Hearst Castle

Part of the series: Vancouver to the Grand Canyon and Back Again!

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Hearst Castle

Hearst Castle is a big house on top of a big hill with beautiful grounds that include 4 4-bedroom cottages surrounding it. It was built by a very rich man and his family who liked to collect very old European things (like ceilings!!) that are still in the main building.

...Did you know that ceilings could be collected? I certainly didn't.

And although I looked, I did not see any zebras, which the family let go into the hills when they were forced to sell the property and shut down their private zoo.

If you have time, stop at Hearst Castle and take a tour of the house and grounds; even without the interesting background story, the view alone is worth it. But then again, I'm a sucker for a great view. And intricate tiles.

Main Building at Hearst Castle

Landscaping at Hearst Castle

Looking out across a terrace to the ocean

Private view to the ocean from one of the cottages

A fountain on the grounds

Birds circling along the coast

After leaving the castle, we stopped once more to try and get a picture of some California condors as they circled in the sky along the coast.

We spent the night in Santa Barbara, and drove into Los Angeles on the morning of Independence Day.

My best shot - is it even a California condor?

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Day 7 - Los Angeles     >>

Elephant Seals

Part of the series: Vancouver to the Grand Canyon and Back Again!

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Hearst Castle     >>

Elephant seals play fighting in the surf

A few stops later, now starting to look for signs to Hearst Castle, we drove past a sign that we didn't quite understand - something about elephant seals, and then noticed what looked like rocks out in the surf.

Except if you watched them very closely, they were moving.

And then we turned a corner, and happened upon the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, with elephant seals in attendance.

Elephant seal taking a break from walking along the beach

There was a free parking lot and park staff available to answer any questions people had, and so we spent a while there watching the baby elephant seals playing in the surf. They stop there every year on their way up north for the summer to shed their outer skin/fur layer, and we happened along when the "babies" were still there.

If you ever get the chance to drive down the California Big Sur coast in mid- to late-May, I highly recommend stopping to see the big guys - on average about 5 m in length.

After watching them play for a while, we drove down the road to Hearst Castle.

... do elephant seals growl?

Apparently, squirrels are a problem for the elephant seals

Crow sitting on a post

Elephant seals molting before summer migration

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Pelican

Part of the series: Vancouver to the Grand Canyon and Back Again!

<<     Day 6 - The Big Sur

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Pelican turning

At another pullout along the road, we were breathing in the ocean air, absorbing as much as we could of the crashing waves, and admiring the hills covered in summer wildflowers when I noticed a pelican circling above us.

It did a lazy turn in the air, and then started drifting down to land. Which it did, about 6 feet from me.

And while I felt like it was gently coming in to land, Angharad and Juanita, who both missed the initial turn and the beginning of the descent, thought it was dive-bombing me.

Pelican beginning to descend

Pelican landing beside me

This was the beginning of our many imagined close encounters with large birds.

And caused us, yet again, belly-shaking laughter.

The pelican was decidedly unaffected by our presence, and waddled (do pelicans waddle?) over to the stones marking the edge of the cliff where he very kindly posed for pictures.

After admiring him for a while, we continued on our way. We stopped a few more times - having successfully gotten a picture of a pelican, I REALLY wanted a picture of a California condor.

Pelican posing for pictures

Pelican along the Big Sur coastline

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Day 6 - The Big Sur

Part of the series: Vancouver to the Grand Canyon and Back Again!

<<     Day 5 - San Francisco

Pelican     >>

Half-way through the trip and we couldn't spend even a minute thinking about the wonders we had seen so far; we were on our way to the Big Sur coastline, and the Grand Canyon was still ahead after that!

Big Sur coastline

Driving down that coastal road was almost as curvy as the mountain roads we climbed in Italy, the biggest difference being that the road in California was a bit wider, and on the right-hand side, most of the time there was a drop-off to the ocean.

Juanita and Angharad

It was beautiful, and we took our time, stopping at whichever pullout caught our fancy.

The pullout immediately after Bixby Bridge was one that we explored at length - I should maybe point out that Angharad works for an engineering firm that specializes in bridges, and so we were all affected by her new-found interest in them.

Bixby Bridge, California

I was standing on the edge of that hill-cliff thing! 

Sitting on a tree stump on the edge of the continent

A little further down the road, we found a pullout that had a perfectly formed tree stump chair, which I thought would be great to climb up... and it was, right up until the minute I tried to get down and realized that a) I am very short, and b) I was VERY close to the edge of the cliff.

Yet again, we found ourselves laughing well past the point of tears.

And there was still more to come!!!

Now my fear of heights kicks in?!?!

View north...

... and south from the stump - Totally Worth It!!!

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Planning a road trip to the Grand Canyon

Prequel to: Vancouver to the Grand Canyon and Back Again!

So, I'm still coming down from a high after my trip to Mexico, and last night, Angharad, Juanita and I had a Facetime call to talk about our road trip to the Grand Canyon in the first weeks of July.

I am SOO excited about this!! Angharad and I have been talking about doing this for about three years now, and it is finally happening. And what a road trip it is going to be.

Basically, take everything that is best about driving down the western U.S. coast, and put it together with the Grand Canyon, and you have our road trip. Trust me, I checked.

Angharad put together a preliminary plan...

"Not trying to take over, but just put this together to start the discussions"

which is what we talked about last night.

And today I Googled:

"What are the best road trips along the western U.S. coast"

According to Fodor's Travel, of the 5 best trips, we are covering over half of them.

• San Diego to Ensenada, Mexico - Not happening
• LA to Joshua Tree - While the park isn't on our itinerary, LA is; from there, we're going north of Joshua Tree National Park to Williams, where we're catching the train into the Grand Canyon.
• San Francisco to Big Sur - This is Absolutely Happening!!! Did I mention that I'm excited about this trip???
• Portland to Redwood National Park - This is half happening. We are driving along the coast from Portland to Reedsport, and then heading inland to San Francisco. Adding Redwood National Park turns a comfortable 7.5 hour drive into a 9 hour drive; we'll have to see how we feel on that day.
• Seattle to Alaska - We are not going to Alaska. We are however, driving from Vancouver through Seattle, so we will be doing some of this trip.

And then, after all of that, we get to spend Independence Day with friends,  take a train ride into the Grand Canyon, and drive through the Grand Staircase National Monument.

So, Angharad, as far as I am concerned, you can plan a road trip for me any time. And Thank You.

I will be flying back to Regina from Salt Lake City, and they will continue the trip home to Vancouver taking in the Bonneville Salt Flats, Wild Horse Monument, and Leavenworth, to name a few.

It's going to be amazing. 

Bixby Bridge, Big Sur Coast - Photograph by Don Bright