Road Trips with Ruby

 The pass connected!! Taking Nyquil at 4 am during a coughing fit, has consequences:  I slept 'til 10:30 am which is unheard of for me.  Result:  I woke up to the Clemson-Wake Forest game! Every time we travel out West, the time difference really only comes into play when we want to watch the Tigers or the Panthers.  Football for breakfast just seems strange!  But the Clemson - Wake Forest game definitely held our attention, not being decided until the last second of the second overtime at CU 51, WF 45.  It was a barn burner and a must-win on the road.   After the morning game, we explored Morro Bay some more.  Again we did a gallery crawl, buying a small photo on metal at Rowen Chase Gallery (their glicee lamps, glass sculptures, and kinetic sculptures were exquisite!)  They led us to another gallery, and then another.  Plus there was another street fair where Dave enjoyed talking to a woodworker and getting hints on applying Abbie's branding iron "stamp" to his work

WE MISS RUBY! (and yes, we passed this up and found a "cheaper" one: $5.29!!) Our next few days alternated between visiting wineries and experiencing art along the Central Coast and in the Paso Robles AVA. On Wednesday we found a new winery we liked so much we bought a case of wine! Keith had read about it and suggested we check it out.  Located in Tin City,  Giornata specializes in French varietals. Besides the delicious Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, and Gemellaia, we were introduced to "orange wines", sort of the wine equivalent to sour beer.  Fruity and orange in color it was new to us.  The server reminded us of our niece, Karen and was very knowledgeable and the owner/vineyard steward came by and talked to us.   Tin City, in Paso Robles, i s an interesting collective of wineries, breweries, and shops all made out of tin.  I wondered if they all fried in the hot weather the week before.  It is designed to be a place where small-batch wineries can make their wines and ha

Pebble Beach provided many photo ops!! Monterey Bay and Pebble Beach provided both highlights and "low-lights".  Our VRBO was less than stellar and we gave it a 3-star review.  The worst part was the only place to sit was 2 straight-back chairs, and the only place to put a laptop was right in front of the TV.  But we survived 2 nights there and actually had fun the second night when the garden had dried out from the rain and we could sit and have one of the raucous political discussions we are famous for!  (Oh, how nice it would have been to have Laurie and Sean, Brina and Floyd, or the Wassums join us!) The Atlanta Aquarium has set a high bar for aquariums and the Monterey Bay Aquarium comes close.  We spent several hours there and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It included a great exhibit on Cannery Row and the over-fishing that shut it down.  Seeing the schools of sardines in the big tank, made it easy to see how easy it would be to scoop up too many sardines!   The shops on Cann

  It is a BIG Vintage!! Twenty years ago when we first began wine tasting in "earnest" with Glenn Kelly as our guide, we discovered Five Vintners at a restaurant.  The owner/winemaker Krisi Raymond did not have a tasting room but invited us to her home.  We weren't able to go, but 20 years and 20 vintages later we finally made it.  Due to confusion in time zones, we were more than fashionably late to the party but were welcomed with open arms and hugs.  We enjoyed several vintages and met Krisi's daughter who is coming to NC to explore colleges and several of her friends.  It was a delightful party and we stayed and helped bring in cushions before the "big" rain that was expected the next day. Krisi greets us at her 20th Vintage Celebration David enjoyed talking to Krisi neighbor and bartender, John.   He also kept pouring vintages!! Every party has its "joker".  This guy took the "Big Gulp" picture! The promised rain did come the next da