Day Five: Paso Robles Wine Country Run

On our fifth and penultimate day in Paso Robles, Jesper & Noriko and Joe & I stumbled out of our rooms at 6:30 to eat an early breakfast before heading out to run the Wine Country Run Half Marathon through the vineyards and ranches of Paso Robles. The morning air was a crisp 38 degrees with slight cloud cover and warmed up to around 55 degrees during the morning race. Wine barrels served as mile markers and the winners received their weight in wine. It was a great race atmosphere with post-race breakfast burritos and Starbucks coffee for finishers on the grounds of the Red Oaks Hot Springs Spa.

The race organizers, in addition to sending flowers to our bed & breakfast, saved race numbers 1 and 2 for Joe and me and announced to the runners that the Paso Robles Wine Country Run was our first race together as husband and wife. Overall, this was a gorgeous, well-organized run with perfect weather, caring organizers who brought their warm, personal style to the race, friendly volunteers, and the best post-race food I’ve ever experienced. Joe and I ran at a leisurely 10:30 mile pace, savoring the views and our time together over the 13.1 miles.





Afterwards, we returned to the Seven Quails Bed & Breakfast and sat down to a four-course brunch prepared by Dave & Karina. We relaxed into our meal with mimosas and coffee before moving onto a beautifully arranged plate of pineapple, mango and kiwi fruit dotted with gingery granola. For the main course, we ate scrambled eggs served with potatoes, spinach and sausage along with toast made from freshly baked bread. Our dessert was a puff pastry with a light cream cheese filling and fresh berries. (I would post photos of the courses, but they’re all on Jesper’s camera).

Jesper & Noriko left for San Francisco at 2:00pm, so Joe & I headed to the ocean, driving south on Highway 1 through Cayucos and Moro Bay and ended up back in San Luis Obispo for an early dinner. We strolled through the downtown area to stretch out our legs before driving back to Paso Robles. Then watched the movie Bottleshock at our B&B and crashed in bed after yet another perfect and exhausting day on California’s Central Coast.