California Central Coast

The fire near Yosemite caused us to change our itinerary. Instead of visiting the Sierra mountains, we opted to head north from Ventura to Paso Robles located in California’s central coast.

Hearst Castle

This sprawling estate located atop a mountain above San Simeon overlooking the Pacific Ocean was the home of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. It was designed by a female architect, Julia Morgan, and construction started in 1919 and continued until 1947. Hearst was very “hands on” in the building process, but the “castle” was never finished because Hearst fell ill before it could be completed. Hearst invited many Hollywood stars to stay at his estate, including Charlie Chaplin, his lover Marion Davies, Cary Grant and columnist Hedda Hopper. After Hearst’s death in 1951, the estate and its valuable contents were donated to the State of California and is now managed by California State Parks. They maintain the property as a museum, as the considerable collection of artwork, Grecian urns and tapestries are priceless.

Pacific Coast Highway – Cambria to Monterey

The PCH near Big Sur was closed for several months due to a massive landslide, so we were happy to learn that it was now open. We started our drive in Cambria, a cute town with lots of charming shops, drove north past Big Sur, drove through Carmel-by-the-Sea, took the scenic 17-mile drive at Pebble Beach and stopped for lunch in Monterey. It was very foggy along the coast, so we only caught glimpses of the beautiful coastline below us.

Morro Bay

Nicknamed ‘Gibraltar of the Pacific’, Morro Bay is best known for the immense rock that sits just off the coast. The puppies enjoyed their first visit to the beach, especially Monty who romped in the surf and chased shore birds.