Hi everyone, well we did an overnight tour last week up the central coast of California. We stayed at Morro Bay but went a little farther up the coast to visit Hearst Castle. Neither of us had ever been there. Well, obviously Wolfgang hasn't been but I had never been either so it was a real treat for the both of us. Our friend Sue told us to make sure that we saw the kitchen so we went against what the sweet little information lady was trying to get us to do and we took tour #2 instead of the general tour #1. We are so glad that we did because we don't need to go back, we have seen the best first. Here are a few pictures of our excursion to Hearst Castle, the elephant seals and to Morro Bay. The weather was spectacular and isn't that what makes California great!
At the entrance to Hearst Castle Wolfgang was able to take this picture of a Turkey Vulture. They are everywhere. We also have them in Santa Clarita. Oh and we saw these same birds on our trip to Peru. I am not sure if we should be taking this as some kind of sign...... 
Entrance to the Visitor's Center where you can buy everything you would ever want to remember Hearst Castle. This includes beef steaks from the Hearst Ranch. We did try them later when we were in Morro Bay and we will admit, they were the best steaks we have ever had. 
A view of the Castle from the bus riding up from the visitor's center. A very windy road but the view of the pacific ocean on the way down was fantastic.
One of the many beautiful pieces of artwork collected by Hearst. His style was a little over the top but each thing he did or collected was incredible.
The famous outdoor pool. The Hearst family no longer owns the castle but they still own the ranch and all the water rights. The water in the pool is actually fresh spring water from the ranch so the family technically owns the water so they can swim there any time they want. If we had been there in the summer, it would have been worth falling in "accidentally".
You can understand why everyone wanted to come to the castle. It must have been so different than what most people had ever seen or experienced in their lives.
OK, so I do travel with the Vogelmann (birdman) of Geinsheim so where ever there are birds.... This is a California Woodpecker heading up a palm tree at the castle.
Don't ask why the picture was taken but here it is.
This is a common sitting room for two of the guest rooms. Hearst was definitely influenced by the French. I mean a little gaudy but hey, I would stay and enjoy it.
A view of the Pacific Ocean from one of the balconies at the castle. Ocean views are something I never get tired of looking at no matter where it is.
One of the dining areas that was added on after the initial castle was built.
The kitchen at the castle is surprisingly modern. Of course Wolfgang thought it was fabulous that there was a built-in beer tap that only served German Beer ("the best beer").
The last room of the tour is the indoor pool that is covered with Murano tiles inlaid with gold. Above the pool are the tennis courts. I wonder what it must have sounded like when someone above was playing tennis.
About 2 miles from the castle is one of the main breeding grounds for elephant seals. We were here about two years ago and the beach was full with mothers and their brand new babies. This time, we were there earlier in the year and it was mainly the men. They are in the process of setting up their harems for breeding next February when the new babies are about 8 weeks old. Those poor women just don't have a minute to themselves!
This is one of the younger bulls. Elephant seals are truly a bad boys club. The more scars you have and the bigger the nose you have the more desirable you are to the gals.
Using the bad boy terms above, this is a real catch. When they are about to fight they hang their big noses into their mouths and blow air. It is super loud and really funny to hear.
Here are two men that are having issues because one is too close to the other guys women. Gee, sounds kind of like how gangs work. Do you think that those who created our gangs visited the seals for inspiration?
This is a young elephant seal that was probably born last year. Super cute as a baby but man, when it gets older it will be a face only another elephant seal could love.
This is a beautiful lighthouse about 5 miles away from the seals. The coastline all the way up highway one is really spectacular. It is hard to leave it.
The sunset over the ocean is always a real WOW for us. Wolfgang snapped this from the car on our way back to Morro Bay.
From our hotel in Morro Bay. This is our view of the Morro Rock when we got up for our ride home. Great weather and this picture just doesn't give you the real perspective as to how big this rock really is! There are two pairs of Peregrin Falcons (The fastest bird on earth) living on the rock. If you ever go, please head out to the rock and talk with Bob the birdman. He will tell you all about the birds and maybe you can see them sitting on their rock way up on the side.
No not a purchased postcard just a perfect day. We walked from where we took this picture out to the rock and back. Just a wonderful place to hang out.
The next couple of pictures are a little hard to see but I had to include them. Morro bay is full of seals and sea otters. The next two pictures are of two sea otters and their babies. This picture shows the parent laying on its back in the water while the baby lays on top. This guy was busy giving himself a bath and that poor parent was having to balance its movements so it wouldn't fall off. I could have watched this for hours. 
This picture shows the other parent, again laying on its back, and the baby sleeping. This was the luckier parent. I bet it was the dad!
We drove home over Highway 46 from the coast through Paso Robles and then on to Interstate 5 for our route home. This is at the top of the pass into Paso Robles from the coast. The rock in the water is the Rock at Morro Bay. Doesn't look so big in this picture.
We had one surprise on our way home. Highway 46 between the 101 and 5 freeway is famous for the James Dean Memorial Intersection. It was at the intersection of Highways 46 and 41 where Dean crashed into the station of a guy named Turnipseed. 7 miles farther down Highway 46, we visited the last place James Dean stopped before his accident. Always the tourist, we just had to get a picture.
No, we didn't make a wrong turn and end up in Texas, these are the oil fields outside of Bakersfield.So that's it for this trip. Great fun and we hope that if you ever have a chance, you too will be able to see Hearst Castle, Morro Bay and of course those fabulous bad boys, the elephant seals. Hmm, James Dean didn't really have a very big nose.
