We started the morni
ng by continuing on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) along the pacific coast. On one side of us is the was the pacific ocean and on the other side of us was the mountains. The major difference I noticed between the east and west coast beaches is that the west coast beaches do not have any dunes. Our first stop was the Hearst Castle. On the way there, we traveled through one of the many wine countries of California. We could see rows and rows of grapes! Then we saw many strawberry fields with strawberry pickers hard at work. We arrived at the Hearst Castle and had no idea what to expect. We were given advice by the tour guides to go on the experience tour. We watched a movie about W.R. Hearst and the building of the castle (which he called "the ranch". We took 
a bus to the top of the mountain and were in awe of what we saw. It was truly a castle, modeled after many European castles. The gardens and grounds were gorgeous. There is no way I can describe with words how beautiful this place was. If you have ever been to the Biltmore Estates in Ashville, NC...think 10x better and grander!! The tour took us around the gardens, the outdoor pool, one of the three guest houses, the ground floor of the castle (cocktail room/living room, dining room, music room, billiards room, movie theater) and the indoor pool. After finishing our tour, we headed a couple miles down the road to the elephant seal viewing area. When we got there, we saw some very fat ground squirrels who were not afraid of people. I had three of 
then walk right up to me, stand on their hind feet, and beg for food. I did not notice the sign that stated "DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS" until after the deed had been done. Oops! Then we saw 100's of seals beached on the sand. It was molting season, so they were shedding their fur. At the same time, we could not tell by the noises if they were burping, passing gas, or breathing in a funny way. With the stench as a clue, we were thinking of burping or passing gas!! 
Alan and I thought it would be fun to continue up the PCH. Boy were we wrong. This road is very winding along the mountain cliffs just above the water. About half way down the road we both started to feel car sick from all of the back and forth, up and down motions. The worst part...there was no other road out of the area. We had to get to the end of the road. When we finally got to the end, Alan and I had to get out of the car for a while. We were finally able to get back on the road and finally got to San Francisco.
ng by continuing on the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) along the pacific coast. On one side of us is the was the pacific ocean and on the other side of us was the mountains. The major difference I noticed between the east and west coast beaches is that the west coast beaches do not have any dunes. Our first stop was the Hearst Castle. On the way there, we traveled through one of the many wine countries of California. We could see rows and rows of grapes! Then we saw many strawberry fields with strawberry pickers hard at work. We arrived at the Hearst Castle and had no idea what to expect. We were given advice by the tour guides to go on the experience tour. We watched a movie about W.R. Hearst and the building of the castle (which he called "the ranch". We took 
a bus to the top of the mountain and were in awe of what we saw. It was truly a castle, modeled after many European castles. The gardens and grounds were gorgeous. There is no way I can describe with words how beautiful this place was. If you have ever been to the Biltmore Estates in Ashville, NC...think 10x better and grander!! The tour took us around the gardens, the outdoor pool, one of the three guest houses, the ground floor of the castle (cocktail room/living room, dining room, music room, billiards room, movie theater) and the indoor pool. After finishing our tour, we headed a couple miles down the road to the elephant seal viewing area. When we got there, we saw some very fat ground squirrels who were not afraid of people. I had three of 
then walk right up to me, stand on their hind feet, and beg for food. I did not notice the sign that stated "DO NOT FEED THE ANIMALS" until after the deed had been done. Oops! Then we saw 100's of seals beached on the sand. It was molting season, so they were shedding their fur. At the same time, we could not tell by the noises if they were burping, passing gas, or breathing in a funny way. With the stench as a clue, we were thinking of burping or passing gas!! 
Alan and I thought it would be fun to continue up the PCH. Boy were we wrong. This road is very winding along the mountain cliffs just above the water. About half way down the road we both started to feel car sick from all of the back and forth, up and down motions. The worst part...there was no other road out of the area. We had to get to the end of the road. When we finally got to the end, Alan and I had to get out of the car for a while. We were finally able to get back on the road and finally got to San Francisco.Miles Traveled: 4011.9 miles
I am SO glad you got to visit Hearst Castle and the elephant seals! I can see from your description it was worth it. I didn't get to do the castle on the trip with my parents, but I knew it would be awesome. Sometime soon... :) And please forgive me, but I have to say this - I told you so! You do NOT want to drive the PCH too much because you get stuck on it, it's curvy, and it takes forever! hehehe. Anyway, glad to see you're still alive and havin' fun!
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