Paso Robles/Buellton (01/02/2005)

Happy New Year - Readers
We are getting better at this travel thing (knock on wood). Getting pretty good at hooking up to leave (we can be ready to leave 2 hours after I get up - I seem to be the critical path), and we were actually able to find the TV satellite once without help.
It has been raining and storming every day this week here in California (winter I guess). With the rain and wind, the RV shakes and rattles and the line between inside and outside seems very thin.
Paso Robles is a nice place, an easy drive to Hearst Castle (gorgeous), lovely green hills ("that's how you know it's winter, in summer they're brown"), and great oaks (after the storms those stubborn oaks remind me that sometimes you need to go with the flow).
There are over 100 wineries in the area. We visited several with names Rich recognized. It's like wine tasting in the Napa Valley 30 years ago, wine in wine glasses and people who actually talk to you.
We spent new years day in Buellton, had lunch at Split Pea Andersons and the afternoon walking around Solvang. Solvang is larger and more cohesive then I expected. It was a nice day, we were lucky with the weather, no rain until we were home.
Today we drove to Anaheim, hopefully the weather will cooperate with visits to Disneyland, Universal Studio, etc..
On a personal note: my scabs from surgery are finally gone (9 months a real high {or low}, I'm sure chemo and diabetes had something to do with it). My hair is growing so slowly, it seems like it has been 1/2 inch for months.