SLO Down and Paso the Time Away

Apologies on that header...I could not not put it in there after it came to my head.

This past weekend GG and my MIL had the L1 cert course for CrossFit in Paso Robles, so we took the "whole fam damily" down for a weekend get away. We stayed in SLO and immediately I started looking for houses in the area - day dreaming of retirement in this magical little spot.

The weather was perfect. The town was bustling, but not overwrought with activity.

We got there Friday evening and everyone was famished, so we headed to the much recommended Firestone for burgers/fries/tri tip - and it was glorious.

The velocity at which the group went from cranky meatballs to happy meatballs was astounding. Myself included. JVE's tri tip sandwich was delicious and while he said it was better than the Ben Lomond Market one, I still think the one there holds the top spot.

With much better moods, we walked and got Slo-Yo FroYo and meandered down the street checking out all the shops in the DT. While we never got an opportunity to do any shopping while we were there, it is certainly on the list for the next time.

The next morning - I woke up and took myself out for a walk before everyone got up. We were close enough to the Cal Poly campus so I meandered over and walked around. When I tell you I was having all the fits and bouts of nostalgia....kept thinking of my days at SOU and how much fun it was living in a college town of this size and then the Santa Ana winds kicked up and my heart pitter pattered for LA.

The air was so different, even just two hours south of Santa Cruz.

While GG and MIL were at the class, we tottered down to Pismo Beach and spent a few hours with the littles boogie boarding, watching all the dune buggies race and throwing a football around. It was again - perfect weather and such a treat to take the Taco(oma) down onto the beach and drive it along the surf.

It was one of those ideal moments of sitting on the bed of the truck with JVE, with a coffee, talking about all sorts of things watching the littles run around. Everything felt good and calm.

Some of the other places we hit up included Sinsheimer Park, Charles Paddock Zoo and of course the Madonna Inn to see all the kitschy goodness in real life.

For a first foray into weekend trips with everyone, it couldn't have been better. Looking forward to taking them all to explore more down in the central/southern valley.

Where else do you recommend?