Friday, March 16, 2012

From Vegas to Eureka!

Our last night in Vegas saw us sitting at the $3 black jack table for 5 hours!  I can't believe I sat there that long.  But the people at the table were a riot.  We met a guy from England who had been in Vegas for 3 weeks and at that table for 12 hours!!!!  Eventually, we left the table with $20 more dollars than we started with (and 5 hours later!!!!). 

After a short sleep, we got in the car and headed for California!  Our first stop was in Bakersfield.  Nothing much here other than a place to rest and do some laundry.  I was looking forward to our drive on Wednesday - through Paso Robles and then to Monterey.  There is a winery, J. Lohr , that I absolutely love... and, they had a tasting room in Paso Robles.  So of course, we had to stop!





And then on to another winery - Eberle.  The owner of this place played at Penn State and then was drafted by the Lions.  He decided he was too small for the NFL so decided he would make wine instead!  Glad he did.  Great wine and a great winery!




Great views!






Oh , and why not stop at another one before we headed for the coast!  San Antonio Winery - which has been around since 1917!


Once again, we had some great weather!  It's been a bit cooler, but still sunny.  We drove out to the coast and drove up Highway 1.  Spectacular views.  We saw the Big Sur Bridge (famous in the Chevy car commercials!)



 




Finally made it to our hotel in Monterey!


A glass of wine before heading down to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner.  I'm sorry to say that I don't have pics of our dinner!  I know you are all disappointed!

Thursday morning we woke up and decided to do the scenic drive around the bay and head to Carmel By The Sea.  Started the day at Cannery Row in Monterey.  This is a cute little shopping area. 



And then drove around Pacific Grove.  The scenery here was amazing.  We saw some otters and seals along the way too!












The drive we took went along the famous Pebble Beach!  Fabulous!  Surfers were out catching waves, but we couldn't get pics of them:(




We then went to Carmel By The Sea for lunch and a few wine tastings.  The view from the beach in Carmel was beautiful.  We were able to see the fairways at Pebble Beach!!!!








 And once again, we got so lucky with the weather.  The forecast was for rain, but it ended up being a sunny day!!!!! 



Stopped at Parsonage for a wine tasting before heading out for a long and winding road to another winery - Hahn.  This was our 2nd favourite winery of the trip (J. Lohr being our favourite).  It took us almost an hour to get here.  We saw some cute little deer along the way too!


When we finally arrived at Hahn, we were so glad we made it.  The views here were amazing.  And the wine was fantastic!




No, we didn't get this bottle:(

The weather for the next week does not look good.  There is a storm coming in that is supposed to bring a ton of snow to the region.  So, we are going to have to change our plans.  Thinking we will head up the coast a bit more and then come home through Canada instead.  Better than trying to drive across a mountain range in my Elantra through a snow storm!

So, left Monterey on Friday morning for Eureka, California.  We stopped in Healdsburg at the Oakland Grocery Store for some super yummy sandwiches.  We didn't make it to this place when we were here a few years ago, but really wanted to try it.  So, thought it would be a good place to go this time.  And it was!

It rained almost the whole day:(  But we did find a scenic route through the Avenue of the Giants.  This is a 30 or so mile road through a redwood forest.  WOW!  The size of the trees is unbelievable! 


This is 1 big tree!  And it wasn't even one of the biggest we saw!!!!!

Dinner in Eureka was at a local Brew Pub. Had some great chow!  Again, sorry, no pics:(  But believe me, it was good.  We now sit in our room wondering where we will head tomorrow.  Thinking that we will go north again and make our way to Vancouver in the next few days.  And then across the Trans Canada highway towards Elliot Lake (mom and dad - this is our warning for you that we will be coming to visit soon).

Think positive thoughts for us and the weather in the next few days!  Happy St. Patrick's day (a day early).  Hopefully we'll find a pub to celebrate in tomorrow!

Enjoy!




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