Finding America

We grabbed a bite to eat at a Mexican breakfast joint and enjoyed our burritos on the road heading north. Just past San Luis Obispo we turned off of the 101 and onto 1, the Pacific Coast Highway.

The rolling hills and exposed rock hillocks were reminiscent of the pastoral lands of Ireland. The early morning fog in the glens held promise of the shrill notes of a piper playing to his flock.

It was a pleasant drive and before we knew it we were in San Simeon the home of the Hearst Castle, one of the unique grounds and dwelling places of newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst.

We decided to take a tour and bought our tickets for the garden and cottage tour. The grounds surrounding the many buildings and terraces of this amazing architectural wonder are stunning. The plants are all chosen so that there is always something in bloom and the air was filled with the wonderful small of the flowering throng.

The 2 hour tour took us through several of the cottages as well as the wine cellar and indoor pool. The interiors of the dwellings were elaborately decorated with a menagerie of mythically themed creatures and the busts and portraits of the men and women of antiquity.

The décor showed so much attention to detail, such a knowledge of far off cultures and such a thick pocket book. While the accommodations were lavish there were nevertheless very tastefully done.

The tour was a wonderful way to spend some time and the vistas provided were outstanding. It was easy to imagine this palace in its heyday holding court with the who’s who of American business, politics and entertainment.

We continued up Hwy 1 after the tour along the cliff sides and crashing surf of this famous drive to Carmel. It was difficult to keep my eyes on the road when every bend in the asphalt delivered another breath taking view. We decided to stay on course and back track when we had more time and less baggage, Kodi, to tote around.

It was a few wonderful hours of driving but before we knew it we were in Big Sur, and amazing old growth forest and camping area and basically the only stretch of civilization along this ocean side road. Big Sur was gorgeous and we were kicking ourselves for having to blast through it then.

A bit further and we were at the toll road for Pebble Beach and the 17 mile drive. Our destination was to stay at the home of Don and Cecily Butts. Their son Jake met us on the road and directed us down to the pier where the family was preparing an evening picnic along with several other couples and a pack of family dogs playing in the surf.

The evening started a bit misty but cleared up to provide a beautiful view across the water while we enjoyed cocktails and a wonderful spread of food by the light of the campfire and the setting sun.

It was wonderful to be reunited with Jake and his parents since last seeing them almost 5 years ago when we went snow skiing together in Aspen, CO. They are such a great family and it was a pleasure sharing their company as well as meeting their friends.

We could have been stayed all evening had the path back to the pier been lighted but as it was we needed the fading light of duck to guide us back to the cars. Jake showed us to the polo fields and we parked the trailer there and then retired to the Butts home for the evening.

We had a small guest house to our selves and we made our selves comfortable with little effort. Thanks to a strong cell signal we used the wireless broadband to watch a Lost episode then it was off to bed.