San Luis Obispo - Week One

We made it!

We arrived at 581 Lawrence Drive, SLO, our home away from home for January around four in the afternoon on Sunday.  By seven-thirty, we had procured two pretty decent bikes from a guy right here in SLO who advertised on Craig's List.   Carol is the Queen of Getting Things Done.  Whether it's dog-friendly motels or serviceable bicycles on demand, she's the go-to person.  No one better!

The Queen of Getting Things Done is...
Done for the Day!

Mindful of Rowdie's discomfort on the twisting mountain roads into SLO last year, we gave her a motion sickness pill and avoided the mountain shortcut we took last year.  Between the drugs (which left her feeling a bit la la la) and a route through the valley that was straight as an arrow, she arrived in fine form.  I didn't like giving her the medication, although we knew it might be necessary.  I didn't like seeing our perky puppy so dazed.  We'll try to plan a departure route that will let us avoid medicating her.

On Monday, I washed the RAV4, removing several pounds of Utah and Nevada desert.  The RAV is red again.  The Queen of Getting Things Done found live jazz at a local coffee house, so we headed downtown last night.  Had a good chai latté sitting among the college kids doing homework, but there was no evidence of live music to be seen or heard.  Carol inquired, and a waitress pointed out the postings for every night of the week.  She also said to check out their website, which Carol had done already.  That's how we knew there was supposed to be jazz last night!  Same thing happened last January.  The website says more (?) jazz this Thursday.  Maybe we'll try again.

You can run, but you can't hide.  Minnesota turned abysmally cold right after we left.  Temperatures have been waaaay below zero for the past several days.  Before we could even begin to feel smug, Pamela, our house sitter, called to report that the cold water pipe to the downstairs bathroom sink has frozen.  So there we were, at the movies watching "Nebraska" and I was jumping out of my seat every twenty minutes to answer the cell phone for Pamela's latest update.

She's doing all the right things about it, but the temps are still below zero and the pipe is still frozen.  Temperatures will rise tomorrow.  Hopefully water will flow.  We've run, but winter has dogged us.  We couldn't hide.

No Frozen Pipes Here

Everybody has raved about "Nebraska," so we couldn't wait to see it.  Carol and I may be the only two people who did not like it.  Couldn't fathom what people were so excited about.

January is Restaurant Month in SLO.  We celebrated with an exquisite meal at Buona Tavola, and then wandered downtown, ending up on Higuera Street, where the Farmers' Market was in full swing.  It seems as if half the town shows up to stroll the streets, pick up fresh produce, listen to live music and pick up something to eat from a tantalizing array of street vendors.

Thursday Farmers' Market in Downtown SLO

We've joined the local YMCA.  This morning I attended a meditation class and followed it with beginning Tai Chi.  I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the Tai Chi.  I'm becoming California Marc.

We took our first bike ride on Friday, about eight miles to Avila Beach.  We ordered cool drinks from Hula Hut and ate our sandwiches at a sidewalk table as we took in the glimmering Pacific, listened to the surf and allowed the bright sun to warm our Minnesota bones.  I wandered ankle deep into the ocean and retreated quickly, settling in for a nap as Carol read.  The return ride over the same route somehow became much longer.  We were whipped when we arrived home.

Avila Beach Bike Bums

We added local culture to our pursuits this year.  On Saturday night we attended a beautiful solo piano recital on the Cal Poly campus (California Polytechnic Institute).  The chairman of the music department, W. Terrence Spiller, performed works of Bach, Bartok, Ravel and Chopin.  We are looking forward to a Bach concert at the end of the month that will be performed in the old Mission San Luis Obispo.

Sunday we took our first foray into wine country near Paso Robles.  We took Rowdie along, since we figured she'd be happier riding around with us than sitting alone at the house.  Wrong!  The twisting, rolling country roads upset her.  How could we have forgotten?  We visited three wineries and found a couple nice wines for our shelf back in SLO.

We went in.

Proulx Vineyards

An old workhorse

So engrossed were we in the lovely countryside, the good wine tasting and good conversations with winery staff and fellow visitors that we forgot about the mundane things of day-to-day living, like paying attention to the fuel gauge.  We pulled into the Tablas Creek Winery with the needle firmly on Empty.  After learning all about Tablas Creek's wines, I had to ask the whereabouts of the nearest gas station.  "Nine downhill miles," was the reply.  Eight and a half of them were on a lonely two-lane country road.  Good thing they were downhill!  We made it.

P.S.  Water is flowing again in our pipes back home.