California Dreamin'

When we woke up on the city streets of San Luis Obispo we could once again breath easy after sleeping soundly, without police disturbance!  We then decided to continue our drive up Highway 1 to see the extravagant Hearst Castle & even came upon a few surprises along the way.

The O'Babbitt's with the 576-foot high volcanic plug, Morro Rock in Morro Bay
We spent the morning walking through this quaint seaside town

The Hearst Castle's Casa Grande or Big House
There were a number of different tours available at the Hearst Castle and while some visitors
did them all, we decided one was enough for us and choose the Upper Rooms Tour

Babbitt snooping in Casa del Monte on the Hearst Castle property
In addition to Casa Grande there are three guesthouses...W.R. Hearst & his architect, Julia Morgan
continuously worked on this property for 28 years, but never finished it completely

The O'Babbitt's in front of the Neptune Pool on the Hearst Castle Property
This slightly outrageous property had everything; art collections from all over the world,
an indoor & outdoor pool, zoo animal enclosures, but our favorite aspect was that the 5 mile
bus ride to and from the Visitor's Center was narrated by Jeopardy's very own Alex Trebek

Fighting & snoozing elephant seals across from the Hearst Castle
Luckily Mr. Trebek informed us about how close we were to the seals & encouraged us to stop

The O'Babbitt's along Big Sur
We originally thought Big Sur was a town, but quickly realized that it is actually more of a scenic drive

View from The Rig while driving through Big Sur
Once the sun started to set we decided it would be tragic to make this scenic drive at night,
so we pulled off the road & took a chance by spending the night next to the cliff...
once again we weren't bothered & our night couldn't have been more peaceful