of the coast in the distance.  Simply gorgeous.

It was hard to peel off the bench and keep going.  How does the view get better than that?  Well, it does.  Looks as if Amy can’t believe her eyes.

Believe it or not it’s there and there is plenty more to go.  At this point we were only about half way up.

When we finally reached the summit, the view was unreal.  We were literally above the clouds overlooking everything from San Simeon to south of Pismo Beach (a HUGE chunk of coastline).

What an incredible day!

Big Sur Hiking

Having experienced the incredible beauty of Big Sur a few weeks back a camping excursion along a coastal ridge overlooking the Pacific just seemed right!

After a ton of research we decided to head up to Prewitt Ridge for camping and hit a few trails along the way.  Our first stop was to Ragged Point.

Climbing down is super steep.

But once you get to the beach it’s sooo worth it!  The sand is made of tiny black pebbles and with the tough climb down you likely have the place to yourself.

While on the beach we could see whales breaching the surface of the water adding to the surreal beauty of the whole experience.  Then real life hits you in the face when you realize you need to climb back up.

So worth it!

Our second stop was the Mill Creek hike on Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd. which was on the way up to Prewitt Ridge.

This is about a 3 mile hike through a shaded forest, right off the coast, along Mill Creek.  It was an enjoyable hike, but not well marked, so the trail was either washed out or we took a wrong turn because it abruptly ended.

With the incredible weekend weather we knew that we would be competing for prime camping real estate and decided not to go looking for the correct path and just head up to stake our claim.

Big Sur Camping

We ended up finding THE perfect spot on Coast Ridge right before the turn onto Prewitt Ridge Rd.

When we arrived it was so cloudy we couldn’t even see the coast below us.

We were both secretly sad.  We came all this way to camp on the coastline and we couldn’t even see it.  Cry me a river right?

Soon enough the clouds cleared up in time for a magnificent sunset.

We had a great night cooking up burgers, drinking bourbon by the fire and enjoying the stars.  We didn’t realize how much we missed camping.

Waking up to this in the morning was incredible!

With no rush to get up, we snoozed for awhile and enjoyed a solid breakfast before taking the scenic drive on PCH south back to Paso.

Our fifth and final action packed weekend of the month was a pleasant surprise: Nick & Esther made the last minute commitment to the cross country haul for a long weekend and we made sure there would be plenty to do.

We called it quits on the workweek mid day Thursday and after picking up the newly engaged couple from the airport we headed out to celebrate at Sculpterra.

After a sampling, we enjoyed Sculpterra’s beautiful property.

This place was full of awesome metal art; it was a fun start.

Following a proper wine country welcome, we took a trip into town for an early dinner and a couple two, three margaritas at one of our Paso Favorites, Fish Gaucho.

Knowing an action packed day was on the horizon, we settled in back at the place, lit a fire and had an early night.

Pacific Coast Highway / Monterey Aquarium

The Plan: Ride to Monterey to check out its renowned aquarium and on the way, enjoy beautiful scenery.  To ensure we accomplished our goal, we drove the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) route.  Going this way added an hour to the trip, but it was totally worth it.

Our first stop was a visit to the Elephant Seals that are posted up across from Hearst Castle; it’s an amazing site.

As we were riding, Amy and I both concluded that the portion of PCH between SLO & Monterey was the most stunning stretch.

Big Sur – Vista Point near Pfeiffer Beach

The ride through Big Sur was absolutely incredible!

If we had just turned around after riding through Big Sur it would have been a memorable day, but of course we, in our take no prisoners fashion, were just getting started as we arrived at the aquarium.

The variety of wildlife and scope of the operation was immense.

After a few hours we’d scoured every portion of the aquarium and decided to enjoy a brew while taking in the beauty of Monterey Bay.

Tasting Day in Paso!

Our first order of business was to stop at Di Raimondos to pick up Italian meats and cheeses for a custom charcuterie lunch.  Not only did we manage to grab some good food, we also ran into a person that pointed us to wineries that we would enjoy later on.

The first stop was Eberle.  This is a vineyard multiple people recommended and the property didn’t disappoint.

On top of such a beautiful setting for a tasting we were offered a tour of the caves where the wine is stored after being processed.

From Eberle we headed towards the Adalaida region to show Nick and Esther our favorite vineyard for lunch, Calcareous.  We found a secluded table and got our charcuterie spread laid out.

After munching out hard, Nick having earlier taken note that there was a Bocce Ball court, insisted we play a game.

After Amy and I routed our competition, it was time to drink more wine and enjoy the view.

From Calcareous we headed to Kukkula, one of the wineries highly recommended from the gentleman at Di Raimondo’s.

This place is a bit off the beaten path which was nice because it was not crowded and had a much more intimate feel.

After a not so great experience at another vineyard, we had a fun stop for an olive oil tasting which also served to soak up some of the wine we’d been consuming.

For our last stop, we had to hit our absolute favorite, Adalaida.

Yet again we had a fantastic tasting with another unique character pouring for us while being funny and informative.

To wrap up the day, we decided to switch it up and go for a beer tasting at the Barrel House.

Yummy beer, live music…and gang signs? Ehh, it was time to be done.

The Beach

There was no resisting it.  We absolutely had to take Nick and Esther to Avila for what would be our third time hiking Ontario Ridge Trail.

It appears Nick and I are examining the sturdiness of the swing which almost surely freaked the hell out of Esther.

Doesn’t matter how many times we’ve hiked this trail.  The view doesn’t get old!

After a beautiful morning of hiking, our bellies were rumbling and we headed up the coast to Morro Bay for a fantastic lunch at The Galley along with some site seeing.

And while we didn’t want to spend a whole day lounging on the beach, there was no way we let Nick and Esther leave without dipping their feet into the sand.

To wrap up a truly amazing weekend, it seemed fitting to stop for one last round of tastings on our way home from the coast.

Our first stop was Tooth & Nail Winery.

This place was set up like an old school castle and had a solo guitar player for entertainment.  Great vibe.

And of course, if you’re coming to Paso and even remotely like drinking beer, Firestone Brewery is a must visit.

Pretty sure Nick and Esther didn’t have any problems falling asleep on their red eye home after this trip.

Hell of a way to finish out a marathon month of fun.

After a wild two weekends in Philly, we dove head first back into the work week to finance the dream as we were headed for a string of three fun weekends in a row.

Kicking it off was a Saturday wine and beer tasting session with Aloy and Eric.

Thinking back to our visit to Calcareous with Dory and crew we felt obliged to share the beauty with our next guests.

Hard not to love this place.  We had a little bit to drink, some tasty charcuterie, and Amy’s pasta special.

Add awesome people, bellies full of wine and yummy food, and the backdrop, not sure there is a better moment in time than that.

After soaking it up to the fullest, we willed ourselves to leave this slice of heaven and sample more of what Paso Robeles’ Adalaida Wine Region had to offer.

We had a underwhelming tasting at Villa Creek so decided to go with what’s turned out to be our favorite vineyard: Adalaida Cellars.

They just opened their new tasting room and it’s insane!

We enjoyed a fantastic tasting.  And by fantastic it’s not just the wine.  Yes, the wine is good – really good – but as important, every person that’s poured for us has been amazing.

What is Amy doing you ask?  Being three tastings deep, we started to let  loose a little.

Yup, by let loose I mean funny air poses in Adelaida’s parking lot.

Eric wins.

We wrapped up a great day sampling beer at Firestone Walker Brewery.

On Sunday morning.  We grabbed brunch at one of our go to spots, La Cosecha, and saw Aloy and Eric off.  We were so happy to be able to chill with them one more time while in CA.

BUT that’s not the end; we weren’t done after their departure.  As Aloy and Eric left, Jordan and Jeska arrived in Paso to hang out and work for the week.

It was awesome having them in town for so long.  We were able to share the normal routine we established with family which was fun.

Here we took Jeska on our after work walk through the vineyards near our house.

And a major bonus was having them during Passover.

Our mothers were so happy we did a Seder.

During the week we were all pounding out phone calls, but obviously made the most of our time together.  We all took a gorgeous bike ride through the vineyards near our house on Linne Rd. and had a fantastic dinner at a farm to table spot called Thomas Hill Organics.

The dinner was out of this world good.

After a solid week of work (and fun) we hit the coast and had a day at the beach.

If you know us and the Rayboy’s, a dog beach was basically a must with their wolf pack and our Chica Bear.

To wrap up the day we hit Morro Bay for lunch.  Another must visit location when visiting the Central Coast.

After getting it in for a week+, Jordan and Jess headed up to OR while we enjoyed a bike ride through wine country, stopping at Cass Winery for lunch as  we wound down the weekend.

Cali life is pretty awesome!

 

We said goodbye to an awesome month of March with a bang.  A very chilled out bang, but bang nonetheless.

Dory, Sarah and Katie rolled up from SoCal for the weekend and we were determined to show the crew why we’ve fallen head over heels in love with the Central Coast.

Not sure there is any better place than this!

If you’re following the blog, this site might look familiar.  We went back to the Ontario Ridge Trail; it is so beautiful we just needed to share it.

The initial climb to the top is pretty intense, but when you’re finished it’s all worth it.

And of course Sarah Sunshine added an extra layer of good vibes!

Strolling parallel to the Avila Beach coastline is unbelievable and we had a PERFECT day.

Hard to beat this view.

Even when facing away from the water the scenery is gorgeous.

After 5 miles, everyone was ready to take it down a notch and sample the grapes; a tip from a local landed us a Calcareous.

So glad we followed that advice!

This vineyard is incredible.  Situated at the top of a giant hill, the location embodies everything one would picture when imagining wine country.

There was no shortage of places to lounge and we took advantage of all of it.

We enjoyed hours of eating and drinking without a care in the world.

Fantastic!

With time to spare before the wineries shut down (about 5pm) common sense dictated that we do another tasting.

Halter Ranch was just around the bend from Calcareous and, after such an enjoyable experience the last time we were there, visiting again was a no brainer.

The tasting was outstanding and the obligatory lounge session that followed was the perfect way to wind down our day.

While we were sitting back, Chica was on patrol.

We ended the day completely exhausted, grabbed a yummy dinner at Fish Gaucho and called it an early night.

The next morning we headed back to the coast to check out Morrow Bay before it was time to part ways.

We grabbed some food and strolled around a bit…enjoying every moment.

We were so pleased to host such special guests.  Nothing like having family in town.

A few months ago Shai told us he was going to be in San Francisco for a work conference and with us being under four hours away in Paso – fuhgeddaboudit – it wasn’t even a question that we’d be headed back up to see him.

Also, thanks to Facebook, we realized that Kay-D lived in San Francisco and seeing my former roommate from FL was an absolute must.  Yeh, this all came together nice.  Katie, brought her boy Josh and we met up for a tasty/authentic dinner at La Fusion – along with multiple bottles of wine – and then headed out for drinks.

Great picture right?  Aside from all the beautiful people, the Russian couple that shot this were definitely pro’s.  The girl was shining her iPhone light on us and the guy snapped away till he got the perfect pic.  Thanks cool random people!

Katie: Calling you out girl – hope to see you and Josh for some primitive camping at Big Sur in May!

PCH & Redwoods

The next day was for us and Shai.  We were resolved to give Shai a taste of our adventure which started heading south towards Santa Cruz via Pacific Coast Highway; the scenery was of course gorgeous!

San Gregorio

We stopped off at a number of spots including Half Moon Bay:

San Gregorio State Beach:

Which was incredible!

Buuut, walking back down was tough!  How do you muster the strength to leave a site like the one above?

Well leaving only sucked until we got to the next place.

Shark Fin Cove:

As you drive down PCH there are a ton of spots to pull off and take in the beautiful vistas so you need to be judicious, otherwise you’re stopping every 2 minutes.  We almost blew past the place above, but we all saw how official it looked, pulled a quick u-turn, and doubled back.

Once we parked  and got to the trailhead leading down to the cove, we knew it was worth it.

While there, the tide was rising and we couldn’t resist the temptation to take this series of pictures.

Shai and Amy got a bit wet, but who cares!  Look where we’re at!

Couldn’t help but post this video.  Really gives the whole picture.

After peeling away from this magical place, we drove through Santa Cruz and cut north up route 9 heading to Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

Seeing Redwoods is always a pretty awesome experience.

We took about a 3+ mile hike on a fairly empty trail enjoying these centuries old monsters.

After a long day we rested and cleaned ourselves up before heading out to see Ran.  We met up for a bomb Italian dinner at La Briciola and, of course, Ran hooked it up by getting us in VIP to some fancy club in SoMa.

Yeh, needless to say we had a fun time.

On our last leg of a full on fun marathon we met up with Aloy and Erik.  I think last time Shai and Aloy saw each other was in our teens so that’s cool.

It started off by Erik and Aloy taking us up to Mt. Davidson.

This place is awesome.  It’s the highest natural point in San Francisco and has an amazing view of, well, everything!

We had more outdoors activities planned, but we got rained out.  So, what do you do?  Only thing you can do: drink beer at an awesome brewery.

If you know don’t know 21^st Amendment by name, it’s the place that brews Hell or High Watermelon.

They even give you a slice of watermelon when you order the drink…nice touch.

There were so many yummy looking beers on the menu we couldn’t choose, so we each got a flight.  Makes sense, right?

We ended up hanging out there for a couple of hours shooting the breeze and just like that, it was time to take Shai to the airport.

Well, all good things come to an end…till next time that is.

Thanks to our family/San Francisco crew for making this trip sensational!

Having two weekends in a row to ourselves, we decided to take in all the amazingness the Central Coast has to offer…aaaand it’s a lot.

Since we arrived, we’ve been itching for a nice hike with beach vistas and fortunately for us, Avila Beach was under an hour drive.

Yup, just jump in the car, take an incredibly scenic drive south and you end up here.

There are a bunch of similar hikes in the vicinity, however surprisingly many of the public areas in CA are not dog friendly and no way Chica doesn’t roll with us.

So we found Ontario Ridge Trail and multiple connectors that allow for a nice 4.5-5 mile hike that begins at a gorgeous meadow.

Immediately upon arrival you’re tasked with a super steep climb.

And are rewarded with insane views!

The entire hike runs along a ridge parallel to the surreal beauty of coastline.

What an incredible day!

Glimpse into the Daily Routine:

As we labor on the phones between awesome weekends we’ve been making sure to enjoy the longer days with bike rides through the wineries along Linne Rd after work.

We’ve enjoyed the 16 mile round trip ride from home to Cass Winery and back.  3-4 of these so far and it hasn’t gotten old yet.

Of course, after we exercise, Chica gets out to the empty field by our house and gets to play too.

Wine Tasting:

Our second free weekend in a row was dedicated to sampling more wine and Halter Ranch came highly recommended.

We weren’t disappointed, the property was perfectly situated and the grapes were tasty.

In a nice turn of events, we met this group of amazing people that invited us to join their wine feast.

Definitely seasoned wine pro’s, they schooled us on how to properly prepare for a day  of tastings with yummy meats, cheeses, pasta’s and wine prepared ahead of time.

Not sure the day could have gotten any better…but it did!

On the way home we were passing by Adelaida Cellars (one of the wineries we really enjoyed on a previous foray into wine country) and had to get back to buy another couple bottles of their table wine, Recessed Red.

Really love the tasting experience at this place.

Life is good!

Yes! We work, promise.

Being 4 hours from the Bay Area we definitely took advantage of the RSA conference being held in San Francisco.

And hey, if we’re going to San Francisco, might as well go up early and spend the weekend.  Couldn’t have worked out better.

After posting up at our last minute accommodations in the Marina District, we had a long overdue beer before meeting up with Ran and Rinat for dinner.

As expected, Ran chose a delicious Peruvian restaurant, Parada where we enjoyed amazing seafood.  Pretty great seeing Ran and Rinat…just wish we didn’t forget the picture!

Our next free day we met up with Aloy and Erik for a trip out to the Muir Woods National Monument.

We took about a 7 mile hike (round trip) up the Redwood Trail that leads to Panoramic Highway.  The climb was awesome and once you elevate above the tree line it was gorgeous.

Right on the Panoramic Highway we found the Mountain Home Inn which THE perfect spot to grab a beer and snacks before the climb back down.

View was insane!

From there Aloy and Erik trooped it out and took us to Fisherman’s Wharf.

This place is super touristy, but glad we went; the viewpoints  are awesome with the Golden Gate and Bay Bridge’s on each side with Alcatraz and the surrounding hills in between.

What a great day!

Oh yeh, we came for work too!  Here ya go:

Even that was a great time.  It’s awesome meeting people you’ve talked to on the phone for years.

We continued our exploration of CA by getting on our first “legit” hike in the area, Bishop’s Peak.

This is a super steep climb of about 950 feet in elevation over 3.5 miles.

It was cool to see so many people out and active whether it was hiking or rock climbing.  We can see how the views make it hard to sit in the house though.

Doesn’t hurt that it’s 70 degrees and sunny in February either.

At the top we took a few minutes to lounge and take in the beauty.  We could even see a glimpse of the coast over the hills in the distance.  Amazing!

After we finished our hike, we figured it would make sense to do some wine tastings.  It’s kind of hard not to when you have to pass by hundreds of them everywhere you go.

The next day’s weather proved to be perfect, again, so… lets just take an incredible 40 minute drive to the beach.

Now it just so happens, a stretch of beach near us is a dog beach.  Needless to say Chica was pumped.

This whole idea of us sitting out there, in the middle of February, on what could be considered an exotic beach is pretty sweet.

Everybody enjoyed and had a great time.

And of course on the way home, we passed countless wineries and decided to sample more of the local grapes.

Yup! Central Coast is official.

Insane…it’s literally the only word that comes to mind after sitting for minutes trying to figure out how to start this post.

We’ve had quite a few memorable experiences since the beginning of this journey and this one, well, was insane.

We kicked it off with Sean & Pat arriving in Paso and taking a drive along Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) up to Hearst Castle.

Let me just say, William Randolph Hearst was a baller! This place is official; the outside and inside décor is a mix of super exclusive stuff from all over the world.

At one point William had acquired 250,000+ acres of this amazing real estate.

While the tour itself was pretty weak, just walking around on our own and enjoying the scenery was fantastic.

Wish we woke up to this view every day!

And basically, right across the street, were a whole lot of Elephant Seals – no way we don’t check that out on the way home.

The next day we sampled the winery scene that Paso has to offer starting with lunch and a tasting at Cass Winery.

Fantastic food and wine!  We’ll be back, Cass.

With full bellies and a buzz we hit up Sculpterra which came highly recommended; it didn’t disappoint.

The folks providing the tasting took our craziness in stride and actually seemed to be amused, or at least did a good job of pretending to enjoy our presence.

Can’t say that the band outside thought too highly of us though.  They probably figured they’d be playing in front of a low key audience on Super Bowl Sunday…

Yeah…no.

Mammoth

The ride to Mammoth is about a 7 hour trip, but it didn’t matter; the drive was gorgeous with incredibly diverse scenery.

After passing through lush green hills, somehow the terrain turned to desert in an instant and we were headed toward Mammoth on the Eastern Sierra Scenic Byway.

This stretch of 395 is so gorgeous, Sean risked life and limb to get theeee perfect picture.

Even more impressive was our 50 mile detour off 395.

Death Valley is unreal!

The National Park is HUGE and we barely scratched the surface; nonetheless, stopping off to see Rainbow Canyon was so worth it.

After an early night following a long drive, we woke up ready to take care of business; as you can see, we completely crushed those bunny slopes.

Pat and Sean on the other hand were a bit more adventurous.

Who’s that third guy in the picture? Oh, just Tom who happened to be at Mammoth…what a random/awesome surprise.

Couldn’t be more grateful to our friends for such an awesome trip.

After a week at Mammoth, Sean parted ways and took a flight to SoCal while Amy, Pat and I doubled back to Paso.  The three of us spent the rest of the weekend as it started: eating, drinking and scoping out the scene.

We sampled the local breweries, BarrelHouse & Firestone which are 10 minutes from our spot in Paso – amazing.

This place is getting better and better!

Wrapping up the trip, we decided to ride Pat by Morro Bay on the way to the airport.

Not sure if it was nice or cruel of us to stop at the coast knowing Pat was on the way back to below freezing temperatures in Philly…