to the ocean

sorry that i am a few days behind! i've been having way too much fun to blog. last friday, the 2nd, we left death valley and headed west to san luis obispo, where my aunt mary lives. on our way out we stopped to take pictures of this joshua tree. of couse, they are misnamed--they are really overgrown yucca plants and not trees at all, but were really cool nonetheless. this one was a little bigger than the others.
other than that, friday was spent driving--more twisty roads--and getting the tires on my car replaced. we also ran a few errands we needed to take care of, reveling in the fact that we were once again someplace with real stores and real things in them.
so saturday we woke up, and since aunt mary had to take her grandkids to lax, we wandered out on our own to enjoy the wine country. the area around san luis obispo (from hereon, slo), is known for their chardonnay and pinot noir, if i am remembering correctly. we drove around to a few of the wineries, where we were able to split wine samplings. this meant that not only was it cheaper, but we were able to enjoy it all more. i learned a lot that day, and enjoyed it all (mostly) in the process. half of it was because of the beautiful scenery though. rolling vineyards , with mountains in the background. and of course, sunny. although, for the record, it was foggy half of the time we were in slo--what they call, rather mysteriously, 'the marine layer.' it's also cooler in slo than in los angeles, and saturday afternoon was the only time it really got warm at all. anyway, you can see in the picture to the right just how many vineyards are in the area: and those are just the ones off of that one road.



sunday was the fourth of july, so we spent much of the day enjoying aunt mary's beautiful view, above, just sitting around catching up. we did go to her local country club to watch the kids (ahem, dads) built cardboard boats for a neighborhood race and enjoy a delicious barbeque/veggie buffet. one of the huge upsides of california is that they get absolutely wonderful fruits and veggies almost all year. but for the evening, since it was the fourth of july, after all, we headed down to pismo beach to watch the biggest fireworks display in her little area of central california coast. we headed down only to discover that the entire town, a small beach town, was covered in pedestrians and parked cars. luckily, we were able to convince a family to let us park in front of their driveway, so we actually had a really great view. also, mum had bought a bottle of sparkling pink wine--i forget exactly what it was called in france. so the three of us sat on the hood of the car, eating some delicious strawberries to go with our wonderful sparkling wine. it really was a great fourth of july, and the fireworks just finished everything off nicely.
monday, our last day in slo, we got in a pretty full day of sight-seeing. first off we went to brunch with aunt mary and a group of women who make up a knitting club. while not much knitting was done, it was a lot of fun to talk with them and get to know some of mary's friends. from there we headed to avila beach, where we wandered down a pier, watching the boats and hoping to see some seals. we ended up getting a glass of wine at a restaurant at the end of the pier that had a glass room with a great view. luckily, on our way back down the pier, we saw some very impressive sea lions showing off at the bottom of a set of stairs which led to the water. they even went so far as to go jumping, soaring really, in and out of the water on their way out to sea. while it was still foggy, it was nice to see the pacific ocean again, and to see all the people fishing and crabbing! i, as a non-fisher, was certainly impressed.

from the avila beach pier we headed back inland to the madonna inn. now when they say inn, they really mean old school resort. it has a limo service, two restaurants, a gourmet baker, a wine cellar, men's and women's boutiques, and a spa. aunt mary took us around the place, showing us everything. first off, just about everything that can be is either pink, sparkly, or covered in flowers. and i do mean everything. the picture below is of one of the dining areas. it looks like a literal fairy tale--they even have fancy dancing on friday nights. the funny thing is, it was established and designed by a man! i certainly don't know many men who would opt for this decor, but apparently even the likes of john wayne were willing to put up with it. the rooms themselves are all done in different themes, from red to western. luckily, and you may not be able to tell this from the pictures, it doesn't actually go too far from gaudy into the grotesque. it looks like a fairy-tale, but not completely absurd. at least not in person. in my opinion.the picture to the left is of the outside front of the madonna inn. it was really neat for me to see, since i had visited aunt mary before, but had not seen this particular oddity. what a strange group we americans are. and to think that hurst castle is only about an hour away from the madonna inn.

after the inn, our next stop was at the san luis obispo mission (obispo means bishop, for any of those interested). the mission was beautiful! while the mission no longer functions, the church still holds services, as well as local concerts. we wandered around the beautiful garden (ye gods! the plants they grow in california!) these were some of the original bells, which have now obviously been replaced. the fog had rolled away, so we were once again left in sunlight. i really like spanish mission architecture--there is a certain beauty in the starkness of the dark wood and the white walls, and the flowers murals are also quite nice.

after exploring, we needed a little break. so after cleaning ourselves up we headed into town to a fantastic restaurant called ciopinot. interestingly, mum had met the owner's wife in portland in a weird happenstance (she also suggested a tire place to us in slo). so we went to this restaurant on her recommendation, and got free appetizers for it! our meal was the best we've had on this trip. the crab cakes were the best thing, i thought, but my salmon and aunt mary's sole were also delicious. we (and by that i mean they, i was the designated driver) drank too much, meaning that i was the only one awake all the way through the film we had rented. nonetheless, it was a great day finished off by a wonderful evening. thanks, wendy!