We went on a very enjoyable trip to San Simeon along the coast on Route 1. Route 1 is the famous highway along the coast in California. We went to the Hearst Castle which in the same area. In fact the Hearst family owned the whole area at one time. They owned 350,000 acres at one time. After seeing the elephant seals along the coast we went to the castle. I had gone on line Thursday night and purchased 2 tickets for 12:40 pm and we were fortunate to get an earlier tour at 12.20pm. It was a great tour except when we left the truck I grabbed the camera and not an extra battery. Needless to say, I ran out of power just as we were entering the castle. I got a few pictures but not what I would have like to shoot. One good thing about the problem is that I really got to see everything and pay attention to the tour guides lecture. She was very informative and had done this tour for more than 15 years. She was very entertaining.
Here are some pictures of the day.---
When we left the park we had 17 miles to go to the coast as the birds fly. Well, we had to go south to Palo Robles and then west on 46 to route one and then up north again. It took us an hour to reach San Simeon. This is the view we saw at the first viewing area. Note the black pin dot to the left of the middle in the smooth blue water near the cliff. That is the head of a elephant seal in the surf.
He is there. I think it is a "he".
The elephant seals resting while the tide is out. They winter on San Simeon and have their young. Notice the seals in the water and on side of shore.
When we were watching them in the ocean there were hundreds of them out there.
This is the visitors center at the Hearst Castle. You could not go past this point--the tours were guided with bus rides up a curvy road to the top of a very large hill. The Hearst's called it the Enchanted Hill and originally used it as a summer camping area.
The visitor center was busy and the food was very expensive. They had a trapped audience.
The white marble pictures and statues were everywhere. The castle is rather overdone, unlike the Biltmore Estate in North Carolina. I believe I liked the Biltmore much better for a home.
This is the smallest guest house. It is 3600 sq. feet on three floors. Bob Hope and his wife spent some time in the house and had use of all the bedrooms (fancy) and baths, living rooms, etc.
From the house you can look over the outdoor pool.
The famous pool that I bet you saw somewhere. It is used every year by the family and the staff also can use the pool at certain times of the year.
Another view of the outdoor pool.
It took 28 years for the building of the Castle and other buildings on the top of the hill. William Randolph Hearst changed his mind so often that he built some areas 3 or 4 times. He worked in conjunction with Julia Morgan. She was 48 years old at the time. Julia was the first women archtect to graduate in California.
The front view of the castle. It has two large towers over the roof. We only saw a few of the rooms on the first floor (Living room, Dining Room, pool room, inside pool)
Picture of the dining room. Does it remind you of Harry Potter. Well, the people who made the movie came and took pictures and drawings of the dining room as research for the movie
We stopped at a winery at San Simeon and when we left this was one of the houses in the town.
The coast line near the town of San Simeon
The rolling hills as we went east on Rt. 46 back to Paso Robles.
A wonderful pastural scene we took on the back road to Lake Nacimiento Resort were we are parked.
I believe I will blow this picture up for a nice wall scene.
That is it for today
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