Weekend Away

A couple weeks ago (ok, who am I kidding?, it was like a month ago), I took a weekend out-of-house and went with my parents and Paige to visit Aunt Kate, the ranch, and other family.  I'm gonna make this brief, but full of pictures.  Because, well, it was awhile ago and I gotta get caught up somehow.

Here's a view of the ranch homestead from, well, up on a hill on another part of the property.  That little cluster of buildings toward the bottom of the picture, that's the town of Santa Margarita.  I love the ranch.  I love the history of the ranch.  Not only that it's part of California Mission's history, but also the family history.

While driving around gates have to be opened and closed.  Since dad was the only male in the truck he got suckered into official gate opener and closer volunteered to handle the job.  He's so studly!  I love my dad!

The owners of the ranch haven't allowed deer hunting on the property for the last 3 years.  Which is great because we saw a lot of bucks while we were out the drive.  I like to tell people I shot a buck while I was there.  Get it, with a camera!  Hardy har har.

Maybe one of my favorite pictures of the trip.

This weekend was "all about Paige".  You see, we have family that has a vineyard and they were harvesting this particular weekend.  And since Paige is studying wine (growing, making, partaking) in college, mom and Kate arranged a "learning weekend" (aka an excuse to visit the ranch and family, and assist in partaking of wine in large quantities).

And then there's my adorable 11th cousin, Reagan.  Daughter of my 8th cousin, Michelle.  I can never remember how the cousin to the inth degree system works, especially on my mom's side.  But isn't she a doll!

Grapes at the vineyard.  Pozo Valley Wine.  It's good stuff.  Go to their tasting room, try it and buy it.  Or just take my word and order a bottle of Zin and a bottle of Cab.  Their blend is really good too.  As is their late harvest Zin.  Heck, just get a bottle of each!

While Debbie was driving us around their property in Pozo we saw a black bear.  Which is funny, because that's what Aunt Kate was trying to find at the ranch while driving us around.  Oh well, we still saw one.  She was happy.  We were happy.  Not sure if the bear was happy.

So here's a good story.  My mom had a cassette tape (remember those, pre-CD?) of my grandparents interviewing Uncle Guy and Aunt Grace.  But the tape broke.  So, my handy dad figured out how to splice it back together, then he put it on a CD to share.  The CD player wasn't loud enough, so Aunt Kate put it on in the truck and turned the volume up.  It brought tears to my eyes to hear Grammy and Bompy's voices again.  What a sight though, there was at least 10 people gathered around the truck listening, including 2 of my cousins (these I know are 1st cousins!) who never met their maternal grandparents.

A beautiful sunset from Pozo.

Back on the ranch...  Seriously, I wanted to get some pictures of some of the cool stuff my Aunt has around her house.  Like this old sign of another ranch, the Chimineas, that my grand grampy Claude owned.

The guy not in plaid, that was my great grampy Claude, Aunt Kate and my Bompy's dad.  I never knew him.  But from all the stories I've heard, he sounds like a great guy.

One of the original Disneyland train cars.  No joke.  The owners of the ranch (no one I'm related to) bought it.  Why?  I don't know.  Kicks and giggles and to say you own the original Disneyland train.

Under the wood exterior of this massive barn is a barn made of rocks that dates back to when the California Missions were built.  In fact, it's along the mission trail between Mission San Luis Obispo and Mission San Miguel (I think it's San Miguel).

Aunt Kate's daughter-in-law, Bonnie, shares a building with Pozo Valley Wines for her catering business and little gift shop.  She is a phenomenal cook!  Very talented!

Shall we end with a flower?  Sure, let's end with a flower.  'Cause flowers are happy and pretty and colorful.

Hope you enjoyed the not so brief recap of my weekend from a month ago.  It was such a good, refreshing time.  I always look forward to going down to the ranch, it just feels like home.  Plus it's only 15 minutes from San Luis Obispo (my ol' stompin' ground). 

For the complete album of pictures go here.