anniebrooks: Day 11 Cambria

Thanks to William Randolph Hearst, there is not only an incredibly eccentric and crazy castle on top of a hill here in the San Simeon district, but there are also zebra grazing in the ranch next to Highway 1.(Hearst Castle) What a guy! This time the money came from mining, via his Dad, but then William went on to do a good job with newspapers and magazines. Mind you, he did have some kind of financial crisis (skated over by the guide) when he decided to get rid of his animals which made up the largest privately owned zoo in the US (including polar bears!) which is why you find zebra grazing just up the road from Hearst Castle. I can only imagine he couldn’t sell them (zebras? No thanks) so thought, stuff it, I’ll get them over the cattle grid and they can make their own way in the world just like Daddy did. The Castle was well worth a visit and it looked a very cool place to hang out in the 20’s and 30’s if you moved in those circles. We were very taken by the 2 pools, and overheard one of the guides saying you can hire the outdoor pool – if we ever win the lottery that might well be on our list of things to do....

Not only did we see zebras, we also went to see some Elephant Seals who come to visit a cove about 5 miles up the coast from the Castle at this time of year where they work really hard on their moulting skills. Most of them were lying so still doing absolutely nothing that we thought they were playing Sleeping Lions. An occasional nose twitching, or a flick of some sand (to keep them cool?) over their backs gave them away.

Tomorrow we head north once again, up to Big Sur where we are staying in a quaint little place called Deetjuns Inn where there is NO WI-FI!!!! I will post more holiday news as and when I can (ie when the family can no longer stand not being able to download The Guardian, watch You Tube clips and check facebook) or when we get to San Fransisco.

Roger and out