Here I am giving a short seminar on the proper way to eat a head of roasted garlic with sauted prawns in lemon juice and butter, paired with a fasinating pinot noir! Man, we have come a loong ways from the Dingo Drive Inn in Monahans! Look at me now! I’m living in culture clean up to my ears, oh, you know me better than that!
This is my cousin Larry Padgett and his sweet wife Myra’s official retirement traveling address. We met them in Santa Cruz and then followed them down to Paso Robles for the great food and wine tasting. Larry is retired Air Force.
I know you’re right next to me but I still like to read your messages!
Well, after a second day of the great pop-overs for breakfast at the Pacific Blue Inn, we met up with my cousin Larry and his wife Myra and left the 56 degree weather of Santa Cruz and headed down the “Camino Real” highway towards Paso Robles and the wine and food fest this evening. What a coincidence, my Spanish I text book at MHS was titled El Camino Real. I think that’s the only thing I remember about the book. No, wait, there was one phrase that sticks with me and I have never got to use it but I still plan to find a way to work it into a conversation. It was that much asked question,” Donde esta a biblioteca?” I wonder why I never used that phrase very much? My south of the border vocabulary was pretty limited back in those days and the last thing I was looking for in Mexico was a library! Whoever wrote that text book was: 1. Not a gringo, 2. Not a teenager, and 3. Not a male!
Back to the road trip down to Paso Robles. We passed through the artichoke center of the world! There were artichokes as far as you could see! There were stands on the side of the road selling 10 artichokes for $1.00! It was ridiculous! Had we not already had tickets purchased for the wine and food tasting this evening, I would have just pulled the old truck in for the day and ate grilled artichokes! My Lord, 10 for a dollar!
Pulling into Paso Robles, the outside temperature according to my truck was 112 degrees! That means the temperature doubled in the two hour trip down here.
We made it out to the Rotary sponsored wine and food tasting here in Paso Robles. We had a great time. Good wine, food, music and friends!
Ted Purcell 
I’m not sure if my posts are going through because I haven’t seem them along with the others for sure I’m not a writer like the others. But have enjoyed reading Ted’s blogs and the others reply. I feel like I’m in the truck with you and Charlotte making the trip and what a trip it has been. Enjoyed very minute so let’s keep on going to these wonderful, fun places.
Hey Cynthia,
I have posted everything that comes from you so maybe you have some posts still floating out there in cyberspace trying to catch up with my old truck. I apologize for this blog format being so user UN-friendly. I am going to try to change the format when we get back but for now, we are stuck with it. I would suggest that you go to the most recent day of the trip to post your comments on because I try to get them on first. You are doing good! And being from the MHS Class of ’64, you are pretty familiar with us ’65ers so make yourself at home in the truck and let’s see where we end up next!
Guess that’s what happened, enter in wrong. Y’all continue to have a super trip.
I have always had a sneaky suspicion that the Calafornians keep all the good produce for themelves and send what is left over to the rest of the country. Artichokes 10 for a dollar …..just sayin’.
Hey Riki
I got a good laugh out of your post! When we lived in Brazil, all the Brazilians used to stay mad at the Americans because they thought all the “good” coffee was sent to the USA and they were stuck with the leftovers. So maybe all the artichoke growers here in California stay mad at us Texans because they think all the “good” artichokes are shipped to Texas! LOL Or maybe New Hampshire!! LLOOLL!!!
You know, I can’t believe it, but I’m starting to get a little nervous that y’all might not come home anytime soon. That truck is getting pretty full too to boot. All this talk of food, grape juice , and weirdos is quite entertaining . It’s a good thing that everyone ” in the truck” is “normal”. Love and miss you both. Oh, and keep up the commentary. It’s the discussion inside the vehicle that makes the road trip colorful!
Hey Mollie, Good to have you on board! I take your assessment of the passengers in the truck as being the very picture of “normal” as a compliment. You share your father’s profound gift of determining the normalacy of those persons around you. I think you just gave me a new theme for this trip! We could, in the spirit of all the campaign buses crisscrossing America spewing out their political hogwash, call this trip the “Bringing Normalacy Back” road trip! With this truck load of free spirited thinkers, we can’t miss!
You better take some time and polish up your skills, our next stop is San Francisco!
Wow, Ted, I’m kinda with Mollie…thinking that you guys may just become permanent road trippers. I know you are having the time of your lives!!! I love seeing the pictures and reading all the commentary. I’ve been everywhere east in the United States, but no place west!! I appreciate you taking me along, and giving me the chance to see places I’ve never been! You and Charlotte look so happy! Y’all continue to have fun, be safe, and know that Edwin and I love you guys and are savoring every second of your trip!
Hey Elizabeth,
Yeah these road trips could become addictive! With all of this virtual crowd in the truck, you don’t have time to get lonely, that’s for sure! I keep waiting for one of them to ask the ever famous question…..”Are we there yet?” The answer to that question is YES! We are there! We are exactly where we want to be! Where is there exactly? It’s wherever we are at the time. Did I say time? I’m sorry, that’s something else we quit keeping track of! How does the song go? “The road goes on forever and the party never ends!”. And beings you haven’t been out this way before, let me coach you a little. Open up your luggage and get out the “Freak Flag” that was on the list of “must have” items for this trip. We are getting ready to raise them up on my double buggy whip CB antennas and “let our freak flags fly”! We’re on our way to the Frisco Bay!! 10-4 Breaker 1 – 9, we’re north bound and down!
Oh good grief, Ted…that reminds me of the time Edwin and I drove up to New Jersey. It was about fifteen or maybe eighteen years ago. You know how Edwin loves his toys…so he got this killer CB set-up for the trip. Good Lord, some of those truckers certainly had some VERY interesting and colorful dialogs!! I kept gasping and saying to Edwin, “Can they SAY that on the air???” Of course, Edwin had to repeatedly explain to me that there was no censor monitoring the airwaves with a five second delay. Anyway, we got lost (he would never admit that!) driving into Washington DC about midnight. After driving in what seemed like circles for hours, he got on the CB and tried to get some help. No response. He handed the thing to me and said “DO SOMETHING!!”. So I got on there as “Texas Rose” (how lame!!) and said, “I’m lost! Can someone help me??” Ha!! I not only got directions to get us on the right track, but I had offers for things I wasn’t sure I even understood!! It was pretty funny…but it got us to our hotel. I did have the good sense to not share the name of our hotel with my new friends I had made that night!!!!! 🙂 Hadn’t thought of that in forever!! Good times!!
Wish we were there flying our freak flag with y’all!!!!! 🙂
Why Elizabeth! You sly little road dog you! Here I been wasting my time worrying about if you could handle “life in the fast lane” out here in the west. I didn’t know I had the famous “Texas Rose” riding in the back! I’ve seen that CB handle scribbled on more than one truck stop wall since we started this trip! You need to “get your ears on” in this old truck and let all your trucker fans know you’re heading north to San Fran. We’ll have a convoy before we clear Paso Robles!