Valentine's Day Weekend

Russ and I aren't too big on "commercial holidays" like Valentine's Day, but this year, by accident really, we decided to have a weekend on the Central Coast which coincided with Valentine's Day.  It was a wonderful two days, except for the fact that our Motel 6-ish hotel was $200 a night because of the holiday weekend, I assume. We went on two great runs: Johnson Ranch and Ontario Ridge. After lunch, on our second day we went to visit the San Luis Obispo Botanical Garden. While we were walking around, we both thought we heard sheep, which seemed a little strange, considering that, although the area is rural, it is still bordered by the grounds of Cuesta College on one side and a golf course on the other. As we were leaving, we decided to drive around the county campground that is a part of the county park where the gardens are, and there were the sheep, grazing on a hill. Their "shepherd, a retired Cal Poly professor was there, moving the fencing around their grazing area. I asked if his charges were "SLO County lawnmowers," and started what ended up being a very interesting conversation.

 This little guy, who the professor caught specially 

for me to pet, was born just last night. Have I mentioned that I LOVE lambs???

There was such an interesting story behind the sheep being there. The professor is helping retain and restore the vegetation and therefore the soil, around the golf course. We had such an interesting conversation about land management. He made me want to learn more about caring for the soil and the whole terrior thing. He was so knowledgable that I asked him his name, thinking he must have been pretty influential in agricultural circles, having taught at Cal Poly for thirty years. He was...and a bit controversial too, since he obviously doesn't agree with current agribusiness practices. I Googled him, and found out that Harris Ranch lobbyists hated him when he was teaching--in other words, he's heroic in my book....Oh, and I think he's friends with Michael Pollan, too which I also think is cool. I love Michael Pollen's quote:"Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much."

 The first day, we had lunch at the Sidecar Cafe in San Luis Obispo, and it was awesome: pork belly tacos, arugula salad with pomegranite, goat cheese and pumpkin seeds, and pozole.  That evening, we headed for Pismo Beach to eat at Ember, Kai's favorite restaurant, and ran into bumper to bumper traffic. Realizing, we were heading into "Valentine's Day craziness," we turned around and ended up ordering sushi, which was just OK, but we had a wonderful wine with it, Cunundrum 2019 Red Wine,   which is a California blend. On Sunday, after a morning run//hike up Ontario Ridge, we went the the High Street Market and Deli for "breakfast." My "Fraky's Breaky" breakfast sandwich seemed to have nearly an entire avocado in it. Enough said.