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Published: September 25th 2014
From Yosemite we headed to the Californian coast. The landscape was surprisingly mountainous on the way right up to the coastal area. We rented a house in Cambria which was in a fantastic location with sea views and was a short walk from a boardwalk which led right along the coast. The temperatures were much more comfortable here but we were engulfed in sea mist a couple of times during our stay. It is a very rugged coastline with very little touristy development. Cambria itself is a quaint seaside town with very arty shops and a few good coffee and eating places. During our stay we visited the Madonna Inn, a hotel with themed rooms and a very OTT, tacky interior. It actually has nothing to do with the singer Madonna but it reflected her image quite well. We also visited Hearst Castle at San Simeon which was also OTT but for very different reasons. It is an impressive spanish style castle built on top of a hill on a ranch of 250000 acres by William Randolph Hearst, the American newspaper magnate, in the 1930's. The interior houses an amazing collection of paintings, tapestries, furniture and other artefacts from all over
Europe, with particular Spanish and Italian influences. The castle was shrouded in mist when we first arrived but we were able to appreciate the view as the sun burnt it away by 2 to 3 pm. At one time he had a zoo in the grounds and you can still see zebra grazing with the cattle and we spotted elk when we drove away. Luckily we chose a clear sunny day to drive along Big Sur, a spectacular coastal route from San Simeon to the Monterey Peninsula. The views were stunning and we were fortunate enough to see whales and dolphins en route. At San Simeon there is a colony of elephant seals which we could see very clearly from an observation platform overlooking the beach. They didn't move very gracefully or very often but they were fascinating to watch! On the way to San Francisco we stopped off at Carmel, a very up market seaside resort (we didn't spot Clint Eastwood) and Cannery Row in Monterey which was more touristy but interesting to viskit. Along the 17 mile drive we stopped off at the famous Pebble Beach golf course (Tiger Woods wasn't around) only to look, not to play!
California's coast is full of beautiful views and surprises!
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Maureen Riley
non-member comment
Roman baths!
I love the scenery the wild and natural spaces, but how strange those unreal buildings Madonna's Inn and Hearst Castle with its Roman Baths. I can imagine that they might be quite exciting in a hilarious way if actually in them though. It's great that you are getting to see so many different places , happy travelling.