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Published: October 19th 2014
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At 4.30 am we were both awake in the van parked outside the Airbnb on Treasure Island, so we decided to make an early start and avoid the traffic. By 6am we were on route 1, so stopped to catch up on a couple of hours sleep. From then on we were having early nights and late mornings. Although sunny during most days, it is autumn here, and so it gets dark about 6.30. It is usually a bit misty in the morning, so it is nicer to stay in bed until the sun breaks through. When we stayed on an official campsite we could have a fire in the evening, but several nights we just found a quiet side road where we could park in a lay by for the night. A funny thing that we noticed about one official campsite was that showers and many water taps were turned off 'to conserve water because of the drought in California' (but still charging $20). This seems an extraordinary excuse to limit water supplies on a site, since people in LA are filling swimming pools they rarely use, and gallons of the scarce water are being used for fracking in the
same state.
I will write the next few days as a single blog, because lack of electricity and wifi have made it difficult to keep up to date. We visited some lovely beaches, all with their own particular charm, picnic benches, sometimes barbecues, and toilets in the car parks. All with massive crashing waves .
The first beach we stopped at was called Pescadero State Beach. It was stunning. Big sandstone cliffs, nice sandy curved beach and crashing waves. An interesting feature of this beach and some others nearby was the masses of washed up drift wood. People had made little play houses out of the drift wood. All along the tops of the cliffs there are a sort of flower sold in UK as a rockery plant (it has either pink or yellow flowers and needs very little water)
Next beach we visited was Anno Nueva State reserve. This one had the same flowers, and also loads of pampass grass. There is a lot of pampass grass growing here and all along the cliffs of Big Sur. It looks much better in this big open landscape than in a suburban small garden, where I have otherwise
seen it.
Then it was the Natural Arches beach at Santa Cruz. Here we saw pelicans sitting together on a rock and diving into the water.
In Monteray Bay we stopped at Sunset Beach, another vast curve of sand backed by dunes, before heading off through Carmel to Big Sur.
In Big Sur we could not get onto a beach as it is all rocky. A white knuckle ride through wild rugged scenery along twisty turny cliff edge roads.
After Big Sur we came upon a lovely surprise....roadside signs said we were approaching an 'elephant seal viewing vista point.' There were loads and loads of seals relaxing on the beach posing for photographs. The info board informed us that at this time of year it is the young teenage seals to be found on the beach. We stood and watched the young males play fighting while the others sunbathed.
Next stop was San Simeon bay, with a beach where we could swim, and nearby Hearst Castle.
The extravaganza that is Hearst Castle is now looked after by the state, and there are public tours. The castle sits on top of a high hill with
a commanding view down over the sea. A shuttle bus brings you up for the tour. The place is fantastic and extravagant in the extreme. It is based on roman and medieval architecture that Hearst saw when he visited Europe. A large part of it is built using antiques which he imported from Europe, such as whole wood carved ceilings and huge pillars. These have been cleverly incorporated with modern fakes, and the whole thing is built on top of a base of earthquake proof reinforced concrete. There is a gorgeous indood roman style swimming pool tiled with murona tiles decorated with gold inlay. Also the outdoor Neptune pool. There is a huge tapestry hung reception room with echoes of a cathedra; and a massive dining room like a Great Hall in a castle, with heraldic flags hanging from both walls and the table laid out with fine cutlery plus tomato sauce and paper serviettes. Apparantly he never completed the building, which he started age 56, but kept on adding to it. None of his heirs have lived there since his death. (although the guide told us that occasionally Hearst children have swimming parties there, and the arrangement is that
the state will provide a lifeguard for this). From the bus on the way up and down again you pass the occasional zebra among the cattle. These are the remains of his private zoo.
After Hearst Castle we drove to Santa Barbara. We stayed on a campsite there where we saw the most remarkable birds...woke up to hear a gentle tapping, and thought this might be a woodpecker (had woken to hear and then see one of these a few days earlier). Getting up with the camera we saw loads of these birds tapping at the trees nearby. On closer inspection I realised that they werent woodpeckers. They were clever birds which were picking up acorns from the ground and tapping them into the gaps in the tree bark, presumable storing them to eat later like squirrels bury them to eat later. (Also saw 2 humming birds, but couldnt get a picture of these, plus took a picture of spanish moss-a strange phenomenom we saw in several californian places, which hangs off tree branches making them look kind of spooky.)
From Santa Barbara the scenery became less wild and more lush. There were lots of palm trees and
some lovely flowers growing up walls and in gardens. We had our last swim on the beach at Malibu, and then found a nice quiet place to park overnight in thehills above Malibu.
Driving into LA was so much easier than driving out! Just followed route 1 along the coast and the map to turn in at Gardena. We didnt try using the bus to get from there to Venice Beach, as it looked complicated from metro web site, and booked a cab instead....Guess what! Standing outside Wicked Campers waiting for the cab, 2 busses 210 heading for Hollywood, and stopping only yards away passed by. We could have avoided that nightmare journey from Hollywood invloving the 1 tube, 2 busses, and finally a short cab ride 3 weeks ago if I had known about this bus then! (It seems metro web site doesnt know about its 210 bus either). Ah well, we will put that down to experience.
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Barbara Smith
non-member comment
Route 1
Hi. It looks as though you are really enjoying your trip. Route 1 has the most remarkable scenery and you've found lots of things of interest along the way. Take care and best wishes. Barbara.