Needless to say, this slowed us down a bit. About 2 hours into the drive we were just about ready to call it a night. We realized we weren't far from where Hearst Castle and the elephant seals were that so many people in my family raved about. By the time we found a Motel 6 there (our go to when traveling with the dogs) we were both exhausted from all the packing, loading, driving etc and we were looking forward to crashing hard our first real day of our roadventure. However, our night wouldn't be complete without a little doggie drama. As we were unloading our car and bringing things to our room they made a grand escape. It was definitely my fault for this one. I was supposed to be waiting in the room with the dogs while Daniel got our stuff but I decided to try to go help. The second I cracked open the door,it was already too late. George pushed through right between my legs and Jane was right behind. Apparently Daniel and I were the only exhausted ones because the two dogs took several laps around the motel before allowing us to capture them and join us back in the room.
We got a good night's sleep and woke up early to go see the elephant seals molting on the beach. Before we managed to get to the seals we happened across a rambunctious little squirrel who was dying to be a movie star. We told him all we could promise was a spot in our blog. So, for your viewing pleasure, we now present Mr. Squirrel.
Once we bid the squirrel adeiu, we walked down the boardwalk to observe the seals. We couldn't believe how many there were!! Most of them are dormant this time of the year but a few of the pups spar with one another. Here are a few of our favorite shots and a video of some of the action. How can they be so cute and ugly at the same time??
Our next stop of the day was Hearst Castle. The land was amazing and the detail of the interior was quite intricate. The tour of the grand rooms was quite impressive but our favorite part of the tour was the roman pool, the first picture below. We were thrilled to find out after our tour that we were free to wander the grounds. The sights were breathtaking and the pictures don't quite do it justice. Even with amazing sights, our favorite part of the visit was watching the film that told the story of the Hearst family and the creation of their dream, the castle.
We finished with the castle early in the afternoon and continued our journey north. We had heard about Big Sur while researching our trip and couldn't decide if we wanted to go explore or keep heading toward San Francisco. We reluctantly decided to stop already a little drained from our morning and we were soooooooo glad we did. We found out that Pfieffer beach allows dogs and decided it was time for their adventure. We were immediately blown away by the beach, mountain, rock and forest combination. We were only there for about a minute when we both decided this is our new favorite beach! I don't know which of us had the most fun this time. We let the dogs wrestle and play off leash for a few minutes and they took that opportunity to go for a swim. Nothing like wet and sandy dogs in the car! Part of the magic of Pfeiffer is that if you walk to the end of the beach there is a trail that leads into the forest. We took them for a quick hike so they could dry a little before getting back in the car. As we were walking back to the car, little did we know that we narrowly avoided disaster. A gentleman approached us who turned out to be our hero (if you are reading this, we owe you a drink--or ten!!!). He asked if we had our car keys. When we checked our pockets we found them empty! We hadn't even realized they were gone!!! We thanked him profusely and were quite appreciative of his efforts in finding us back on the beach after finding the keys in the parking lot. Now this really IS our favorite beach.
After hearing rave reviews about the 17 mile drive, we were able to fit it in before darkness set. Some of the highlights of the drive were the beautiful golf course overlooking the ocean, the seals hanging around on a rock about 1/2 mile off the shore, and the incredibly huge estates that all have their own names such as "Anticipation". What's the point of the names? Do they use their address or have all their mail sent to "Anticipation on the 17 mile drive?" Most of the drive was just driving around any "normal" neighborhood, but there were definitely a few miles of gorgeous coastlines and magnificent houses with friendly deer meandering the streets, such as the one below who almost approached our car.
By the time we finished the 17 mile drive, it was just about dark and we were STARVING. You can well imagine our expressions as we drove up to our next Motel 6 and were welcomed by a family of skunks. Luckily, we were still in the car and didn't get skunked. Another disaster avoided and we were ready to go to sleep before anything could ruin our perfect day.
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