Wine trip to Pismo and Paso Robles

We joined Marc and Sonrisa for a day of wine tasting, picnicking, swimming and fine dining.  And then came the animals... 

Alligator petting at Peachy Canyon...this alligator was rescued from a crack house by the LA Sheriff's dept.  Luckily, he found a good home with Zoo to You, and this caretaker who has had him for 16 years.

First stop was at Grey Wolf.  We tasted wine and then played with a lemur!

Scott on the patio at Hearthstone

What a perfect day we had! Three hours from Tehachapi to Arroyo Grande, we started at Laetitia. We sat in the sun in a pair of comfy adirondack chairs and waited for Marc and Sonrisa to arrive.  We already felt so lucky to be here in this place at this time, satisfied just to be sitting in the sun waiting for friends looking forward to a lovely picnic. Warm enough to swim overlooking the ocean and dinner at Ventana Grill, couldn't have asked for a better day.

Reagan Library

It was quite a fun day, all in all.  It only took 30 seconds of being in the library before I was called an idiot by a man walking by.  Mind your own business, man! But after that, we ignored the Reagan propaganda and enjoyed the history. The lunch was delicious, and our table mates were interesting and compassionate (Gita really got their attention when she told the story of meeting Matthew, home from Afghanistan,  in Texas this weekend.  The ladies at the table all cried.) We walked down Air Force One!  and the best part was the Spy Exhibit.  Shoe phones and hidden cameras.  The ice pick that assassinated Leon Trotsky in Mexico.  The umbrella that poked ricin into the spy in London.  A submarine CANOE! Hidden cameras and secret tunnels. A laser maze, which I totally failed at navigating.  I was crawling through the secret tunnel when I heard someone laughing hysterically, you know the kind of laughter where tears flow, and I thought, " That is my mother laughing!" and when I crawled out of the tunnel, I discovered it wasn't so secret after all.  She was watching me on a hidden camera. I began reading spy novels in high school, and devoured Helen MacInnes, John Le Carre and Ian Fleming books with gusto.  So to see all of those gadgets and to play spy was fun.  BTW, Gita was Mrs. Peel and I got to be Agent 99.  And then there was the young woman who came running to the elevator our little docent led group was getting into and pushed her way in, followed by a red faced security guard screaming "Did you just flip me off?" The young woman, who looked a little sketchy, claimed innocence, "I was waving at my mother" Stunned silence as the elevator door closed.

Sorry about the terrible quality picture.  I had to take a picture of my phone with the computer to get it on here.  This is me, the idiot.