The Coffee House

[SquarePeg37 8]

We saw the elephant seals on our PCH road trip in 2014. Very cool sight. Smelly. I’ll see if I can dig up a photo from that day.

Wait what? Let's see if Gary got this straight ... you traveled PCH, presumably from SoCal to NorCal ... and at the end of the trip you returned to Boston ... amazing.

Yup. A west coast girls road trip with Princess (she was 11 then and still liked me) and my mom (who had never been to CA and wanted to "see it all"). We started in SD and ended in SF. 10 nights, 6 hotels, 800+ miles driven.

We visited:

San Diego Zoo/Mission Beach
La Jolla
Anaheim/Disneyland
Santa Monica/LA/Hollywood/Universal
Santa Barbara
Pismo Beach
Hearst Castle
Big Sur
Monterey Aquarium
San Francisco/Muir Woods/Sausalito

had a blast but it was exhausting!

 

[SquarePeg37 8]

Next trip will be for me - wine country, mountains, beaches only

 

[davidharmier60]

4.5 hours today. Not much to report.
Going to the second bank in town to see if they have a box of pennies. Then PO.
Or maybe then to our bank. We'll see.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[snowbear117 48]

Happy Burns Day (an night) to a' ye.

Address to a Haggis
Fair fa' your honest, sonsie face,
Great chieftain o the puddin'-race!
Aboon them a' ye tak your place,
Painch, tripe, or thairm:
Weel are ye worthy o' a grace
As lang's my arm.

The groaning trencher there ye fill,
Your hurdies like a distant hill,
Your pin wad help to mend a mill
In time o need,
While thro your pores the dews distil
Like amber bead.

His knife see rustic Labour dight,
An cut you up wi ready slight,
Trenching your gushing entrails bright,
Like onie ditch;
And then, O what a glorious sight,
Warm-reekin, rich!

Then, horn for horn, they stretch an strive:
Deil tak the hindmost, on they drive,
Till a' their weel-swall'd kytes belyve
Are bent like drums;
The auld Guidman, maist like to rive,
'Bethankit' hums.

Is there that owre his French ragout,
Or olio that wad staw a sow,
Or fricassee wad mak her spew
Wi perfect scunner,
Looks down wi sneering, scornfu view
On sic a dinner?

Poor devil! see him owre his trash,
As feckless as a wither'd rash,
His spindle shank a guid whip-lash,
His nieve a nit;
Thro bloody flood or field to dash,
O how unfit!

But mark the Rustic, haggis-fed,
The trembling earth resounds his tread,
Clap in his walie nieve a blade,
He'll make it whissle;
An legs an arms, an heads will sned,
Like taps o thrissle.

Ye Pow'rs, wha mak mankind your care,
And dish them out their bill o fare,
Auld Scotland wants nae skinking ware
That jaups in luggies:
But, if ye wish her gratefu prayer,
Gie her a Haggis

-- Robert Burns

 

[Gary A.]

We saw the elephant seals on our PCH road trip in 2014. Very cool sight. Smelly. I’ll see if I can dig up a photo from that day.

Wait what? Let's see if Gary got this straight ... you traveled PCH, presumably from SoCal to NorCal ... and at the end of the trip you returned to Boston ... amazing.

I'm sorry, Gary...but California will never be described as "wicked pissah" by a Boston girl.

"Gnarly" is more a propos ...

 

[Gary A.]

We saw the elephant seals on our PCH road trip in 2014. Very cool sight. Smelly. I’ll see if I can dig up a photo from that day.

Wait what? Let's see if Gary got this straight ... you traveled PCH, presumably from SoCal to NorCal ... and at the end of the trip you returned to Boston ... amazing.

Yup. A west coast girls road trip with Princess (she was 11 then and still liked me) and my mom (who had never been to CA and wanted to "see it all"). We started in SD and ended in SF. 10 nights, 6 hotels, 800+ miles driven.

We visited:

San Diego Zoo/Mission Beach
La Jolla
Anaheim/Disneyland
Santa Monica/LA/Hollywood/Universal
Santa Barbara
Pismo Beach
Hearst Castle
Big Sur
Monterey Aquarium
San Francisco/Muir Woods/Sausalito

had a blast but it was exhausting!

There's a lot to see and do out here. For your next road trip out here you should visits the Missions ... stretching from San Diego to above San Francisco. Many are off the beaten path, but all interesting and photogenic.

 

[Gary A.]

Next trip will be for me - wine country, mountains, beaches only

Which wine country:
1) Napa Sonoma;
2) Paso Robles;
3) Los Olivos/Santa Rita Hills;
4) Temecula;
5) Central Valley/Gold Country.

It is a days drive from Lake Tahoe/Sierra Nevada to Sonoma. Gary much prefers Sonoma to Napa. (Napa is far too commercialized for Gary's tastes. Sorta like an adult Disneyland.)

 

[SquarePeg37 8]

Which wine country:
1) Napa Sonoma;
2) Paso Robles;
3) Los Olivos/Santa Rita Hills;
4) Temecula;
5) Central Valley/Gold Country.

It is a days drive from Lake Tahoe/Sierra Nevada to Sonoma. Gary much prefers Sonoma to Napa. (Napa is far too commercialized for Gary's tastes. Sorta like an adult Disneyland.)

I'm not sure what the area was called but when we drove from Santa Barbara to Pismo Beach it was the only time we really deviated from the coastal road and we drove past some really beautiful places that looked like vineyards to me. If I had been alone and it had been earlier in the day I would have stopped there. I remember we had stayed in SB longer than planned and got a late start to Pismo Beach and I didn't want to be driving too long at night... Looking at a map now I believe it was the San Marcos pass road to the 154 to the 101.

 

[Gary A.]

That would be the Santa Barbara County wine country or in particular the Los Olivos/Santa Rita Hills. Many winos believe that the best Pinot Noir in the world is coming out of the Santa Rita Hills just outside of Lompoc. That is about a 2.5 hour drive from Disneyland. (Gary knows you know Disneyland.) Before you go there watch the movie Sideways. A wine cult movie centered in that area. Another entertaining wine movie is Bottleshock, a must see for any serious trip to California wine country.

 

[Gary A.]

Speaking of movies ... Mary Lou, Maggie and Gary watched Baby Driver last night. Very very entertaining. Gary really enjoyed the interweaving of the music with the movie, the shear quirkiness of the plot and players and the outstanding driving/car scenes.

 

[Gary A.]

Remember that those wineries are not the magnets like Napa-Sonoma and close up early. There is some nightlife in Santa Barbara ... but said trip should be more about relaxation and getting away from stress ... than riotous good fun.

 

[davidharmier60]

Found a box of pennies at the second bank in town. Got a thick stack of wrappers.
Gonna dive in and see what I got.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[Gary A.]

PS- Princess will be bored as hell. But your pooch would have a good time. We've taken Cookie and Maggie with us on our wine tasting trips.

The Cook leading us into Sterling Vineyards, one of her favorite watering hole.

 

[SquarePeg37 8]

That would be the Santa Barbara County wine country or in particular the Los Olivos/Santa Rita Hills. Many winos believe that the best Pinot Noir in the world is coming out of the Santa Rita Hills just outside of Lompoc. That is about a 2.5 hour drive from Disneyland. (Gary knows you know Disneyland.) Before you go there watch the movie Sideways. A wine cult movie centered in that area. Another entertaining wine movie is Bottleshock, a must see for any serious trip to California wine country.

I've seen that movie and it was great. Excellent actors.

Speaking of movies ... Mary Lou, Maggie and Gary watch Baby Driver last night. Very very entertaining. Gary really enjoyed the interweaving of the music with the movie, the shear quirkiness of the plot and players and the outstanding driving/car scenes.

Thanks for the tip. Haven't seen this yet.

Remember that those wineries are not the magnets like Napa-Sonoma and close up early. There is some nightlife in Santa Barbara ... but said trip should be more about relaxation and getting away from stress ... than riotous good fun.

For me the trip would be more about scenery than being seen! I'm not much for "nightlife" these days. I prefer day drinking, lol.

PS- Princess will be bored as hell. But your pooch would have a good time. We've taken Cookie and Maggie with us on our wine tasting trips.

The Cook leading us into Sterling Vineyards, one of her favorite watering hole.

I'm saving this trip for grown ups only. Princess and the King will be staying home.

 

[grrr8scott]

"I seem to like whatever wine Gary does."

You beat Gary to the punch, lol. Next week Gary will be back in the Paso Robles wine country.

Paso is a great area. Any idea which wineries you'll be visiting?

We’re really going for the Elephant Seals. But we are member’s at Wolff and Saucelito Canyon, so definitely those two for sure. Do you have any recommendations?

I live near Modesto in the Central Valley, so I'm more familiar with the Lodi and foothill wineries in the gold country. I've been to the central coast a couple times, though. Eberle is supposed to be good, but I haven't been there yet, and haven't had their wine, either. Everyone raves about Tobin James, but I was disappointed, but maybe that was because I had high expectations. Both of those are east of Paso Robles. Turley in Templeton makes great wines, but I haven't been to their tasting room. We visited Clesi, also in Templeton, and we liked their wines, primarily Italian varietals. We'll try them again next time we go.

Have you seen the elephant seals before? I read about them last year, but haven't made the trip over to see them. Someday.

Hope you have a great trip. I'd like to hear about it when you get a chance.

Mary Lou and Gary have visited many Central California wineries in Lodi and Gold Country. We really enjoyed the Livermore area. Eberle is great. All their wines are above average. Nice picnic area in the back often with music under the patio cover. Tobin James is a place to be seen ... not a place for fine wines. We, my much much better half, Mary Lou and Gary enjoy discovering new wines and chatting with others who enjoy discovering new wines ... but Tobin James was more of a bar/nightclub than a refined wine tasting experience. A couple of Gary's favorite wineries in Paso are Venteux and Justin. Gary rubs his head ... Turley sounds very familiar ... isn't that up in Gold Country? Being in SoCal, the closest wine country is in Temecula or Malibu. The stuff/quality coming out of Malibu sucks.

You gotta check out the Elephant Seals. Hundreds of these huge, ugly, big nosed, hairy slugs slithering across the beach, screwing in the waves and birthing on the sand. The bulls can get as long as 15+ feet and weight in at 6,500 pounds. Simply Extraordinary and Wonderful. The primary public viewing area is on top a hundred foot cliff rendering viewing safe and sane. But if you travel up or down the coast you can get eye-to-eye ... which is hazardous and insane. About now is the height of the Central Coast population and it is loud and smelly. Well worth a drive, take long lenses and binos for the primary viewing. Take a wide and a life insurance policy for an eye-to-eye meeting.