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From all the places I have been wine tasting (and I have been to a lot), Paso Robles is one of my favorites. The setting is what makes it for me. The narrow roads covered by trees make the drive between wineries as nice as the actual wine tasting.

It is a magical place.

My favorite area to visit is west of the 101, and my favorite road to drive through is Vineyard Rd. Here you can find wonderful wineries, like Justin, Halter Ranch or Lone Madrone… because WINE! Wine is a wonderful thing. Unless you drink too much of it and get a horrible hang over, which seems to happen often when you are older than 30.

To sleep, I like to stay in San Luis De Obispo, 30 minutes south of Paso Robles, because it has a fun downtown area and good restaurants. It is easy to find all kind of hotels and entertainment here. Among them, is the Madonna Inn. Having brunch or dinner at the Madonna Inn is a must because the décor is kitschy and crazy, and the food is not bad. When you step into it, you are transported into an alternative world where hot pink and bright green are he main decorating dishes. It is fun and unexpected.

For a day trip, aside from the wineries, you can go to the Hearst Castle, located 40 minutes away from San Luis De Obispo. It was one of the homes of William Hearst, a media mogul that spent time here in the first half of the 1900s. It is an incredible sight. How did a man manage to create such a monumental place in the middle of nowhere, almost 100 years ago, baffles me. But he did. If you decide to go, make reservations! It can get busy and, this way, you don’t have to wait.

Here are some photos of a weekend trip we took a couple of weeks ago. Hope you like them.

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Camping trips are a nice bonding opportunity for the family. I felt that on our trip to Idyllwild last year, where it was only the four of us for three days doing everything together.

This year, we wanted to have a similar experience, so we decided to take the kids to the Buckhorn Campground in the LA National Forest. 2 hours from my house and 1 hour from Pasadena.

What is nice about Buckhorn is that you are truly “incommunicado.” As soon as you start climbing the mountains, cell phone service is out. It is just you, your family, your car, and your fears, so make sure you bring everything you need-including a book!

Buckhorn is a first come, first served campground. No reservations needed, but you need to arrive early morning on a Friday (8-9am) to get a site. If it is a busy weekend, like 4^th of July, you better arrive on a Thursday.

The bathrooms are not clean, there are no showers, and no park rangers on site, so it is a pretty wild situation for those city people that like the city life, but the place is beautiful and “remote”- if you consider a place that is 45 minutes away from a 15 million people city remote. In my dictionary (and the dictionary of every other human being I know), not having cell phone service “classifies” a place as remote, or simply hell. If you are in the “hell” category, don’t go to Buckhorn.

FOOD AND FUN

This time, I wanted the experience of eating food to be a memorable one. There is no reason why you can’t bring nicer table clothes, serving plates, and food. I wanted to be able to have a nice meal, and that is what we did.

I like wildness with civility. Ugliness depresses me (I am a Taurus, there is nothing I can do to help this), so I made sure to bring a couple of things to beautify the table and my soul. It worked.

Good salads, appetizers, skewers, fruit, marinated steak were all part of the menu, and, for dessert, marshmallows (duh!) and cookies. Simple and sweet.

Wouldn’t you agree that one of the best parts of camping is eating (and drinking); well, in reality, one of the best parts of life is eating (and drinking), so I would recommend putting extra effort in that part of the planning.

KIDS GO WILD

In the beginning, it was a little difficult for my kids to entertain themselves. A bunch of nature didn’t seem to be enough to stimulate their creativity. Well, by the end of the camping trip they were making up games and having fun in such a beautiful and valuable way. That change made the trip well worth it.

We went for a couple of hikes and I was impressed at how much these kids can walk. One day we went all the way up a mountain, away from trails. Kids loved that. Another day we went to a stream, the kids were so happy going in the water naked and free.

As a side note, don’t forget to bring a small First Aid Kit. At some point, your kids will need a Band-Aid, so you better have it on hand. This is the voice of experience talking.