We left our star-studded moutainside perch to head up the coast. I forgot to mention that stars occasionally come to this park in their RVs. The only name they mentioned was Matt Mcconaughey who stayed there awhile while filming something. Anyway, we wanted to visit the Hearst Castle off Highway 1 (the PCH, remember?) and travel that route on up to Monterey. But there had been mudslides along there, taking out the road beyond the Castle. (The road winds along the cliffs and is very scenic, but susceptible to that sort of thing). So we opted to take the 101 to Paso Robles to park the RV and jeep over to the PCH (are you getting the hang of this highway talk yet?) and go the the Castle. That turned out to be a wise choice because first of all, the drive over to the coast was just beautiful. The hills were covered with green grass, dotted with trees, sometimes cows. Some hills were covered with vineyards. I don't know how they drive a tractor over them to prepare for planting. A posh wine tasting room. A limo driver was there who said people hire him to take them to these vineyards so he will be the designated driver. An 'Honor-system' fruit stand at an orchard. An orange in my left hand, and a lemon in the right. Big Lemon!! So now we get to the Hearst Castle. Started in the 1920's by William Randolph Hearst who was born wealthy and became a newspaper magnate. He inherited this ranch and tired of 'camping out' when he came here. He hired a woman architect to design and build a suitable cottage. He kept adding on until it became what it is today. They spent 28 years on this project until Hearst died. When he died he said the 'house' was only half finished. And nothing more has been done to finish anything to this day. On a hill 1600 feet above sea level, a winding road is required. Notice the air strip to the right. Here is the main house, Casa Grande. The front door. Much gold is used on the premises. The idea was to create a Mediterranean atmospere. And expensive materials were brought from countries in that area, including centuries-old antique furnishings and carved ceilings, etc. The outdoor pool. Many marble statues around, nude of course. One of three guest houses. The tour only went through the second of three floors of the 'medium' guest house. The 'living room' where guests would assemble before dinner. The dining room. Very uncomfortable chairs!! And finally the indoor pool. One inch tile overlaid with gold. The lights are hand-carved alabaster, which is white, translucent gypsum. A pool alcove with a little diving balcony. All one inch tile. Many famous movie stars, political figures, and business leaders were invited there. But Mr. Hearst never referred to his place as a castle. People were invited to the 'Little Ranch at San Simeon'. That's because at 250,000 acres, this was little, compared to his big ranch in Mexico, with 1 million acres. Following our excursion in opulence, we drove our old jeep up the coast a way to where the road was blocked because of the washouts. This was enough to make us realize we were lucky to have been diverted because it was too treacherous for comfortable RV driving. At one point there was a viewing area to see elephant seals that congregate in this area. At this time there were hundreds of them laying on the beach sunning themselves. This looks like a bunch of dead fish all around the beach. There were also cute and friendly ground squirrels. The end of the road. As seen through bug spatter. This was a good day and the next day was a day of rest. It happened to be Sunday so we went to church at the First Baptist Church of Paso Robles. We enjoyed a good Sunday School Class and great service. Coffee and an awesome array of doughnuts was served in the courtyard in the cool, brilliant sunshine. Really neat. Next stop, the Monterey peninsula. Stay tuned.
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Who Are We?
Chuck and Mary Lou have been traveling in their RV since 2002 and have lately been taking longer, extended trips. This is our way to share our experiences. Trip Reports
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