Visitors at our darkened door

On Friday night, Audrey and I had just finished putting Sophie down for bed and were preparing for a Redbox evening, when we heard a knock at our door. We both froze since we don't know hardly anyone up here and it's very dark on our street at night, so we had no idea what to expect out there on the pitch black porch. I crept (in my boxers) up to the front door, found the light switch, flicked it on, and saw none other than our friends Corey and Jo Ann staring back through the glass at me! They had driven 6 hours to surprise us. I was shocked to say the least. I put on some pants, fixed some cocktails, and prepared for a totally different kind of weekend.

Corey and Jo Ann were the first people to really identify the Paso Robles area as a possible place to live, we just beat them to it by a few years thanks to our ability to be flexible right now. They see the beauty of the land, the diversity of things to do, and the friendliness of the locals, and have opened our eyes to the same. So as one big happy group, we went on a two-day tour of the land, drinking in all that was out there to enjoy (no pun intended).

Our first stop was a picnic lunch at the Hearthstone winery in the Adelaida area of Paso Robles. This valley shares the same geographic features as the Rhone Valley in the south of France and is renowned for their quality wines. This small family winery rests on top of a hill overlooking a walnut orchard and green vineyards as far as the eye can see. For the bargain cost of a shared bottle of wine, we ate lunch in one of the most beautiful spots imaginable. We were the only folks there for most of the lunch so it felt like we owned the place.

After lunch, we continued toward the sea on Highway 46. We stopped at a farm store on Santa Rosa Creek road called Linn's. This nice place has excellent apple and berry pies, and we bought a couple for the road before heading back to Atascadero. A peacock guarded the front door.

The next day we headed to Morro Bay for a stop at our only Tiki bar in the area, Harbor Hut. This (mostly) tiki establishment is a far cry from tiki temples like Don the Beachcomber's and the Kon Tiki, but they do have a great view of the bay and fantastic food. We all enjoyed watching the boats and kayaks coming and going out the bay, and even saw a few sea lions frolicking in the water just 20 feet from our table.

From Morro Bay, we came back through the Adeliada Valley to Lake Naciemento Road and stopped at Mondo Winery for a little wine tasting. Mondo is owned by two surfer brothers from Southern California, and has the relaxed atmosphere of what you'd expect from a surfer's winery. We sat in the outdoor veranda area while the tasting lady brought us different wines to sample. The views from this winery are superb and we all enjoyed the temporary decompression from daily life.

A group of wild turkeys were in the parking lot when we arrived.

Our friends eventually had to head back home Sunday night, so we're back on our own up here. It's business as usual...work, chores, and baby stuff. Sophie is doing great and is saying more words. I couldn't be more proud of her this weekend when we walked into the Harbor Hut and she pointed up on the wall to a Polynesian mask and said "TIK...I"! That's my little girl.

Written by Chris Johns