Wednesday,
February 26 through Sunday, March 2, 2014
South Along
Highway 1 on California's Wild and Rocky Coast to Morro Bay
The drive along scenic Highway
1 was happily clear and beautiful. Weather forecasts up and down the
west coast predicted a major wind and rain storm beginning Wednesday.
Weather forecasters continuously moved the predicted onslaught of
high winds and pounding rains later in the week, day by day. We would
not experience the brunt of the storm until late Thursday night when
we elected to hunker down an extra day to wait it out.
The highlight along this long,
windy, steep-cliffed drive, besides the expansive views of the
coastline, was our stop at Hearst Beach, a mating and breeding area
for elephant seals. This beach is north of San Simeon and the Hearst
Castle, before the road widens into the rolling hills and ranch land.
A seal covered stretch of sand protected by a boardwalk of, fence and
shrubs began to undulate with the clumsy movement of these gentle
giants. Maybe, they only look gentle; I imagine coming between a cow
and her calf would be hazardous! One of the favorite photos I took is
of a “cow-eyed” adult looking straight in my direction, with its
Jimmy Durante “schnoz.” What a prize!!
On Thursday, a partly cloudy,
and only slightly hazy day, we drove the 35 miles North-ish to the
Hearst Castle State Historic Park, now owned and operated by the
State of California, established by agreement with Hearst Corporation
and family. Most of the 82,000 acre Hearst cattle and horse Ranch was
preserved for perpetuity just a few years back under joint agreement.
What a remarkable place!
What an amazing story of a
young boy dreaming of building a European-style “home” on a
hilltop with expansive views of the family ranch, Pacific Ocean, and
surrounding Santa Lucia Mountains.
What a project!
And, what an impossible client
William Randolph Hearst must have been for architect Julia Morgan of
San Francisco, who spent twenty-eight years bringing multiple designs
and design changes to life!
Reminiscent of 2012 when I
left my purse in the Anahuac NWR women's room on the north Texas
coast, I “left” my cell phone on my seat in the Hearst Park
theater. I am sure I stood up and my phone slid to the floor when the
seat folded in place. I had no time to look do a search, for in just
moments after the end of the film we were to board the bus that would
take us up the long and windy road to the “castle.” Just as I
“found” my purse two years ago among the volunteers at the
encampment near the Anahuac NWR visitor's center, I received a call
on Duffy's phone the following morning to learn that my phone had
been found and was safely held at the Hearst Castle Ranger Station.
Glory Hallelujah!! (The ranger station/lost and found office was
closed when our tour of the castle was over, so there was no way to
find or claim it without waiting a day.)
I forgot to put gas in the
Pilot before driving to the castle, so pulled off at the turn to
Cambria not far to the southwest. I am so glad I did not stay on
Highway 1 to the next exit to Cambria a bit farther up the road,
where I most likely would have found a station. Instead, I followed
the narrow, winding road to “downtown” Cambria, a tourist's
delight! What I found in Cambria was another place to return to and
explore. I could forgive the gas price, at $4.39 per gallon 20-cents
higher than in Morro Bay just for the discovery of this lovery,
quaint place. And, I only added five gallons to the tank.
The
promised storm abated enough to allow me to return to Hearst Castle
Visitor's Center on Friday. The call on Duffy's cell phone came
before I had a chance to call the Ranger's Station. How grateful I am
that the ranger thought to call the first speed dial number that
appeared on my list. Traffic was light enough, that the drive was
quite pleasant. After claiming my phone - Oh, Hallelujah! (My how
connected I've become!) - I wandered through the gift shop more
leisurely than the day before, bought a latté,
and left for Morro Bay and our campsite at Morro Bay State Park.
Before leaving Hearst Castle,
on my walk back to the Visitor's Center from the Ranger Station, I
worried an Anna's Hummingbird that must have been protecting a nest
in the box hedge along the building. She flew in front of me and
landed not five-feet from me on a low branch of the hedge. I stopped
stock still. She “chipped” her warning. We must have stood that
way watching each other for a good five to eight minutes. It was
wonderful! My only memory lapse was in not pulling my iPod from my
pocket to take what would have been an amazing photo of her at close
range. Nevertheless, the moment is burned in my memory.
On the way back, I took a
detour along Moonstone Beach Drive without stopping. I remember
coming to this place as a young child with my grandparents, and my
parents. We would walk the beach collecting Moonstones, those nearly
translucent, white, wave- and sand-smoothed flat, oval rocks. I doubt
collecting is allowed any longer. I also doubt that all of the resort
houses and rentals were along the drive all those decades ago. This
is another place to come back to another year.
Upon
return, not long before dark, I filled up the gas tank on the Pilot
for the long drive the next day – Saturday, March 1st
– and stopped at Albertson's for a couple of items and some cash
for our next campground at Hobson Beach County Park in Ventura
County.
Hobson Beach County Park
turned out to be a blip along Highway 101. On the way, we stopped at
Starbucks for coffee (thanks, Gene) and Wifi. While using Duffy's
iPad, I noticed in his email a note from an iBird volunteer back to
Duffy in response to an entry he had made while in Paradise. It
turned out, the bird he logged as having see could not have been
there, for only three have been seen in that area in the past 30
years. Duffy wrote back, blaming me for the sighting error. I am
still taking “credit” for Duffy's foibles, I see.
Back to the road to Hobson
Beach County Park. We drove 101 to stay “inland” from Highway 1
to avoid the aftermath of heavy rains, wind, and possible landslides.
What we did not count on was sitting right at the water's edge with a
few boulders between us and the waves. No problem, as it turned out,
and we were not the only campers. As we learned the next morning,
surfers and storm-watchers filled the park and the parking spaces
along the beachfront road. Regardless of the clouds and threatening
rain, the air was warm, in the mild 50s, and comfortable.
Did I forget to mention that
the soup I heated in the microwave decided to explode? I poured the
can of chicken-rice-vegetable soup in a wide-mouthed microwave safe
bowl, covered it with a paper towel, put it in the microwave and set
the control for two minutes at full power. That, I guess, was my
mistake, the FULL power. Suddenly we heard an explosion, and more
than half the broth and some A reminder of another reminiscensce of
burning a muffin in Skip and Susan's microwave several years ago when
I thought I had set it to 30-seconds, but instead pressed the
shortcut key for three minutes. I won't ever live either episode
down! There will always be someone to remind me. I nearly left the
soup story out of this log...until Duffy reminded me. :(
Sunday,
March 2nd
- the final push to San Diego down 101 to 405 and the San Diego
Freeway. Santee Lakes, here we come! I I wrap up this entry, we are
turning off Highway 52 to our Santee Lakes approach. It's 4:30pm and
nap time for Duffy.
Until next
time...Pam and Duffy
