We started the last leg of the return to southern California by spending four days at the San Benito Thousand Trails preserve in the little-known (and tiny) town of Paicines, about 15 miles south of Hollister. The preserve is well off the beaten path, and is very nice.
Though we were in the middle of nowhere, Becky had arranged for us to see a number of people. On Saturday, we drove 65 miles (to Campbell, near San Jose) to meet Barb and Michael Penna at the local Octoberfest celebration. They live in Salinas. We had last seen them in April. It was fun seeing them again. They are neat people.
The Octoberfest was quite an event---with several downtown streets blocked off to set up the usual trinket booths and a few food and beer stands. There was such a mob that it took a half-hour to get a beer. We decided to have dinner there, at a regular (though very different) restaurant inside the perimeter of the party. The restaurant was called Naschmarkt, and it was wonderful (and expensive).
On Sunday, we drove only a tad fewer miles (to Gilroy) to have lunch with Nancy Campbell, a former boss of Becky's, and her significant other, Roberto Bruckstein.
I had never met either of them before, and they were a delightful surprise. We ate at Sandy's Cafe, chosen by Nancy solely due to its glowing on-line reviews. The reviews were correct. Sandy's was a former Sambo's that had been taken over by Sandy --- who was there and with whom we had a good time discussing her business philosophy. The building was '60s moderne.
On Monday, we met Ed and Roya Singleton in nearby Tres Pinos, at the Catholic Church---not for religious reasons, just logistics. (The Singletons live in Hollister.)
We first met them nearly three years ago in South America. As usual, Becky had stayed in touch. We got in their car to hit a few of the surprisingly numerous wineries in the area. We started at Leal, then stopped at Pietra Santa ("Sacred Stone" in Italian),
and finished at Calera. The Singletons are members of the wine clubs at all three places, and are well-known at each. We tasted a number of very nice wines, enjoyed talking with some fun pourers, and bought a few bottles to drink at the appropriate time. At Calera, the owner, Josh Jensen, actually stopped by and we had a nice chat with him.
Between Pietra Santa and Calera, we toured the nearby Mission San Juan Bautista and had a nice lunch in a Mexican restaurant (Dona Esther) across the street.
The mission is located in a typical, small California mission town with a lot of charm, and, though in a state of substantial disrepair, the mission is very interesting to tour. The church on the premises remains an active parish to this day, with about 1,200 parishioners.
We were having such a good time at the San Benito preserve that we considered staying an extra day.
Monday morning, however, the park's water delivery system cratered, and we were informed that the water would not be back on until at least Thursday. We have an on-board fresh water tank, but can last for only a few days without "city" water, so we decided to leave on Tuesday, on schedule, but---to make the trip more interesting---to stop in Paso Robles on Tuesday instead of going all the way to Santa Barbara. In fact, the decision means we will bypass Santa Barbara altogether, and go directly from Paso Robles to Soledad Canyon on Thursday, getting there a day earlier than originally planned.
The 90-mile trip to Paso Robles took a long time because of road repair delays and because we took the scenic route on California Route 25. It was a nice trip, though, so we had no regrets.
We are staying at the Wine Country RV Resort, a very nice place. There are numerous wineries nearby, but we decided that we were "tasted out" for the time being.
On Wednesday, we did a lot of errands---lube & oil change (for the truck), haircut (for me), pedicure (for Becky), buying two new ties (for me), repair the damage to my bike from running into the post in Pacifica, etc. Near the end of the day, we decided to visit one winery---Justin---about a half-hour out of town.
What a delightful place and what delightful wines. We splurged and joined the wine club there (picking up six bottles immediately) and also made a reservation to stay in one of the rooms (the Tuscany Suite) in the small inn they run---for Becky's birthday next May.
That's planning ahead. All that activity tired us out, so we retired early, getting ready for the run to Soledad Canyon on Thursday.
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