Highway 1

After surviving Hearst Castle, we headed out for our next stop, Monterey, and the luxurious accomodations of the Marina Dunes RV Park. We originally had high hopes of beach front views from the windows of our RV, but instead had to settle for the soothing sounds of the big rigs flying by on Highway 1, just 40 feet from our site. We digress.

We have always wanted to see the stretch of Highway 1 that runs from San Simeon to Monterey. I have heard two things about the route. #1, the most spectacular views you have ever seen, #2 the scariest damn road you have ever been on, and you are in constant danger of being knocked over a 1000 foot cliff by some boulder falling from above. Boulders or not, we headed up the 1 in our easy to maneuver 28 foot RV. The first five miles was easy driving and I commented to Kelly, "this road isn't so bad." Just then we turn the corner to see a "road narrows" sign and a view of a switched-back road heading up a cliff with no end in sight. I tried to reassure Kelly, but she wasn't having any of it. We didn't end up with many pictures because Kel refused to let go of her armrests. That being said, we would do it again in a second. We survived and the views are amazing. The ocean is beautiful, clean, and unspoiled. Every surfrider foundation ad or commercial should be shot there. My dad had told me before we left that we would love the 1, but I needed to use the turnouts and stop to enjoy the view. I was fearing for the survival of the family as I slowly creeped past the first six turnouts, but finally forced myself to stop and go stand on the edge of the cliff. Amazing.

A great day, on a road we had never seen. Awesome!

Day 1

We planned to leave at 9 Sunday, pushed it back to 10, finally left at 12. We drove one billion miles and got to San Simeon State Park at 7:00 pm. A crazy guy tried to get into our motorhome around 5:00 in the morning, so, we were up early! We planned to get to the first tour at Hearst castle at 8:30, so we figured three and a half hours was enough time. How wrong we were. Went for a walk on the beach at San Simeon and saw an otter and an "eagle" (according to Neil - I think it was a seagull). We finally rolled up to Hearst Castle for the 11:00 tour. Apparently it now takes us a minimum of four hours to go anywhere and we are incapable of remembering what baby items we will need. Today, we forgot the pacifier.

We started our tour with Mr. I-Know-More-About-Hearst-Castle-Than-Anyone-Else. He rambled endlessly and Violet didn't appreciate his meaningless chatter and decided to liven things up with some banshee wailing. Ever been "removed" by security from Hearst Castle? Twice? I have. The first time, her wailing was briefly interrupted with a visit to the "child room" a.k.a. prison chamber for irresponsible parents. I fed her and hung out for a while, and was then allowed to re-join Neil and Hayden in the giant congregation room. I met up with them, she puked all over me, and then started her screaming again, but with even more gusto than before. There is something strangely awe inspring about echoing baby shrieks in a massive congregation room as 70 people stand prefectly still and silent listening to the tour guide's monotonous drivel. This time, I was escorted to a bench outside, where we waited until the tour was basically over.