It was overcast and a bit chillier than we would have liked, but the Sanitarium was bathed in the even bright light. And we were just so envious of the mid-winter greenery!
We walked downstairs and sat ourselves at the enormous farmhouse table- and had an amazing breakfast- French pressed coffee, fresh squeezed orange juice in chilled glasses, eggs with chicken sausage, broccoli rabe over sourdough, and fruit- served on turquoise dishes! We were inspired, and made mental notes on what we would serve our next brunch guests...After we packed our things and checked out, we had a little time to stroll back down to downtown SLO before we were to meet up with Tom. It was pretty mellow compared to the crowds from the Farmer's Market the night before. I didn't take that many photos, so many of these pictures are pilfered from the web.
First stop- architecture drooling at the Jennifer Street pedestrian bridge and Railroad Square Building/Lofts...
then to the old Mission...
the Creek...
shops on Higuera Street...
picked up more cookies at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory...
and another stop at Linnaea's Cafe...
We were still stuffed from the big breakfast, so we got some coffee and relaxed in the secret garden in back...
Back at the Sanitarium, we sat on the oh-so-charming porch swing out front and waited for Tom to zip by on his cool orange Vespa.
After a SLO-style goodbye (it took a good half hour), he presented us with a belated wedding present from him, Ava, and Whitney- it was a gorgeous set of pottery hand-thrown/made by Ava herself! It was amazing- platters, plates, cups, bowls made from this super dark matte clay with a metallic glaze- we are soooo privileged to have such wonderful, generous, and creative friends!!Then we jumped in the car and sped down to Pismo Beach to see Grandma Owen... If we weren't so stuffed from breakfast, I would have loved to meet her at one of my other favorite places- Big Sky Cafe (SLO) or have a big creamy bowl of clam chowder at the infamous Splash Cafe (Pismo Beach)... Instead, we met at Huckleberry's, a local place with a wide array of soups, salads, and sandwiches. The "huckleberry lemonade" was quite a drink though!
It was fantastic to catch up with Grandma and for P to finally meet her. Unfortunately she couldn't come to our wedding due to a family emergency, so I promised her that I would make a special trip for her to get to know Paul. She's not my real grandma though- I met her and "Grandpa" when I was about 5 years old (through my mom's best friend in Visalia, CA) and we just all ended up calling them "Grandma" and "Grandpa", to this day. They moved to Pismo Beach right before I started Cal Poly, so I ended up spending many weekends and holidays with them instead of driving the 3 1/2 hours up to the Bay Area. They were soooooo sweet, and truly adopted me as one of their many grandchildren. Grandma and Grandpa used to write me separate letters when I lived in Italy (so that I would get more mail) and he dutifully tracked my travels on his world map. Grandpa passed away right after I returned from Italy ('97), and Grandma and I got even closer- commiserating on our singledom... They had the most sincere, genuine true love that I knew of any couple, and I yearned to have what they did. They assured me that I would eventually find "The One"- and despite my doubts, I finally did! And boy was she excited to meet Paul!
After lunch, we finally get on the road. We drove back through San Luis Obispo, took a quick loop around the Cal Poly campus, and then started zooming up Highway 1. We were completely surrounded by lush, green mountains- which we absolutely cherished. The skies were a bit gloomy all day, but fortunately the rain held off.
We smelled the roaring surf of the Pacific Ocean before we saw it coming up on our left...
We HAD to make a pitstop right around San Simeon to see the elephant seals though! Those brown lumps on the sand are the seals (adults are between 900 pounds to 5000 pounds!) It was mating season so there was a lot of screeching and, um, vigorous activity going on!
The baby seal pups were all snuggled up against eachother!
The rest of the drive was pretty but uneventful. Around each bend of the windy road was another perfect car commercial view!
Paul was blown away by the vistas, but having done this drive before, I was disappointed that the weather wasn't nicer! 
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