We had looked at the weather forecast last night and things didn’t look good. It was meant to rain/pour/thunderstorm all day. I was really disappointed to see that and I was hoping that the luck I’d had on the trip so far could just hold out for one more day. When we woke up it didn’t look as though my luck was going to do us any good. It was still rather dark at 8:30am and overcast with a light rain.
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| Sun touching down on the River |
We had some snacks with us and ate a bit in the room as we packed…hopeful that the day might come around. We walked around the hotel grounds just looking around in our raincoats when suddenly we saw a ray of sunlight touch down on the river. Hallelujah!
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| In an art garden we walked through |
Once we were packed we headed out, back onto Rt. 1. And our day consisted of stopping every 10-15 minutes to take pictures of the view or to go into one of the many art galleries/ shops that lined the road or to get out and take walks. It took us about 5 hours to go approximately 75 miles. In those 5 hours we saw some amazing art work, including Jewelry, statues, paintings, photography, pottery, and much more.
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| View from a gallery we stopped in |
We stopped in quaint cafés; we stopped to take pictures of flowers, seals, and the cliffs.
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| Me in a field of wild poppies looking over Rt. 1 and the Big Sur Coast |
We also did some walking through the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
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| View of water fall in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park |
The next view we spotted after our walk through to the waterfall was a massive castle on the hill. It was the Hearst Castle looking over San Simeon Bay. We drove up to the visitors center and read all about the Hearst legacy and the home. It was built between 1919 and the 1930’s for newspaper owner William Randolph Hearst. When he died the Hearst Corporation donated the property to the state of California and it has been maintained as a state park. Heart’s original words to the architect of the castle were: “I would like to build something upon the hill at San Simeon. I get tired of going up there and camping in tents. I’m getting a little too old for that. I’d like to get something that would be a little more comfortable.” Hearst Castle featured 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a movie theatre, an airfield, and the world's largest private zoo. I’d say that’s a bit more comfortable than a tent!! Hearst Castle and Hearst himself were the inspiration for one of my favorite old films: Citizen Kane.
http://www.hearstcastle.org/
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| View of Hearst Castle from the bay below |
All of the Big Sur coast line made for a beautiful drive. One I’d love to do again with more time. I'd love to go back and spend a few days hiking, camping, perhaps backpacking through some of Big Sur's parks (outdoor ed trip in the making? I think so!) I felt we had been truly blessed that the weather stayed nice for us to experience that create and magical place.
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| Wine Tasting on our way West through California |
From Cambria we began to head west into California wine country. We made a few stops and then continued our slow crawl of a drive--eventually making it to Bakersfield, CA around 6pm where we checked ourselves into a hotel. We had dinner at one of the many chain restaurants that lined the hotel row. And after some relax time my mom went to bed and I headed into the nearby 24 hour fitness to get some exercise before what would be another couple of long days in the car.
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