US road trip

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DAY 2
I got up about 7:45 and despite feeling quite tired I went for another fun. Ran 5k along Cambria main street from east to west. Saw quite a few interesting eateries in the west part of the village and a typical old American dinner caught my eye so I mentioned to Henar and Ozy when I got back and we decided to go there to have breakfast. It was a very cool dinner very popular amongst the locals. Since pancakes seemed to be everywhere in the menu I decided to have the Pine tree special which consisted of 2 pancakes, two strips of bacon or sausages and eggs. I decided to go for the bacon and scrambled eggs. They were massive and I really struggled to finished the second one but I did thinking about the long day ahead.
After breakfast we headed to the famous Cambria moonstone beach where Henar and Ozy picked some stones and I took some pictures of two guys surfing, it was freezing cold and very foggy.
From Cambria, our next destination was Hearst Castle. We rang them the night before and managed to get a reservation for 11:50 on a guided tour. We got there a 'bit earlier and wandered around looking at some of the exhibitions. When it was our allocated time we got in the bus and were taken through the impressive “Colina encantada” enchanted hill towards the castle. We had a nice guide who was very informative and explained the ins and outs of the castle and of Mr Hearst’s life. The two things that most impressed me of the castle were the two pools, the outdoors and the roman one. We took a few pictures, wandered around a bit more and then took the bus back to the entrance and car park. Went to watch the movie on Hearst’s life and set off again towards to Big Sur, probably one of the highlights of our Californian road trip. About 5 miles north of the Hearst Castle we stopped at a vista point in Piedras Blancas where we were amazed to see a colony of elephant seals. They were MASSIVE! The majority of them were just lying on the beach but some were in the sea and others were playing around. We took some good pictures and carried on on our way to the Big Sur. It was a shame it was so foggy. The views would have been absolutely amazing on a sunny clear day but unfortunately it was cold and foggy, however the weather got a bit better as we made our way through places like Gorda or Lucia. When we got to our next stop, Julia Pfeiffer Burns state park the weather was glorious and we managed to see the McWays fall, the only Californian waterfall that falls straight into the ocean. Then we drove through magnificent views towards Nepenthe where we had the famous Ambrosian burger overlooking amazing views of the ocean and the cliffs. From Nepenthe we drove the last stretch of the Big Sur all the way to Monterrey for the also famous 17 mile drive which meanders through Pebble Beach. After paying $10 we drove this scenic route and stopped at some of the highlight points like the lone Cypress, the Spanish Bay or the Bird Rock. And the last stop, for an avid golf fan like me, had to be the Pebble beach golf club. I really wanted to see the famous 18th hole, the left dog leg across the Pacific Ocean, but I thought we wouldn’t be able to, however I was wrong. We went into the Lodge without any problems and managed to get to the balcony with impressive views over the Pacific and the 18th hole. At $386 for green fees and god knows how many months waiting list, I am certain this is the closer I will ever get to this golf course. But you never know!
After the 17 mile drive, our idea was to stop in Monterrey and go to downtown to have something to eat. However, we were still pretty full from the burgers and Nepenthe and we had a long day ahead the next day, as we had to drive for about 6 hours to the Spanish Bay or the Bird Rock. And the last stop, for an avid golf fan like me, had to be the Pebble beach golf club. I really wanted to see the famous 18th hole, the left dog leg across the Pacific Ocean, but I thought we wouldn’t be able to, however I was wrong. We went into the Lodge without any problems and managed to get to the balcony with impressive views over the Pacific and the 18th hole. At $386 for green fees and god knows how many months waiting list, I am certain this is the closer I will ever get to this golf course. But you never know!
After the 17 mile drive, our idea was to stop in Monterrey and go to downtown to have something to eat. However, we were still pretty full from the burgers and Nepenthe and we had a long day ahead the next day, as we had to drive for about 6 hours to Yosemite, so we decided to skip Monterrey and make as much way as we could towards Yosemite. Hence, we drove until nearly midnight and we finally stopped at a placed called Escalon. We searched for a motel and found a really shabby looking one by a petrol station in what it seemed an industrial area. We paid $60 for a double queen bedroom. The room wasn’t too bad, the place looked scary at night but we managed to get a good night’s sleep and get some rest for the next day.

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