Santa Maria

While out geocaching last Wednesday we ran across some very out of the way places east of Paso Robles.The country road we traveled was a great introduction to the vast vineyards this area has. The locals said it was mostly cattle ranges before the vineyards took over starting in the early 90's. The mansions we saw were very large and had signs like Margarita Vineyards and Continental Vineyards etc. It was just amazing to see acre after acre of vineyards some of which seemed to be miles long. One area in particular was simply stunning with the vines covered in plastic.

While in Paso Robles every night I had to disconnect the fresh water supply to the camper from the resort hose bib. It was so cold overnight that the water freezes in the hose. That happened to me once....lesson learned.

Visiting the Hearst Castle Thursday was an amazing experience. The opulence is reminiscent of a Hollywood movie out of the 40's. But this was real. Words aren't sufficient to describe it so here are some photos.

Who is that guy?

You're invited to visit

South tower

Neptune pool...oops I mean Marilyn

Ambassador's room 

Library

Guest room

Portrait of WRH's mother in his bedroom

Lots and lots of artwork

Ceiling in the master's room

WRH's library with old priceless treasures.

Afterwards we drove to Cambria and visited Diane Young, a teacher at the school where Marilyn also taught during our time in Saudi Arabia some 30 years ago.We had a very nice time and the three of us spent a few hours catching up with our lives.

We left Paso Robles Friday the 13th and arrived here in Santa Maria around 3pm. Having had no access to amenities at the camp in Paso, we both took abbreviated showers in the camper while there. We looked forward to a proper shower.Each night we relax in the hot tub. Had quite a fright yesterday. Marilyn wanted to rearrange some of her clothes. These were located in the forward portion of the camper. When she started removing them she noticed that there was mold stains on several items. Apparently with all the wet weather we've had the past month, it produced a perfect climate for condensation to build up in the two enclosed spaces. She lost five items but the rest were OK after being machine washed.