I woke the girls up at 5:30am this morning to go on one last bear hunt. I typically wake up early but for them this is unusual so my expectations were low as to whether they would actually be willing to join me or if they’d instead choose to sleep in (as Zach did). To my surprise, they jumped out of bed and got dressed quickly and quietly, and we headed back to Round Meadow in the Giant Forest. For some reason the air was thick with smoke, and I never found out whether it was from the Yosemite fires or a prescribed burn closer to us. Regardless, it’s probably best for our health that we headed out of the forest today.
The meadow was eerily silent, and we were surprised that not only did the bears fail to show up, but the deer, squirrels and other mammals must have also decided to sleep in. All we saw were a few small birds, but we still had a very nice morning.
When we got back around 7 Zach was just starting to stir, so we packed up and headed out. It was a long winding drive down the mountain and through the foothills and we had to make many stops to settle Diane’s stomach. Once the land flattened and the threats of carsickness abated we were prisoners of a dry, dusty land that stretched for miles and miles with straight lines of unnaturally green orchard trees, corn fields, and cow pastures. It didn’t have the charm of eastern farmlands and I’m sure the drought has a lot to do with that. It felt desolate and depressing, and all of us were glad to have our book on tape to distract us. We passed James Dean Memorial Junction where people still leave offerings at a shrine where his fatal car wreck occurred. Our book ended just as we crossed a low set of hills and entered the wine region of Paso Robles. What a relief to see trees and grapevines! At our cute little lunch stop I looked up “family friendly vineyards in Paso Robles” and let Melina pick where we would go. That’s how we ended up at Tooth and Nail, which is a tasting room inside a castle complete with a moat. The wines were good but pricey. The girls loved the “stickers” they were given by the pourer which were actually wine labels; they are amazing old prints from the Nuremberg Chronicle featuring mermaids, dragons, and other fantastical scenes.
Castle with a moat! And wine!
Melina’s next choice was Castelo, a more down-to-earth place with cheaper but less enticing wines. The reason Melina wanted to go here was the kids “wine tasting” (grape juice). The coolest thing about this place is that in one of their vineyards they keep finding fossilized whale bones and seashells from when this whole area was under the ocean! They appropriately call it “Whale Rock Vineyard.”
Our apartment in Templeton (a few minutes south of Paso Robles) is a converted barn with a retro-chic interior. So adorable. While the rest of the family rested up I hopped on one of the house bikes and checked out the area. The main drag is Main Street and it has a distinctly “old western” vibe. When we all returned to pick up dinner we had fun walking around and seeing handful of charming sights, but mainly we were trying to keep out of the sun as it was about 105 degrees outside. That kind of heat is no joke.
Our “barn” in Templeton
The claim to fame of Templeton
Fun with murals
We turned in relatively early and the girls played board games (Cranium and Operation) until bedtime. No pictures of that, but here’s one of our epic Scrabble match I forgot to write about yesterday:
Templeton seems to shut down early on Saturdays and we got here too late for the farmers market (which is reported to be the best in the country) so there isn’t really much to do here other than vineyard hopping, which is hard to do when you need to drive. But that will make it easier to get out early tomorrow for more time at our next stop: Santa Barbara!
Traveling Together 