Monday, August 23, 2004


Last week in a Nutshell

To celebrate our 1 yr wedding anniversary K and I spent 3 days down in Arroyo Grande (just south of San Luis Obisbo) at the majestic estate of a local winery. Although we have stayed at a friend's small winery up in Napa before this one was unreal. I'm talking 1800 acres of lush vinyards. The estate was a gorgeous villa atop a hill with 360 degree views of the countryside. The pool appeared to fall off the edge hill into rows and rows of lemon trees. And to top it all off, the gameroom housed a sweet brunswick regulation pool table. Talk about heaven.

We spent most of the two days relaxing by the pool, drinking wine (only me), eating at local restaurants in nearby Pismo Beach, and playing alot of pool. We were even crazy enough to drive down to Santa Barbara for literally a few minutes. The sky was overcast and frankly the place looked like any other generic California coastal town. That's what we get not planning the trip i guess...

On the way back, we stopped at a strange Danish village called Solvang and grabbed some pastries and stuff. I was a little bitter about wasting an entire afternoon on the road but I got over it as soon as I was swimming in the pool back at the estate.

On our way back to da yay we decided to check out Hearst Castle. Now this place was the most extravagant pimp home I've ever seen. William Randolph Hearst... a muthafuckin big baller.

A couple things to note though... I wish there was a sign that stating it would be in your best interest to head south on 1 to get back on 101. That 80 mile drive along Hwy 1 from San Simeon to Monterey was treacherous and it really took alot out of me. And yes, I really need to take it easy on the caffeine during long drives. Paranoia seems to result from excessive alertness.