Day #11 - Route 1 Up the Coast

It is AMAZING what Pancakes can do! I told the kids that if they wanted amazing Dutch pancakes at Paula's Pancake House, they were going to have to HUSTLE and get up. Andy will pretty much do anything for food, and so that got him up! Actually, it got them ALL up! We were repacked and walking to the restaurant by 8:15. I was so proud of them. Solvang is a quaint Dutch town nestled in the mountainous countryside just north of Santa Barbara. We didn't have any time to shop, which was probably a good thing given what we've spent on this trip so far, but we did have time for their amazing pancakes, fresh squeezed orange juice and dutch sausage. Yumm…

Anyway, we were on the road by 9:15, and headed towards San Simeon to see the Hearst Castle. Because it was yet another cloudy day, when the Pacific Ocean came into view it wasn't the amazing "Oooh Ahhh" moment I had hoped for. Oh well, the coast is still beautiful, even on a cloudy day!

We made a quick pit stop in San Luis Obispo. And because we were making pretty good time, we took a moment to see their beautiful Mission. We walked the grounds and admired the sanctuary. It was built in 1772, and it is still beautiful. After our brief tour, we got back in the car and headed north again. We passed the beautiful coastal town of Morro Bay and then, shortly after, we hit San Simeon. It was perfect timing and we had an extra 15 minutes to spare! We checked in and waited for our bus to take us up to the "castle."

It is a 10 minute bus ride up to the castle, and then the tour of the grounds and the house was an hour and a half. The drive up to the castle goes past vast amounts of land that still house cattle, zebras and sheep. While the Hearst family gave the "Castle" to the State of California in the 1960s, the Hearst family still owns the land surrounding it. At one point, William Randolph Hearst had the largest privately owned zoo in America with many different exotic animals on the lands surrounding the house!

On the tour we learned that each of the rooms in his house had a different theme. Many of his decorations were taken from authentic locations. For example, he had an outdoor pool that he decorated in ancient greek columns and statues that he purchased from greek antique dealers. He also had choir stalls flown in to be used for paneling on the walls and he had acquired ancient tapestries to adorn his walls. They say that the castle is a living art museum and that they have 22,000 pieces to be put on display!

Once we were done with the tour, we decided to get back on the road and find some place to eat along Highway 1. THAT was a bad idea! There are very few places along Route 1, and the drive goes slowly as the route twists and turns around the bends of the mountains hugging the ocean. We did stop at one point at a small place where the hamburgers were $15, and bottled water costs $6!! After sitting for 15 minutes with no one willing to help u

s, we were on our way. We finally found a small mini-mart where I stopped and purchased enough food to make sandwiches. We had drinks and chips in the car, so we were able to carve out a meal for ourselves.

After eating, we stopped at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park for a hike to see a beautiful waterfall which flows right into the ocean. Then it was back in the car again to drive up past Big Sur towards Carmel. We made it to Carmel around 5 and were able to take the 17-mile-drive before we got to our hotel. The 17-mile-drive takes you past Pebble Beach (where we stopped and Steve coveted a round of golf), the lone Cypress which is the symbol of that area, and up past a couple of other famous golf courses (Spyglass Hill and Spanish Bay). Our hotel was just on the other side of the 17-mile-drive in Pacific Groves, on the Monterey peninsula.

Our hotel room is lovely with two queen beds, and a fireplace. But the thing that I am most excited about is the fact that they have a guest laundry! (isn't that sad?) My kids are excited about the hot tub. It is a quick walk across the street to the beach as well. We are supposed to stay one night here, but the kids are begging, and Steve and I are thinking that if they have the space, we could use a breather after the last 24 hours. We'll see.

Meanwhile, we have had dinner at a wonderful little Mexican place called Peppers in Pacific Groves (they had FABULOUS guacamole and very fresh entrees), and then back to the room to pop popcorn (yes, they have a little popcorn popper and popcorn in the room!) in front of the fire while I run downstairs to do laundry. I'm glad I don't have to sit in a laundromat tomorrow morning early! My guess is that we will stay here an extra day and skip one night of camping.