Early Friday morning George and I packed up the Jeep with all our camping stuff and the bikes. Earlier, when I was filling the tires with air, I noticed a gash on the side wall of my back tire. I showed it to George and he wanted to take it to the tire store to make sure everything was okay. Sure enough the dang thing had to be replaced! But fortunately, they gave me credit for the tread that was still there (as I had just replaced this tire not too long ago) and the whole thing cost me $28. I thought for sure I would be in the hole for $100…Once we took care of that we got some ice and we were on the road. The drive was nice, George knows some back ways so we never sat in traffic and got to see a lot of farmland. We eventually got up there and got to our campsite. We decided to camp at a place called Flying Flags. They are mostly an RV campground, but have some grassy areas for people who want to camp. They have showers and bathrooms, a pool, jacuzzi, rec room, dog park…the place had everything. When we checked in we got some fresh baked cookies as a gift from them (how nice!) and then we headed over to set up camp. We had the tent set up fairly quickly, here is George proudly standing by the home he built us:
We had some guys next to us that were doing the ride and another couple 2 campsites over. There was a lot of space and the car was parked right next to our campsite. We were also along a dried riverbed and other than the nearby freeway…it was just like being in the wilderness 
Once we set up our little camp, we took a nap…it was exhausting doing all that work! Then we woke up and got ready for dinner. Before we went to dinner though we went and picked up our packets. I had forgotten my sunglasses so I picked up a pair at the expo. While there we met up with some of the other group that was going to dinner at The Hitching Post. We were torn whether or not to go to The Hitching Post or this other place that we were going to the next night. After we found out that the other place was a little out of the way, we decided to stay in town and go with the rest of the group to The Hitching Post. Our reservations were at 8 and we were a little early, so we all went to a little tasting bar called Tastes of the Valleys. Here is everyone enjoying some excellent wine that Andy picked out and some fun conversation:
Then it was time to go to dinner, so we all made our way over to The Hitching Post and popped open some more wine!
Can you tell this is a wine trip yet?
We weren’t sure about the food at this place. They specialize in red meat and George and I really don’t eat that anymore. So I splurged a little and got the crab and George got a fish dish that I honestly don’t remember because I was WAY too busy with my delicious crab!
It was also all cut for me which was awesome because I didn’t have to work that hard to eat. Whenever I get a bucket of crab I feel like it is so much work just to get some food in my mouth!
After dinner we headed back to our little tent. It was pretty cold out, so we bundled up and jumped in our sleeping bags. I had a hard time sleeping because I realized that I need to move my legs at night. I would wake up in a virtual panic attack because I felt like I was trapped. I later got some great advice from Bruce about how to bend and move around with the bag and the second night was MUCH better!
The group decided to start and hour later from the actual ride because the first winery we were stopping at didn’t open until 10AM, so George and I woke up around 7AM and got ready for the ride. We had prepared our bikes the day before, so we just had to worry about what we were wearing. Once we were all done with that we hopped in the car and headed into town for an authentic Danish breakfast! We got three pastry’s and they were yummy!
Then George asked me why I was taking a picture of just the food and he wanted a picture of him…so here he is with the yummy danishes.
If you are curious…that is 1 cherry boat, 1 bear claw and some other one that George picked out.
After breakfast we headed to the start and met up with the group. After about 10 minutes we were off, and true to PTC form…they went a little hard and lost me 5 miles in. POOEY! Oh well….expected that… The first winery was about 20 miles in and there was some decent riding. It would have been nice to stop and take a few pictures along the way, but I was just so focused on not stopping. I regret that a little bit because some of the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. I will have to make a special trip out there just for photography purposes (and wine of course). So the first stop was Bridlewood Winery. I enjoy this winery because it is pretty and the wine is good. George and I went there on our last trip up to Solvang and we ate lunch out on their massive property. Here is George having some of the wine from our tasting:
Bruce, Denise and Andy enjoying their tasting:
And here is the winery in all its fake mission glory:
And its pretend vineyards in the front for good measure:
So pretty though, even if it is as staged as Disneyland…
I picked up a couple bottles of wine and gave them to Monet, she was following us in her car so that we had somewhere to put our stuff that we bought That was SUPER nice of her!
The next stop was Zaca Mesa…and between these two wineries is when I had my breakdown. I had felt a headache come on within the first 4 miles and realized I had forgotten to bring any drugs with me. I also forgot my asthma medicine which really made it awesome! There was some decent climbing and some rolling hills that just killed me so by the time I got to Zaca Mesa I was done. I had a full blown migraine, my legs were dead and I had already gone through a crying fit (which actually helped). In fact, let me digress a bit here…before I burst into tears I was feeling horrible, I couldn’t go much farther, but AFTER I got out some emotions, I was at least able to get to the next winery. This brings me to the conclusion that women are allowed to cry whenever they want because it only makes them stronger in the end…sometime we just need to get it out!
At Zaca Mesa I threw some water on my face, drank some water, and Denise took care of me and cut me some cheese and gave me some crackers. George got me some ice and I just wanted to lay down. I did, however, manage to pull it together for a group shot:
That is what we call priorities people!
It was about 12:30 and I knew Linda would be with her daughter, so I waited till 1PM (when she was done) and gave her a ring to come get me. Within 20 minutes she was there to rescue me and had some migraine medicine as well. But while I was waiting for her I took a couple of nice shots of the valley we were in:
George decided to stay with me and Linda took us both back to the car. She also offered up her shower at the hotel, so I accepted her kind offer and took a nice hot shower! After that, I was feeling better so George and I stopped off at the Firestone Brewery. I had always wanted to go there and I figured now was as good a time as any. So George and I each did a beer tasting there, I got a t-shirt and we also picked up a gift for our campsite neighbors that had helped us out with a blown fuse problem the day before.
Then we went back to the campsite and George changed and we headed out to the Full of Life Flatbread Company in Los Alamos. Here is a picture of George and I hanging out front waiting for the group:
The dinner there was delicious! They are actually a factory during the week and on the weekends they open up for dinner. They actually sell their frozen pizzas at Whole Foods and they are all made in their fire oven thingy…bottom line…the food was AMAZING!
After dinner we weren’t sure if the party was over or not, so we headed over to Bruce and Denise’s cottage they had rented and hung out there and talked. When Denise started to knock out, we figured it was time to head back to our cold tent. So we did and this time we were a little more prepared and slept a bit better. We were up before dawn the next morning, packed up and headed down to make it in time for church at 10AM. We made it there with plenty of time and right after church we knocked out and were lazy all day…it was great!
Overall it was a good weekend, however…I think I will keep the wine tasting and cycling separate. I would love to ride through again and then go back to the car and go wine tasting. I think that is the best set up for me
I took this photo in 2006 on our first trip to Solvang, really hope the weather is as nice this weekend.
