El Zoco is my name and nobody will care

Thanks for the info about the meaning of Zoco. Based on what you guys told me, it doesn't mean squat. I shall make it my name.

Before I continue on with my stories, I want to tell you that I found the fabled cheese curds! Yes!! The cheese that we use to make Poutine. San Luis Obispo's Farmers Maket is the place. For only $4, I could indulge in this great delicacy that makes a "squeak squeak" sound when you chew on them. Good times!

On the way to that little college town, we saw some elephant seals. I didn't know they were seals at first. I thought they were round rocks on the beach. They were way too big for my brain to register them as any living thing. But then one moved and I thought "Oh my Boudha! Those are huge seals!"

It's amazing how quickly something becomes boring... It was great to look at those monsters for about 10 minutes. At that point you start feeling an urge to go back on the road. So we did.

We got to San Luis Obispo early in the evening and found our host's house. This little town of no more than 47,000 people is quite cute. Yes, the C word. It's also a little bit warmer here, which is good, but still chilly. When the sun falls, it feels like it's late September in Montreal, or December in Corpus Christi.

What to do here? Well, being only 20 minutes south of a wine producing region, Paso Robles, I had to go visit a few vineyards and buy some good bottles. I took the rental car and drove over the mountains on the 101 to Templeton. A sign welcomed me when I arrived: "Welcome to Templeton. Temperature: 104". What?!? One hundred and four degrees? It was barely 70 when I left. Man... The temperature gets a lot warmer the farther you are from the coast, which makes sense if you think that the neighbour states are all deserts.

I stopped by two vineyards and I highly recommend their wines: Wild Horse and Bella Luna Estates. They had excellent Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon at Wild Horse and you might be able to find some at your local liquor store. As for Bella Luna Estates, a very small wine producer, I highly recommend their Estate Riserva III, which you will only find on the internet. They ship pretty much anywhere. Go ahead, order some right now.

The girl in the picture below works at Bella Luna and hold a $480 bottle of wine (3 liters).


I bought more bottles than I can afford. I'll keep them for at least a year before drinking them. Its also learned a lot about wine in general. First of all, don't try to compare wines based on their types (Merlot, Pinot Noir, etc.) Just know that Pinots are light, Zinfandels and Merlots are medium-light and medium, and that Syrahs and Cabernet Sauvignons are full bodied wines. Then, when you know what you want to drink, choose between the thousands of different combinations. Some Merlots I like, some I don't. Some Pinots I like, some I don't.

You know whats funny? Since that movie "Sideways" came out, Pinot sales have gone through the roof and Merlot sales stalled according to the people working at the wineries. Pretty sad how most people are influenced by somebody else's opinions...

Every Thursday night, its Farmers Market here. Very nice. The farmers are on the street to sell their fruits and vegetables. All the restaurants also have little booths right outside their establishements and sell samples of their menus. I had a Gyro. Hmmmm!

Talk to you all soon!