A Short Visit to Wine Country

Although the weather didn’t cooperate, today’s leg of the trip seemed more like a jaunt than serious travel. We left Hollywood around 9:30 a.m. and arrived at my friend’s house about 1:30 p.m. We rode through a cold rain most the way, with the skies clearing after coming over the coastal foothills into the Santa Maria Valley.

The Santa Maria Valley is wine country. Dozens of vineyard stretch for miles, mostly to the east of Highway 101. All of the wine-related scenes from the movie Sideways (starring Paul Giamotti and Hayden Thomas Church) were filmed in this area. We visited Cambria, one of the local vineyards, which was close to our hosts’ home in Orcutt (although it was not in Sideways).

Todd and Kerry, our hosts, are friends from my days in Tallahassee, Florida. Todd and I both graduated from Florida State University with our PhDs, so we spent quite a bit of time together. They now have adorable ten-month old twins, whose photos you see in the album.

We are leaving tomorrow morning for Salinas, California, where we will stay one night. Our visit on Sunday to Yosemite National Park, however, is now up in the air. Severe weather is expected, including snow accumulations and/or thunderstorms with lightning and hail. It’s quite possible we will be forced to alter our route for the first time. We hope not, and it would be a real disappointment to miss Yosemite, but we don’t want to risk our safety. Can you believe we are dealing with potential snow only a few days after riding in 111-degree heat? Go figure.

163.8 miles. 3206.7 total miles.