When things fortuitously don't go as planned...

First things first: I finished my first-ever tri!

Race and weekend recap to come.

Second thing: I open up my web browser today and see that Bin Laden is dead. Crazy!

But to pick up where I left off, the whole camping and competing thing. Thanks to a friend who did the Wildflower a few years ago (twice - she's a beast!), I had several packing lists and kept checking them and crossing off items that we had and were ready to go. One significant item, of course, is a tent, and we possess not one, not even two but THREE tents. Mind you, we really only make good use of one, our backpacking/hiking tent.

For this trip, however, we took our car camping tent which is a Coleman, not great but works fine. The last time we used it, I confess, was two summers ago when we road tripped with our dogs and they slept in the tent with us (they were usually drugged on Benadryl while we stuck to beer as our drug of choice).

We left Friday afternoon, as soon as I could possibly walk from school to home, change and finish the final packing stuff. The trip up was easy - except for the many bathroom stops because I was trying to stay really hydrated, so that meant a lot of peeing! We arrived at Lake San Antonio, a state park, around 7:00. It was a ZOO! I have never seen camping like this. As we drove around the camping area, I realized why this was called the "Woodstock of Triathlons". Cars were parked in wherever they could go and then tents were set up all over the place. Michael said that it looked like a triathlete refugee camp. I realize that may be a somewhat offensive comment, but it seemed very apt. It was so crazy!

We finally found a place and started to unpack. First things first: the tent! We got it out and started to set it up, and then scratched our heads' many times. We seemed to be short at least one set of significant poles, maybe even two. We decided "What the hell", we'd just make do with a lopsided structured. And then we looked for the top of the tent, a VERY important component because the temperatures were already dropping and it was chilly. We looked in the car, around the tent stuff, UNDER the tent that we had tried to set up. Nope, nothing.

Apparently, we left the top of the tent, along with the other sets of poles, at home. The first sentiment that hit was embarrassment - I couldn't *believe* that we had made such a ROOKIE error!

We looked at each other, each of us contemplating our options, and then we seemed to both agree - head back into town and look for a motel. Once we arrived in Paso Robles and had cellphone service, I started calling around. I knew that there would be nothing available in Paso, but finally called further south, in San Luis Obispo, and a luxurious Motel 6 had a room for both nights - Friday and Saturday.

We immediately made a reservation, and then we headed to Artisan, the restaurant where we ate with my parents at the end of March. There, we ended up having a glass of wine and sharing a cheese plate before we headed to SLO (as it's known) and crashing for the night.

Even though we were at a dumpy little Motel 6, we both agreed that we were SO happy that we had forgotten half the tent. So much for being hard-core!

Spring Break '11

Oh, wow, where did March go? The last two weeks of classes were busy, but I survived! I'm a bit sad that I'm now planning for next week and trying to mentally prepare myself for 're-entry'. In the meantime, we did manage a quick getaway at the beginning of the week.

There seems to be a trend to our spring break jaunts - head north, see some coast, drink good wine... Last year we traveled to San Francisco via Monterey, this year we had snippets of a Sideways tour in California Central. (Just a quick aside: I wasn't a HUGE fan of the movie "Sideways", but there are some very funny moments and a good, dark comedy can satisfy one's sense of schaudenfraude like nothing else can). My parents came out to visit us, and we planned a visit full of sights and good food and drink.

They arrived at LAX Friday night, and rather than battling rush hour traffic to try to return to the "east" side, we ate dinner at Piccolo, an Italian restaurant with a small, intimate feel. The touring began Saturday with a 10 am "appointment" to the Getty Villa. We've visited the Getty Museum a few times, but this was our first time visiting the Getty Villa which is north of Santa Monica. Like the Getty Museum, it's a beautiful place (amazing grounds and architecture). I obviously enjoyed all of the museum visit:

Oops! I hope that sleeping in a museum doesn't make me out to be a TOTAL philistine. At least I went to the museum... And it was a cool space with lots to see. I will be honest, however, and say that ancient art and antiquities don't rock my world. Still, it was fun to walk through the rooms and read about Dionysus, Hercules, tales of the Iliad and Odyssey and see scenes depicted in statues or on pottery.

On Sunday, we left mid-morning and headed north and west, driving up the 1 and the 101. The weather, which had been crappy for most of the week, finally cooperated and we made our way north. Our first stop was just west of Buellton, a town close to Santa Barbara in the area that was featured in the movie "Sideways". A friend at work recommended Alma Rosa which ended up being our first stop. We were apparently the first customers of the day because they gave us rather hefty pours of nice white wines (a really great and non-oaky Chardonnay) and tons of Pinot. It was a fairly rustic winery, definitely not as polished as those that we've visited in Napa. The bathrooms were not exactly the finest, but they were clean! My dad and I made a bee-line when we arrived! Although we honestly found the winery thanks to a friend's recommendation, it turned out that Sideways (the movie) did feature it and our Lonely Planet guidebook included it as well. We felt quite trendy!

From the Buellton/Solvang area around Santa Barbara, we drove north to Paso Robles, an upward-trending town that is trying to promote itself as the latest wine-tasting mecca in California. We pulled in around 5:00 pm, headed straight to a cheese store which fortunately was still open so that we could stock up for the evening. We ended up eating a lavish dinner of wine, cheese, fruit and crackers. I was clearly excited about the experience:

On Monday morning, we set out to the coast to the charming villages of Cambria and San Simeon, the Hearst Castle being our destination. This was my first time visiting the "castle" built on what Hearst called Enchanted Hill, and it was an impressive place, to say the least. Actually, it is a bit of a marvel, to think that William Randolph Hearst decided to build and to create this showplace in such a remote yet breathtakingly beautiful place. The castle and grounds certainly reminded me of the grandeur of a past era - a table that could have fed 30 or so people, guest houses in a Spanish-style that looked fit for a king or queen (to me, at least!). While the buildings were impressive, I truly envied the view and the pool (and the view from the pool). I can even envision myself swimming in the pool, or reading a good book while I lounge in the sun!

After touring the Hearst Castle, we ate sandwiches and enjoyed views of this beach. Yet again, I kept pinching myself to verify that I really WAS in such a beautiful spot.

After devouring our sandwiches and plenty of oohing and aahing, we drove back to Paso Robles, winding our way through valleys and hills. It was SO green thanks to the recent inundations in our lovely state. Once back in the Paso Robles area, we stopped by the Tablas Creek winery which another friend had recommended. We did not love the Tablas Creek wine, but through their recommendation, we hit up Halter Ranch before returning to the hotel, and we did enjoy their Sauvignon Blanc and several reds. The day ended with an evening at Artisan, one of the best restaurant experiences that I'd had in a while. The ambiance was relaxed and fun, food was local and fresh, and prices reasonable. At the end of that evening, we rolled into bed, content to have shared good food and conversation, and a day full of experiences.

But wait, there's more! That will have to wait until tomorrow, however!