We had been in our new home about three weeks before we began to venture out. Less than a half of a mile in front of our home lies the Pacific Ocean. Less than three miles behind our home are the vineyards and they are beautiful. Most of them have a tasting room that for…

My total experience of being on the west coast consist of 3 days 28 years ago. My time on the coast has been primarily the Gulf off the Florida coast. I had expected warm sand, warm days, blue skies and beautiful sunsets. August in Pismo Beach was not what I had anticipated. There is this…

We settled into our hotel room in Pismo Beach. Pismo Beach is a classic beach town. Population 8,000 of which 40% are vacation homes and those people are not there year round. During the summer and on weekends the town is hopping with surfers and people from the valley coming to the coast to find…

We did have a deadline for our arrival in California. The townhouse we were planning on purchasing was scheduled to close the day after we arrived. There had been some bumps along the road with the financing of this unit. Resolutions were always found but it wasn’t a smooth process. The route we chose to…

Jeff and I had planned a 4 day drive from Chicago to San Luis Obispo, CA. Traveling with a dog, we figured we would do well to drive 8 – 10 hours a day. Neither of us had ever traveled such a distance with an animal, so finding and staying in pet friendly hotels was…

Over the past few months we have had glimpses into the minds of Pam’s three children. Brief phone conversation, story’s relayed to us by Raun and the few face to face interactions we have been lucky enough to participate in. Chase, who was two at the time loves chicken. As they were praying before the…