Paso Robles with Pups

So I have been watching an 11 week old golden retriever puppy for some friends while they are out of town. And since I can't get said friends to go wine tasting in Paso Robles with me, I decided to take their dog, Hamilton, instead. Going wine tasting with dogs definitely slows you down a little bit. We were only able to do 4 wineries, where usually we can do about 6. Some of that might have had to do with the heat of the day though, it gets freaking hot out here in the desert.

My mom, aunt and I loaded up the two pups and headed towards Paso. We had a list of about 12 wineries that we were pretty sure would allow leashed dogs inside the tasting room.

Here is Hamilton anxiously awaiting his day of adventure, and Sunset slinking down saying "Do I really have to put up with this?"

Stop #1: Chumeia Vineyards
Tasting Fee: $5, waived with purchase

Our first stop was winery, that through some research, I knew was dog friendly inside the tasting room. The other neat thing about this winery is that they work closely with an animal shelter nearby, donating part of their proceeds and also acting as a drop off point for various pet related items needed at the shelter. We had a great time here. Sunset and Hamilton were pretty excited as this was they first stop after an hour and a half of laying in the car, so they didn't calm down too well. We were still able to taste, and each of us left having bought at least one bottle of wine.

(Doesn't she make a great spokesdog?)

Stop #2: Bianchi

Tasting Fee: $5, includes the glass

This place was great. The grounds were gorgeous and the wines were amazing. This is definitely a do-over stop. I will be coming back here for sure. Everything we tasted was really good. The staff was great, and the dogs were a little bit more mellow this time having now understood the drill. 

Stop #3: Eberle

Tasting Fee: Free

This was my second stop at Eberle. Their wines were decent enough last time, and I also knew from last time that their tasting room was pet friendly. Eberle also has an incredible discount for military at 40%, which is better than what they offer members of their wine club, good deal!

Here is Sunset outside enjoying the fresh air and great views at Eberle.

Stop #4: Firestone

Tasting Fee: $5, not waived with purchase

Their wines are decent enough, and their tasting room is dog friendly (including treats for the pups) but if you purchase a bottle of wine, or even a case of wine like my mom did, they do not waive the tasting fee or give you one of their labeled glasses.

The pups were getting done at this point and so we decided to get some lunch and then head home from here. We ate at a place called Farmstand 46 where all their veggies on the sandwiches are pulled straight from the garden on premises. We had a meat and veggie sandwich that was really yummy.

Sunset says it's time to go:

And Hamilton had a little too much to drink:

Graduations Galore

This year was a year filled with graduations for family members.

Mike's sister graduated from Washington State University. Mike was able to get leave and so we were able to go to Washington and be there for the big day.

My brother Shane graduated from ASU. Unfortunately it was just a few days after Mike and I got back from WSU and so we weren't able to make it to that.

My brother Taylor graduated from high school. The third one of us to graduate from DMHS. In another four years we will be there for Hayden's.

This year Hayden finished 8th grade. Mom and I went to his promotion ceremony. The fourth final one of us to finish at DCMS. I had not been there since I finished 8th grade I don't think, well maybe the first year of high school when it's "cool" to go back and visit your middle school teachers. It was a little weird being back on that campus.

Catch-up...

So I realize I haven't really posted anything in a long time. And I have done some interesting things since my birthday. So I will break them down into a few different posts.

I will start with my trip to Barcelona, Spain in April:

7 women, 1 week, no plan. That pretty much sums up the trip. Every other year my aunt and some of her friends go on an international trip no husbands and no kids. Two years ago was the first time I went and it was a trip to France. This year it was to Barcelona. There is never any real itinerary just an arrival date, a departure date, and a list of things we would like to do while we are there.

This year we all flew stand-by on Delta buddy passes, which also meant we were eligible for business class upgrades on the trans-continental flight...which we got! Yep, I got to fly first class from JFK to Barcelona. Check one more thing off my bucket list. Thank you Lisa!

 The place we stayed for the week, found on homeaway.com was amazing. It was a loft that belonged to an artist. He lives in Barcelona part time, and New York part time, but also has home's in Mexico and Germany. Crazy!! The loft itself was awesome, pulling into the neighborhood and seeing our door, a little scary:

Yep, that's the door to get into our place. It also was on the top floor, which was not mentioned online anywhere. So we all had to carry our bags up 54 stairs, no elevator. Such is the European way though. We were about 10 minute walk from the Mediterranean Sea and 15 minute walk from downtown Barcelona, so location wise was pretty good. And although there was graffiti everywhere we learned that in Barcelona it is an accepted form of artwork and many business allow it on their doors and such. 

Barcelona was a beautiful city. And while it is a city, you can walk to most places because it is very compact, at least downtown Barcelona is. 

The major market, La Boqueria, was quite an adventure, and so colorful!! This particular picture shows candies and nuts and gummi treats. There were other booths that sold fruit, or meat, or bread. And it was insanely packed!! Better watch your belongings walking through here (Barcelona is one of the worst places to get pick-pocketed). Luckily none of us had anything taken the entire week we were there. But we were all very vigilant and had bought purses with zippers before we left. 

One day we went to Freixenet, a "winery" where they make sparking wine, aka chapagne, but in Barcelona it is called "cava". We had a great time. Our group did the tour with a load of wine buyers from Hong Kong. It was quite interesting hearing their translator. 

One thing we were going to try and do while we were there was go to a Barcelona soccer game. There was one on the night we arrived but after only getting 4 hours of sleep and the time change and the traveling none of us felt like going. Not to mention that soccer games in Europe don't start to like 10 pm! Everything is just done a little different. We did however go out to the stadium and take a tour. It was pretty cool. I'm not a huge soccer fan but since my husband and one of my brother's plays it was kinda interesting, and I got to tell them all about when I came home. 

Well that's just a snippet of the trip. It was amazing. For more pics, as well as a video montage, you can access my facebook photos. 

hi


haha, funny! I was wondering if anyone actually still read this...and helping my  mom figure out how to work blogs!!