Monday-Thursday Catching Up

The last days in CA were busy, and the evenings were filled with snuggles and talk and card games and good wine and reading, and not much time for blog posting. Here's what we did on our last couple of days on the coast:

Monday: Santa Ynez, Wineries, and Solvang

We drove up into the mountains at Santa Ynez to visit a couple of wineries. First on the list was Gainey, where we had a wonderful picnic lunch.

The grounds were beautiful, and the weather mild and lovely (unlike the day it was 109 in Thousand Oaks- though it was 78 in Camarillo, 10 miles away).

The grapes were beautiful, and the wines were delicious. Side note: I've tried many Oregon Pinot Noirs, and have not liked a single one of them. But of the 3 CA Pinots we tasted, I loved 2 of them. Go figure. I also loved the crisp Riesling that we bought at Gainey.

Grapes, like water lilies, are very photogenic.

After Gainey, we went to Imagine Winery, where charming Dee talked enthusiastically about the wines this small winery produces. The small tasting room had some lovely art, and the wines were delicious.

On the way back to Camarillo, we stopped in Solvang

which is a bustling little town, built like a Danish village, with multiple windmills, and a truly amazing bakery. And

this machine. We did not wish to be big.

On Tuesday, we didn't do anything particularly photogenic, though we did go to Trader Joe's, and Somis Nut House, and we bought fresh strawberries and made jam, and mailed goodies back home so we didn't have to check a bag (in 2 priority boxes, only one of which arrived today... we'll see if the other shows up tomorrow). But mostly we spent our last day with our son and family, loving every minute of a week that went by far too quickly. Oh yeah, and my son introduced me to really good coffee. I mean really really good  coffee. And I didn't even pretend to drink decaf.

Yesterday, we had a mostly smooth trip home, if you don't count a 90 minute boarding delay at LAX, 3 gate changes, no announcement boards (which made those gate changes a little unsettling), and an inability to understand 1 word in 10 of the announcements (which also made the gate changes and boarding time differences unsettling). But once we were on the plane, the ride was smooth, and the 3 hour drive home from Sioux Falls took 3 hours but was otherwise unremarkable.

So today, I get to reacclimate myself, tomorrow is my first knitting group of the season, and then it's back to work. Next week, the paper dolls will start up again, and tomorrow I'll talk about the 3 remarkable books I read on vacation.