The third part of my American Adventure was uniting with my friends from Virginia Beach. Friday, 7/21, I linked up with Mark and Roxanne at the San Francisco airport. After enduring a bit of rental car drama, the three of us drove south along 101 to Paso Robles. The traffic was awful. When finally made it to our airb&b rental we were beyond relieved and excited! Here we rendezvoused with the rest of our VB friends. Sue, Jeff and their daughter, Allison, had spent the week in San Diego visiting our friend, Sara and her family. They were driving north to Paso Robles.
The reunion was magnificent! And definitely better than our selfie stick pictures. Somehow we couldn’t quite get all seven of us in one picture! Or smiling. Or looking at the camera.
After our snack, we decided to charge our glasses and take a walk around the grounds of the airb&b.
The owner’s dog acted as an escort.
As the sunset, we seized the opportunity for a few modeling shots.
This one makes me laugh. Mark and his paparazzi’s shadows.
Allison and her paparazzi!
After dinner, Roxanne began the first lesson of Wine Camp. She used her socks to school us on her expectations.
Saturday morning, before our day of Wine Camp, Sara and I enjoyed a run through the J. Lohr vineyards.
Our first appointment for wine tasting was at 10:30 at the J.Lohr vineyard. Off we go!
Another friend in VB helped to arrange a personal tasting experience with Elisa. Despite having an appointment and being told not to be late, Elisa seemed to have no clue who we were or why we asked for her. None the less, she provided us with a VIP experience.
Perhaps you notice the cat ears? I brought them with me from Japan for us to wear. We spent the day explaining the purpose. They are “kawaii”, Allison (our driver for the day) was the cat herder, we wanted to be able to find each other, we wanted to fit in with the numerous bachelorette parties, and well, because Japan. We never quite perfected the story. Personally, I think cat herder was most appropriate.
Our second winery of the day was at Eberle winery. This winery was our favorite for several reasons. 1. The staff was super friendly. Even when we broke a glass!
2. The wines were delicious.
3. The tour of the winery caves was interesting and our tour guide was super animated.
4. Free pizza.
After a stop for lunch, we continued to our third winery, Sculpterra.
The wines were delicious and the sculptures throughout the gardens were really impressive and unique.
Our fourth and final winery was San Marcos Creek Vineyard. It was a quiet winery with delicious wines. It was the perfect quiet ending to a lively and exciting day. Kanpie! To dear friends!
Our five souvenir bottles from the day!
I want to give a special shoutout to our driver, Allison. She drove us around all day and patiently waited for us at each winery. She earned the highly esteemed honor of Cat Herder. Thank you, Allison, for enduring the day and keeping us safe!
