Wine Country and San Luis Obispo

One cannot visit Santa Barbara without checking out some of the fine wineries located just outside of the city. We took a tip from our camp host and decided to do a tasting at the Gainey Winery located in the San Ynez Mountains. We arrived as they were opening the doors to the tasting room... ehem.. at 10am. No surprise here - we had the place to ourselves. The tasting room had a rustic, earthy feel and was dimly lit by candlelight. Barrels upon barrels of wine lined the perimeter and the smell of oak was present in the air.

We sipped our samples and finished our winery experience with a tour where we learned about the different methods for growing grapes and the many steps that turn grapes into the sweet nectar of the Gods.

As we headed North wineries dotted the Pacific Coastal Highway but we refrained from stopping and trekked on to the "Happiest Place in America", San Luis Obispo. SLO is the first city we've experienced that seemed to fit us perfectly. The downtown restaurants and bars are void of any corporations and the city has a small town feel. Everyone, and I mean everyone, that we talked to was friendly. We were invited to a round of disc golf with some guys we met on a hike and to a bar to have drinks with a girl we met at free yoga in the park. We'll be back one day SLO.