We started off at Hearst Castle. No surprise to anyone who knows me, right? This was definitely something that had been on my Life List for a long time, so I was beyond thrilled to finally visit. Unfortunately, it was foggy while we were there, but we didn’t let it slow us down.
One of the pools. I gasped when we walked in. There are more than 1 million Murano glass tiles used in the pool and around it. And of course this is my favorite color. Now I want to redo the bathroom in my house.
We went on a tour of five of the main rooms of the house — a couple of sitting/gathering areas, the dining room, and more. If I could have, I would have taken every tour available, which would have enabled me to see the bedrooms, the kitchen, and the insides of the guest cottages.
I could go on and on about the tour, but I’m going to restrain myself and instead tell you about the rest of our day.
After we left Hearst, we continued our drive up the coast and soon found ourselves looking at this view:
Even though we knew what we were supposed to be looking for, it took us all a moment to register what we were seeing. Doesn’t that look like a rocky beach? Those floppy rocks are actually dozens and dozens of elephant seals.
When elephant seals talk/yell/communicate with each other, they sound a bit like big motorcycles revving. It’s loud, but kind of a low loud, and definitely a bit rumbly.
After that, we had a long drive ahead of us, as we were on our way to San Francisco, which is, at a minimum, five hours from Hearst Castle. Our drive took us up Highway 1, which included a big chunk of the Big Sur coast.
The fog did occasionally clear. Briefly.
This drive was another Life List thing for me and one that I’d like to do again.
Around six hours after we left Hearst Castle, we finally made it to San Francisco. You’re not going to believe this, but it was foggy when we arrived. In fact, while it was sunny as we approached the city, we could see that we’d be ending up in fog:
Sorry about the crappy photo quality. This was taken through the windshield while we were going about 70 mph.
So here we are and this is the last leg of this vacation. We’ll be exploring, exploring, exploring, and hopefully I’ll have some nice photos for you later.
Hearst Castle looks amazing….I need that pool! And pretty please when you get a sec, can you let me know the name of the beach with the elephant seals?
Have fun in San Francisco!
Yep, SF is pretty dang foggy this time of year. Hope you brought warm clothes. I used to wear a wool jacket in the summer evenings. We could always pick out the tourists becuase they were the ones in shorts with their brand new San Francisco sweatshirt. It’s cold in summer! It’ll be foggier out by the ocean and sunnier downtown, Berkeley and the Penninsula. Have a blast! It’s a fun city. And if you get a chance get some good dim sum. Ton Kiang in the Richmond district is really good. (And is not far from Green Apple Books which is an awesome bookstore).
ahhh, you’re here! Welcome!
June Gloom, yes indeedy folks. Well, we’re in July now, but same difference. September is actually the best beach month of the whole year, I came to find out when first making treks to the beach and finding it a tad like winter in L.A. Fingers crossed for an awesome walk along the beach at Crissy Field tomorrow, that great big red bridge better be in sight, with a crystalline blue sky, or ….else! 
Annndddd….DONUTS!
Hearst Castle and elephant seals. You have described one of my perfect days.
Holy shit. That pool. I’d have gasped, too. Holy shit!
Yep - 25 miles or less inland and you would have hit our 87 degree day…September is the best time for the CA coast. You were really lucky to have so many nice days in SoCal. Can’t believe you are so close and I didn’t know you were coming. I would have taken BART into the City to meet you!
Castles. Nature. Coastline. Elephant seals. Yeah. Okay. BUT DID YOU GET SOME BROWN BUTTER COOKIES?
We went to the San Francisco area in June, about 10 years ago. It was COLD! But there were so many interesting things to see. We were creeped out by Alcatraz, and wowed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. And just going down to the freezing ocean and seeing the many creatures in the tide pools was thrilling - creatures I never saw on a New Jersey/Atlantic Ocean beach. Enjoy your trip!
I love every part of this post, but especially Hearst Castle! That’s so awesome! On my list of places to see. Why didn’t they have just one tour of the castle? Sounds like it was different little tours?
I kind of would love the San Francisco weather. It wasn’t humid, right? When I was in Seattle over Labor Day last year and I needed a light jacket at night I remember thinking, “This. Is. Perfect.” lol