SAN SIMEON, CAMBRIA and PASO ROBLES, CALIFORNIA

On Sunday we took a drive with Adam, Alma, and the kids (and of course Angel) in their new (almost new)mini-van.  With 3 rows of seating it was very comfortable.  We stayed at a Best Western on the beach in San Simeon.  We stayed there a few years ago and remembered how much we enjoyed it.  It is a pet friendly hotel which makes it great for us.  We had an ocean view room with a fire place.   Really nice.  I don't know how many of you have ever been to this area of California, but if you haven't, you really need to.  It is just beautiful.  Just up the road from the hotel is Hearst Castle, and just beyond that is Piedras Blancas that is an Elephant Seal Vista Point.  Each year in the Spring the beach is just loaded with seal pups that go through a molting process of sheding their birthday coat.  What we saw when we visited was hundreds of seals just lying around, making noise and some were playing.  As pups, they sure were big.

After our stay in San Simeon we visited a friend of Adam's that is a major sponsor of the theater that Adam is the Managing Director for at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, Ca.  Anyone who is familiar with drums or bongos is most likely familiar with the name Remo.  To make a long story short we visited their home in Cambria.  The house was beautiful and view of the pacific from the back porch was just amazing.  From there we followed them to their vineyard in Paso Robles which was about a 45 minute drive.  Yes, I did say vineyard.  Remo and his wife Ami where so gracious and showed us around their property.  It was truly a once in life time expierence.  They do not process the grapes, but instead sell them to Opolo Winery that produce several hundred cases of Remo Belli Vineyard Zinfandel that I must say is fantastic.    

We are still in Valencia and will be until April 25 at which time we will begin our travels to northern California.  We will have more on that later as our plans start to firm up.  Still a few weeks to go so we are making the best of our time here with the kids and the local area.

Until next time, miles of smiles.

Charlie, Andrea and Angel