An amazing group of ladies.
When Leah asked me to help her plan this year’s Fitcation my first question was “Do I get to go?” quickly followed by “What exactly do you need me to do . . .” I knew early on that the destination was California’s Central Coast, specifically Paso Robles, Cambria, Morro Bay, and San Luis Obispo. I also knew that the activities would be amazing – wine tasting, kayaking, eating gourmet food, hiking, and some incredible sightseeing. Always the diplomat, Leah answered my first question with “Of course!” and my second question with “Sweetie, have I told you how much I love you . . .”
Don’t let that cute face fool you – she is a master at getting what she wants . . .
Planning an event like Fitcation is a lot like planning your wedding, only with 30 brides instead of the traditional 1. There are so many moving pieces – activities, schedules, meals, lodging, transportation, etc. that you can quickly get bogged down with details. Everything needs to go off without a hitch, or at least ~look~ like it is going off without a hitch. Did I mention that there would be 30 women on this trip?
Fortunately, we had an ace in the hole this year: Kris Beal @krazy_kris from SIP Certified Sustainable Vineyards and Wines (say that 5 times fast after an afternoon of wine tasting). Kris developed the itinerary and worked with the local travel bureaus, wineries, eating establishments and various other groups to deliver a fun and action-packed weekend. She was also our tour guide for most of the weekend – ensuring that we got to each of our destinations on time by using driving skills that Mario Andretti would be proud of.
The one, the only, Kris. She’s qualifying for the Daytona 500 this year!
Look for the SIP Certified logo on your wine.
The week prior to the event was a flurry of activity. Leah and I assembled the swag bags while our children did their best to disassemble the bags and mix all of the products up. My apologies in advance if someone got a bag with 14 packs of tampons – it was the baby, I swear.
So. Much. Swag.
After all of the planning it was time to get the show on the road. We loaded up the swag van, said our goodbyes to the kids, and then we were finally on the road . . . only to get stuck in traffic 10 minutes from our house. After a few miles the traffic lifted and three hours later (I swear I only sped once, the whole way up *grin*) we arrived in Paso Robles. The fun was about to begin . . .
This is going to be fun . . .
Part of the first day consisted of Leah and I sitting in the registration area wondering if anyone was going to show up (You know what I’m talking about, those calm moments before an event starts when your subconscious takes over and convinces you that nobody is coming – kinda like my wedding day when the bride was late . . . ahem, Leah).
I hope I don’t have to bring all of this stuff back home . . .
My lovely wife posing with the swag.
A sample of what was inside those very heavy swag bags that I lugged from the car!
Luckily, we didn’t have to wait long until our guests started arriving and the image of Leah and I driving ourselves around town in separate 15-passengers vans was gone.
Whew! Now we would have two people in each of the 15-passenger vans . . .
After some brief reunions and introductions we were off to downtown Paso Robles. Kris had arranged for us to visit some pretty neat stores in downtown Paso: the Pithy Little Wine Company www.pithywine.com @pithywine on Twitter, the Brown Butter Cookie Company www.brownbuttercookies.com, and the General Store Paso Robles www.generalstorepr.com @GenStoPaso on Twitter.
Pithy Little Wine Co. – Photo courtesy of Kia Ru
Brown Butter Cookie Company – photo courtesy of Angela Bishop
The General Store in Paso Robles – photo courtesy of Erin Bassett
This was followed by dinner catered by Fig Good Food www.figgoodfood.com and hosted at Studios on the Park www.studiosontheparl.org @StudiosPR. If you have never been to downtown Paso Robles, I highly recommend it. The place has that small town feel that is lost in most of today’s urban sprawl.
Studios on the park – photo courtesy of Deb Roby
We ended the night with some shots at one of the local drinking establishments:
Fireballs, anyone?
Day 2 had us waking up early (but thankfully not too early – see fireballs above) for a workout with Erin Kreitz Shirey @powerfitness.
Erin x2 – photo courtesy of Erin Bassett
Don’t let that sweet and innocent smile fool you – Erin is no joke when it comes to working out. Did I mention that she is pregnant? She helped the ladies discover muscles that that didn’t know they had. Heck, I discovered muscles that I didn’t know I had and I was just snapping pictures and carrying gear.
See that body in the bushes? That’s me after I passed out.
Erin even had the ladies work on their flying skills.
After a swift drive through the hills (Did you know that a giant van can take sharp mountain curves at 60mph? Neither did I until I tried to keep up with Kris) we ended up at Castoro Cellars www.castorocellars.com for a tour of the grounds and some lunch.
A little piece of heaven on earth
Lunch is one of my all-time favorite things right next to breakfast and dinner and boy was I was starving after my inadvertent workout with Erin and death-defying drive with Kris. So I quickly sat down and opened my lunch to be greeted with . . . Quinoa.
Now let me explain something to those of you that don’t know MrBookieboo. I’m a recent convert to the whole “healthy living, healthy eating” thing. Prior to Leah, my idea of “healthy” was a salad with iceberg lettuce, croutons, and some ranch dressing (Hey, the dressing came from a ranch so it has to be healthy – right?). I’ve come a long way since then but I still struggle with certain things like . . . Quinoa.
Behold – Quinoa!! – photo courtesy of Jeanae Osborne
I searched inside my lunchbox for the rest of my lunch but all I found was a wrap filled with even more exotic vegetables and some dried fruit. Puzzled I leaned over to Leah and whispered “I must have got the wrong lunch”. Leah replied “They are all the same, sweetie. Eat your Quinoa”. I retorted “There’s no meat!” Leah gave me that look (you know the one) and I resigned myself to Quinoa for lunch. (Incidentally, the lunch was actually quite tasty but don’t tell anyone I said that. I have a reputation to maintain . . .)
Like fine wine – Leah looks just as amazing now as she did when I met her 11+ years ago.
The next stop on our tour was Pasolivo Olive Oils www.pasolivo.com. Now if you think you know something about olive oil because you watched Popeye as a kid or bought some of the stuff at your local supermarket – stop right there.
Trust me – you don’t want to eat this olive . . .
Pasolivo’s olives are exclusively for olive oil. They are bitter but that is what makes them perfect for oil. Trust me – you haven’t experienced olive oil until you try it from a place like Pasolivo. This stuff is simply amazing.
Pasolivo – the best olive oil I’ve ever had
We ended the day with a tour of Halter Ranch www.halterranch.com including a dinner hosted by Earth Footwear www.earthbrands.com/earthfootwear. Halter Ranch is another one of those special places that you need to see to believe – words and even pictures don’t do it justice.
The covered bridge leading to the vineyards
Breathtaking
Did I mention that they make wine?
In a similar vein – Earth Footwear is one of those companies that just “gets it”. They make an excellent product (I can personally vouch for this since Leah has a closet FULL of Earth Footwear).
Thank you Erath Footwear and Halter Ranch! – photo courtesy of Angela Bishop
I think I spy some meat on that spaghetti squash . . .
Guess which foot is mine . . .
Hey – where’s my shoes? – photo courtesy of Erin Bassett
Shoes!! – photo courtesy of Shannon Gosney
Day 3 “The Quest for Meat”
Did you know that you can make it from Paso Robles to Hearst Castle in 35 minutes? After another spirited drive we started our day at Hearst Castle overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Hearst Castle takes decadence to the extreme.
I could get used to this – photo courtesy of Erin Bassett
While our time was at Hearst Castle was short we did get to experience the “buzzing” Persian rugs (stay on the path!!), more security guards than San Quentin (so that’s where all the government employees work . . .), and concrete benches that you are not allowed to sit on (I get it – it’s very old but come on it’s concrete!)
There’s a security guard hiding in those bushes
Lunch was at Leffingwell Landing in Cambria – turkey was on the menu (Thank you – Robin’s Restaurant www.robinsrestaurant.com).
The quest for meat ended in Cambria 
One of the highlights of the trip also took place on the beach – yoga with the amazing Kia @bodhi_bear.
The itinerary didn’t say anything about power yoga . . .
Kia is easily one of the most grounded and comforting individuals that I know. Just being in the same room with her can shift your whole perspective.
R-E-L-A-X – easy for you to say as I was busy snapping pictures and trying not to trip over seaweed.
It was also in Cambria where we had to part ways with Speed Racer-erm Kris. In either a stroke of genius or sheer madness Kris left me “in charge” of the rest of the trip. All I had to do was get the ladies to Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo, and finally back to Paso Robles. No problem . . .
Which way do we go? Which way do we go?
With a half a tank of gas, written directions and my trusty navigator Stephanie @foodfit4real we set off for the great unknown . . . and promptly came to a stop. An iPhone had been lost (which for a blogger is a lot like misplacing your arm, first born, or an aircraft carrier). Fortunately, we found the wayward phone down by the beach – it was still in the downward dog position and Shannon @themommyfiles was able to resume tweeting. I survived my first crisis as the “leader” – Whew!
Next stop – kayaking in Morro Bay.
You want me to go where in a what?!?!
Initially, I had no intention of kayaking in the middle of the ocean (ok, it was in the middle of a very shallow and fully protected bay but that’s beside the point). You see, the sane people had conveniently “disappeared” as the not-so-sane people were lining up to become shark bait. Ever the fearless leader I was at the back of the line collecting everyone’s last will and testament when I quickly realized the error of my ways – we were short one kayaker . . .
I swear I heard the theme song from Gilligan’s Island playing as I set off with Kristin @littlemamajama into the deep blue sea (shallow bay).
Why are those sea lions laughing at me?
Thanks to some encouragement from Kristin and some great advice from the folks at Kayak Horizons www.kayakhorizons.com I conquered my fear and had a pretty good time in the process.
She’s smiling because she left me with the sea lions – photo courtesy of Kristin Novotny
After returning from our 3-hour tour (ok, it was more like 30 minutes) the wonderful folks at Morro Bay Tourism www.morrobay.org had a lovely reception for us overlooking the bay.
Soon we were off to our last destination – downtown San Luis Opispo.
I think they are happy because I won’t be driving them anymore . . . – photo courtesy of Shannon Gosney
After driving around the block a few times we arrived at Eatz www.eatzslo.com for some some fantastically fresh food and wine provided by Tolosa www.tolosawinery.com.
Yum! ‘Nuf Said
This is also where Leah officially made the announcement for next year’s big event: the Shift Con Eco Wellness Social Media Conference www.shiftconmedia.com taking place in Los Angeles October 2nd-4th 2014.
Have I mentioned how proud I am of Leah and everything that she has done?
After dinner we spent some time walking around San Luis Obispo and then started to say our goodbyes. Fitcation13 had officially come to an end.
We’ve done several events like this over the years and the final day is always bitter-sweet for me. On the one hand, I’m excited to get home and see my boys and return to my crazy-normal life. On the other hand, I’m sad to leave such a beautiful place such as the Central Coast and all of the friends that made the trip so special. Thanks to social media it is easier than ever to maintain those friendships online and I am truly grateful for the time that I spent with each and every one of you.
This is what it’s all about
