Pacific Coast Highway
Known as CA Route 1, this fabled highway follows the Pacific coast from the sandy beaches of Southern California to the rugged coastline of the Pacific Northwest. Along the way, the PCH passes through quaint coastal towns, numerous national parks and wildlife refuges, concluding around the Olympic Peninsula in upstate Washington. This is the road driving was invented for, the road where car commercials are filmed. On the PCH, you don’t crack your window for a bit of air, you roll it down all the way to feel the wind blast through your hair like a lighthearted tornado.
| We left San Diego late, passed through LA at night to avoid traffic. Spent the night at Paradise Park near Santa Barbara. | |||
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This was our campsite at Paradise Park |
Off to Santa Barbara... | ||
Santa Barbara |
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| We visited the Old Mission in Santa Barbara built in 1786. It is called the "Queen of the Missions" because it is so beautiful. |
A statue of the Franciscan who founded this mission. |
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Knock knock. Is anyone home? |
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| They had a display of chalk drawings on the parking lot as part of a fundraiser. They were beautifully done. |
Lunch at La Tolteca. |
Off toward San Simeon | |
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| Some images from the road. |  |
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That's Morro Rock off in the distance. |
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San Simeon State Park |
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Our Campsite |
Playing tag on the trail while we wait for the sun to set. |
Marla acting shy when someone took our picture for us. |
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A view of the valley ... |
from our campsite. |
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This is my ... |
very first sunset ... |
over the Pacific. |
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Hearst Castle, San Simeon |
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| Hearst Castle was the palatial estate of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. It is located near San Simeon, California, on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Donated by the Hearst Corporation to the state of California in 1957, it is now a State Historical Monument and a National Historic Landmark, open for public tours. Hearst formally named the estate 'La Cuesta Encantada' ('The Enchanted Hill'), but he usually just called it 'the ranch'. | |||
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The only way to the castle is to take a tour bus from the visitor center. It is a very steep and windy road. |
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Marla shows off her ticket that will let her into the castle. She wants to go in and see pictures of the princesses that lived there. |
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How's this for a backyard? |
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The Neptune Pool. |
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Ancient Egyptian statues. I forget how old they are, but the guide said they were already antiques in the time of Moses. |
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The front of the main house - La Casa Grande. |
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There is a Wild Man standing on each side of the main door. They had been used in ancient times to keep evil spirits from entering churches and other buildings. |
The Barney Mantel. Hearst purchased it from the founder of Smith and Barney and his architect had to build a room that would suit it. |
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The Refectory. This is where Hearst and his guests would have dinner. The designers for the Harry Potter movies came here and made some sketches of this room and used them when designing the Great Hall at Hogwarts. |
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A priceless mille-fleur (thousand flowers) tapestry in the billiard room. |
See all of the flowers in the background? |
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The Roman Pool. It is 10 feet deep in all parts. This seems silly since most of his guests could not swim. One of his guests called it a most elegant place in which to drown. |
Elephant Seals on the beach |
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It's a little cold and breezy here on the coast. Around 20 subadult male elephant seals are here to molt. |
They will stay about a month and will not eat at all during that time. |
They pretend to fight, but then they lay down with each other again. They only really fight during mating season. |
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He came right up to us looking for something to eat. |
But we had to say no. |
Off toward Big Sur |
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| Some Images from the Road | 
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One of many turnouts on Route 1. |
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These pictures do not do this scene justice. |
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This was a fun picture. |
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Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park |
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A little bridge over the stream. |
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The side of a fallen tree. |
Marla needed water to add to her dirt. She was making "chocolate". |
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Outside the general store near the park. |
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Mark and Marla went to a swimming hole at the stream that runs through part of the park. |
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Nepenthe |
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A restaurant that was recommended to us. |
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It was on the side of a hill with a view of the ocean. |
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Our table had a bench with pillows on it. Marla kept calling it a couch - as in, "Mommy, why are we sitting on a couch for dinner?" |
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Marla was getting chilly so she used one of the pillows like a blanket. |
Back on the road toward Frisco |
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Pebble Beach |
Camping at Sears |
Almost there |
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That's the Golden Gate Bridge |
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WE DID IT!
The PCH from San Diego to San Francisco. At times I had white knuckles and a little cold sweat running down my back but the PCH was worth it. It is one of the most beautiful and exhilarating drive of my life.