Hearst Castle

Justin, Dave, his son Christian, and I took a mini-road trip up to Central California to visit Hearst Castle. On the way there we stopped at the famous Pea Soup Anderson's for some pea soup. It was a little little like being in Lynden, Washington since it was so Dutch friendly, but the split pea soup was really good. 

Then we continued our road trip up to Paso Robles...wine country. We got invited to visit Justin vineyards which is at the end of this cool long twisty road. It was about 100 degrees and it actually felt really good to sit outside and eat lunch on the patio under the misters. Justin and Dave enjoyed the wine, I tasted a few sips, and I have to say the 2006 Justin Isosceles was AMAZING. We visited their tasting room and got to see the catacombs. Visiting a winery really makes you want to plan a trip up to Napa, not pregnant. :) 

We then checked into our room in Paso Robles. They were having a wine festival that weekend so we got to see where they close off the streets and open all the wineries for tastings. It is really beautiful up there with rolling hills, vineyards, sunshine...ah. 

We decided to go to the night show at Hearst Castle which is only held Friday and Saturday nights. During this tour people come in costume and pretend that they are partying at the castle. W.R. Hearst was a magazine, newspaper, movie producer in the early part of the 1990s. He came from money and made a lot more of it. He collected art since he was 10 years old so there was amazing artwork from 500-600 years ago all with a Mediterranean Theme. The castle was kept in perfect shape, parts of it still remain unfinished, and the gardens are maintained and smell wonderful. It is up a road 5 miles from the coast of San Simeon. It was about 60 degrees on the coast, it was about 90 degrees at the castle, above the marine layer. He intended it to be this way so guests could enjoy the gardens, outdoor pools, and outdoor tennis courts. It was just really amazing being about to walk through and tour the mansion. Our guide was nutty, but she had a lot of knowledge. It really takes your breath away and I'd google the Hearst Castle if you're ever bored because it used to be full of old movie stars and old presidents...if those walls could talk. We liked it so much we went back the next day for a tour during the day. He used to have wild animals roaming the hundreds of acres of land, but now there are only deer, ram, and sheep. 

After the tour on Sunday we watched the Lakers win game seven (THANK GOD) in Morro Bay. It is SO cloudy there you can't even see the HUGE rock that is at the bay. Then we headed home, hitting traffic, and pulling over to eat dinner in Camarilo. 

Wonderful Weekend. Baby News...he's doing fine, 28 cm long, 140 beats per minute with his little heart. I am getting bigger, have awful heartburn at night, and it's getting to be a bit more uncomfortable....but I've really enjoyed buying things for Jackson, and Justin has been hard at work on the nursery (I helped a bit but he's been amazing) so hopefully pictures soon. Carpet goes in tomorrow. Yeah!!! Now I can get my nursery furniture out of the boxes in the garage!