After an excellent night's sleep -- BTW, that may go down as my favorite part of the whole trip, the great sleep we got -- it was time to pack up in Morro Bay and head up the coast to the Hearst Castle.
The Pacific Coast Highway was fine at this point, but temporary signs warned us that the 1 would be closed about 46 miles away. That was fine; we needed to simply drive up through Cambria and to San Simeon, where the home that W.R. Hearst built still stands.
The Kid Formerly Known as Blogger Toddler wanted to know if any princesses or Prince Charming resided there. Sorry to say, no. We bought a $2.99 toy snake in the gift shop to keep the kid happy -- and sure enough, he was too busy sliding the snake (which doubled as a choo choo train, in his mind) on the ground to make a scene. The tour guide even said she was now thnking of bringing a few toy snakes to every tour in order to placate the rambunctious little ones.
It was hot enough that the Roman Pool looked quite inviting. As part of the perks of the job, Hearst Castle employees get to hop into the pool on one certain day every year.
Employees also had to spend the last few weeks breathing in the smoky air; I could feel it in the back of my throat just minutes after arriving on the hill where Hearst Castle is situated. The guides said they've adjusted, and that thankfully they take turns narrating the tours.
Whatta sight. And yet, the Hearst Castle was never completely finished. Hearst drove architect Julia Morgan a tad crazy as he constantly changed his mind on things.
The dining room.
The indoor pool.
The indoor movie theater. Following the tour, we were back in visitors' center, where we grabbed food from the snack bar. We also checked out the free IMAX sized film that told the story of Hearst building the castle; Evan liked it, as it featured planes, trains and boats prominently.
After all of that, we headed up north a little futher to check out the elephant seals. The animals were lounging on the beach, occasionally getting up to burp and yawn.
The fires in Big Sur forced us to turn around and head up the 101 to get up north; the sky remained pink.
We arrived in Monterey a bit before dinner -- and after checking into the Sand Dollar Inn (another fine spot), we hit the Tuscan-based Italian restaurant La Giostra.
The sun was completely set by the time we got to Dennis the Menace park -- but we managed to still squeeze in some play before a park ranger locked the gate.
Next up: Day three, Sea otters and San Francisco, oh my!
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