Bart,
I have raced in both of those places. Wildflower half ironman at Lake San Antonio...about 30 miles out of Paso Robles and Vineman Ironman distance in Santa Rosa and the surrounding area. Swam in the Russian River, rode through the many,many vineyards and ran through Santa Rosa's vineyards including a romp over the crush pads. Beautiful area for sure. Santa Rosa has a very good breakfast restraunt in the old german section of town. Can't remember the name but its a red brick building, the owner is a Jaguire fan and has the front ends of a bunch of old Jags sticking out of the wall on the inside. The food was great!