West Quest Part Deux - Days 53 and 54
An overnight in our favorite wine region, Paso Robles then on to Tehachapi, California
Saturday and Sunday, 1 - 2 October 2022
With both joy and sadness, Frieda and I departed Monterey, California Saturday morning. Joy because we had an absolutely wonderful week-long visit with oldest son Bill, our wonderful daughter-in-law Sarah, and our two incredible grandchildren, Tom (7) and Elle (3). Sadness of course because it was so hard to say goodbye the night before. And when children are this young, they will grow up so much in the six months before we will see them again.
Our destination Saturday night is one of our favorite wine regions, Paso Robles, California. We have found over the years that when picking out a Cabernet Sauvignon or similar red wine, if it comes from Paso Robles, we are almost certainly going to like it. And it just so happens that Paso Robles in on the way to our follow-on destination of Tehachapi, California where we will visit a Naval Academy classmate of mine, Marie Burris and her husband Scott.
Again, using our wonderful Harvest Hosts membership, we found overnight accommodations in the parking lot of Dark Star Cellars.
You won’t find their wines in stores as they are a small batch winery selling mainly through their Wine Club. As we expected, their wines are delicious and we of course we ended up becoming members and walking out with a case of wine. As a friend says, “Harvest Hosts is the most expensive free camping there is.” That said, the experience of staying in these places is simply incredible.
On Sunday morning, we headed out toward our next destination, Tehachapi, California.
The drive between Paso Robles and Tehachapi is spectacular. Vineyards, orchards, grasses, oil fields, winding railroads and tunnels,
hills, rocks, enormous flat areas. It’s quite remarkable.
As mentioned earlier, my Naval Academy classmate Marie Burris and husband Scott have a 20+ acre ranch in Tehachapi where we’ll be staying for three nights and enjoying some fun times together.
Two different wineries within our first couple of hours in town. Thank you Marie!
That’s all for now. Will provide a summary of our stay here in Tehachapi in a couple of days.