Fall Fest 2010

Fall is in the air

Every year a local farm puts on a Harvest Festival, complete with

hay ride, corn maze, pumpkin patch and even pig races. We

took advantage of the reprieve from the rain, and spent the

day outside.

Hanging Gourds

Central Coast

Living the SLO Life

Neal's first trip to San Luis Obispo (SLO)! Before all of the fog came along we were lucky enough to squeeze in a beautiful weekend along the Central Coast. The hills were still mostly brown from the summer months, but picturesque none-the-less.

Headed north on the 101, just past Santa Barbara

We took scenic route 1, through Pismo Beach, Lompoc

and other small towns.

The central coast is all about the vineyards - to look at,

to drive through, and the fruits of which to enjoy. We,

therefore, had to partake in a little wine tasting excursion.

Choosing from the dozens of wineries was difficult but we

lucked out with a good one - Talley Vineyards.

The tasting room was phenomenal, with views of their

rolling hills. The wine connaisseur gave us some delicious

samples and then took us on a private tour of the vineyard.

Pinot Noir

The Oak barrel room where the wine is kept until ready

to be bottled

Later in the afternoon we drove to Morro Bay along the coast.

Returning to SLO we walked the town and ended up back

at our weekend home - The Apple Farm - for dinner. Old

Victorian style buildings, homey gift shop filled with fall

and Christmas decor (and even a giant checker board, which

we took advantage of), and farm-style recipes that grandma

might have made in the restaurant....I loved this place!

The next day we made our way further up the coast to

San Simeon and the famous Hearst Castle.

William Hearst, though he may have been a bit of a

controversial figure, did build an amazing palace on an

impossible hill. The design of and views from the property

are so impressive.

On our way back from the Castle we drove through the

small town of Cambria and popped into a local fall festival.

We then drove another route to SLO that took us through

some more wineries.

We found what looked like another good winery to stop at

and enjoyed another brief wine tasting. "Castoro" means

beaver in Italian, hence the "Dam Fine Wine."

Fall at the vineyard

Back to the Apple Farm

As the last stop on our trip we walked through the small

town of Solvang. Located in the Santa Ynez Valley

(another popular wine tasting region), this Danish village

is charming as can be.

Taking the windy but scenic highway 150 back towards

home, we had great views of Lake Casitas.

Ojai Valley

Settling In

Our first month in California......

"Conejo" in the Conejo Valley

The first week we arrived Neal took his favorite hike

up Mt. Boney

View from the top

Family Time

Fondue and wine on the balcony

Brother-in-laws

Sunset over the Ventura Harbor

Pool Day

To celebrate our 4th wedding anniversary, the family took

us to Mediteraneo at the Westlake Village Inn, the hotel

where we spent our wedding night.

Here's to another 50!

Big News

Dear folks, it's been quite a while since our last blog post (2009!) and although we haven't had as many pictures to post for the first two quarters of the year, there has definitely been a lot going on.

First, some of you know that Neal traveled quite a bit for work the first two quarters of the year. Since January he has been on the road close to 100 days, helping with trials all over the country during a very busy season. While he enjoyed the challenge of being back in the courtroom, the travel and long hours took their toll on us both and we were anxious for a return to normalcy. Luckily, he has not traveled for the last month and a half, which has been great.

As for the exciting part, Neal recently received some big news at work. They have known for a long time that our ultimate goal is to get back to California and have kept him in mind for any possible opportunities. Thankfully, that opportunity has finally arrived, and he is being transferred to the L.A. office in September!

We are SO thrilled. There is much to be done and we have started the ball rolling to make our big move west over Labor Day weekend. We are in the arduous process of trying to sell our house in a depressed market and would love any prayers that you can send our way. They are so powerful! We believe that if God put this opportunity in front of us, he'll help take care of the rest, but none-the-less we'd appreciate any support you can send upward on our behalf!

I have also started looking for work in California and am hopeful that something will come along quickly. Again, any prayers would sure help!

We are so grateful for the opportunity to get back to California. Yes, we will face paying state income tax again (yeesh!), less affordable housing and a higher cost of living, BUT we will be living in a beautiful state where Neal will be in hiking heaven, and we will be reunited with family and good friends. There is no price tag on that.

Our time in Texas has been memorable. We started our lives together here, built a home and a life, seen a lot of the state, spent some quality time with Neal's sister and her husband, and made some great friends. As we prepare to say "good-bye" to our first home as a family, these are the things we will miss the most. While we both look forward to continuing our life on the west coast, we will always hold a special place in our hearts for the place where we started. And you'd better believe we're taking our boots and our cowboy hats with us! Eeeehaaaw y'all.