29 July 2016

I hope you are sitting down for this post. Today was jam packed on the itinerary.

We packed up the bags and said goodbye to Norman, and headed for Highway 1 South. There have been further updates on the Soberanes Fire - more homes damaged and one firefighter lost his life. The update from our perspective is that Highway 1 remains open, but the National Parks are still very much closed.

We followed the signs for 17 Mile Drive, which is in the area that houses the famous Pebble Beach golf course. We had to pay $10 to get into this exclusive area, and started to gawp with wonder at the most amazing and huge houses. We started to dream of our life in Pebble Beach - Andrew playing golf all day, and me jogging and yoga-ing, whilst the Mexican maid looks after the home. Oliver will of course be living the American Dream by playing basketball in the front yard and doing his paper round by flinging papers from his bike without stopping (too many movies you think?)

There are a number of stops that the map we were given recommends. The first was a beach area called Spanish Bay. Explorers used to camp here whilst they searched for Monterey Bay. It was deserted. One man on a paddle-board and us. The weather was very foggy, quite chilly, but the sea air was refreshing. We spent twenty minutes or so just watching the waves.

A few more points on the map later and we are at Bird Rock, where many shorebirds rub feathers with harbour seals. We saw a few that had managed to climb the rock - not really sure how they managed it, but it must have taken a lot of effort. I can't really see why Mother Nature hasn't given these poor fellas some feet. Or at least the ability to live under water permanently. They are lovely, but it looks so difficult for them to get about on land.

We also saw some cute squirrels.

The other stops on the 17 Mile Drive were very busy, so we passed them by, slowing down for just enough of a look at Pebble Beach golf course - a poor chap trying to get his ball out of one of the many bunkers - and Andrew dreaming of one day getting the chance to play on this spectacular course.

We were then on the road to Carmel by the Sea. Famous for mainly having Clint Eastwood as it's Mayor. What a beautiful little town! Lovely art shops, expensive jewellers and coffee shops galore. Being on a bit of a time limit we whizzed up and down the main streets, stopping for a little browse (where Andrew bought me a lovely book) and a cake for Oli and coffee for me and Andrew. We plumped for the 'Jump Start' a double espresso topped with a filter coffee. Wow! It was the most delicious coffee we have ever tasted. Never wanted it to end.

Back onto Highway 1 and looking for the next landmark of Bixby Creek Bridge. It is one of the world's highest single span bridges, completed in 1932 by prisoners looking to reduce their sentence time. Unfortunately due to the terrible fog/smog, we ended up going over it, and then all shouting 'was that it, was it?' We saw some people ahead of us taking photos and realised that it had, indeed, been Bixby Bridge, so Andrew swung the car round and we crossed it again.

The fire trucks attending the fire were blocking the area that people usually park for the bridge, so the opportunity to take photos wasn't great, and it was foggy, but we tried! We've now crossed Bixby bridge three times!

Carrying on down Highway 1 we should have been able to enter Big Sur State Park (closed) and Julia Pfeiffer State Park (also closed), so we just drove on. The fog was pretty bad now, and the road winding and steep. I can only imagine the beauty we have missed, but at least the Highway was open (we've since found out that it was closed on this stretch yesterday).

We had a date with Hearst Castle at 4.30, so we had to just keep driving, and maybe, for this reason the fog was a blessing. We would have kept stopping for photos otherwise. Just five miles before the 'castle' (will explain later), there is an area where elephant seals mate and live. We saw a huge load of people looking over the coastline and guessed this must be the place. We parked up and walked over and there they were. They are HUGE. As I said before, the poor things look so graceful in the water, but it takes them so much effort to make it back onto land, and they are very noisy. Loved them!

On to Hearst Castle with minutes to spare. Hearst Castle is not actually a castle. It is a home (well, mansion) built in 1929 by William Randolph Hearst who inherited the land and money from his father who had made money from silver mining. He enlisted a female architect to create a home for him and his wife, that then turned into another wing, and another, until a huge house was built. It's now a state monument and preserved. We booked one of the tours (you are not able to explore alone), which took us on a bus high up into the hills of this huge ranch. The tour guide, Todd, took us to the grand rooms which were used for entertaining stars and influential people of the time. Basically a party place. I could imagine the glamour of the time, and the fun they must have had.

The main building is decorated in different styles - Hearst's way of showing off how educated he was in travel and arts. Italian church carving lined the walls, Belgian tapestries on the walls, Spanish carved ceilings...and its own movie theatre. They are restoring the Neptune pool (a huge outdoor pool), which will be splendid when finished (it was empty of water, but you could imagine it).

There's an indoor pool (still used by the family and select few) and tennis courts. The family were ahead of their time, with the most modern of conveniences.

It even had a zoo with polar bears (not sure that they'd love the Californian climate) and zebra. The zebra still live on the ranch to this day, and we were fortunate enough to see them mingling with the cattle as we left.

Given more time, and less eleven year old, we probably would have signed up for more of the tours (upstairs, the cottages), but it was a lovely experience.

Twenty minutes down Highway 1 and we are in Cayucos, a small seaside town, where our motel awaits. A MUCH nicer room, clean and bright and five minutes from the ocean. We had dinner in a restaurant called Sea Shanty where the whole ceiling is lined with baseball caps (Oliver heaven) and I had the best club sandwich in the world!

It's been a busy day - slightly disappointed by the fog along most of Highway 1, but just glad that we had the opportunity to drive it safely and fire free.

Until tomorrow - I'm off to dream of being a guest of William Randolph Hearst in 1930..