Up the Coast

From San Simeon, we drove as far north along the Pacific Coast Highway as we could, given the current road conditions. The Central Coast is incredibly beautiful.

The best thing for us that day, however, were the elephant seals. There is a breeding ground just north of San Simeon, at Piedras Blancas.

Elephant seals are seriously noisy critters when they’re not resting. This beach contained mostly mothers and pups; the mother seals can weigh up to 1,800 pounds while the pups can weigh 300 pounds at weaning. During the beach season, the elephant seals molt. They also flip sand up over their bodies to cool down and protect themselves from the sun. Here is a video of some elephant seals flipping and galumphing (yes, that is the word for how they move):

Next: Golf.

Hearst Castle

(Per Wikipedia, “Not to be confused with Hurst Castle, Henry VIII’s Device Fort near Lymington in England.“)

Hearst Castle was built on 40,000 acres of land purchased by George Hearst, William Randolph Hearst’s father, which the elder Hearst had used as a ranch. (George Hearst made the family’s initial fortune in mining.) The hill on which the castle stands was originally a camp site, but William Randolph Hearst wanted “something a little more comfortable up on the hill,” and he worked with Julia Morgan—the first great female architect of the United States—to build a cozy little place with 42 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, two swimming pools, and three guest houses. Not quite good enough for a permanent residence, mind you, but definitely sufficient for entertaining, in keeping with tradition. The history of Hearst Castle is fascinating, especially if you’re a fan of Marion Davies or of the lifestyles of insanely wealthy people in the ’20s more generally.

Hearst and Morgan filled the house with incredible artwork—ceilings from Italian palazzos, doors from Moorish estates, a fireplace from a French château, Italian choir stalls, French tapestries, ancient Greek urns, European masters, etc. etc. All snark aside, it is fabulous.

Don’t get excited, it’s only one of the guest houses.
The swimming pool and not, for example, a foot bath.
The castle.
The main reception hall.
The dining room—said to have inspired the design of the Hogwart’s dining hall.
Mr. H. enjoyed the simple pleasures.
The billiard room.
Mr. H.’s bedroom.
I think my freshman year dorm room had a ceiling like this.
Marion Davies’ bedcroom.
A typical early 20th century newspaper publisher’s office.
Some of Mr. H.’s sons stayed in this room when they visited.
One of the less fancy guest rooms.
The library.
A smaller reception room.
The indoor pool. The floor is inlaid with 22-karat gold. Just because.

Next: the Coast.

Morro Bay

From Sequoia National Park, we drove back to the coast and began driving north. Randomly, we decided to stop in Morro Bay: we didn’t have any particular destination, and Abby saw there was a rock in Morro Bay, so that’s where we went. And it was quite the rock.

Coincidentally, we arrived on the Saturday of the Morro Bay Kite Festival.

There was kite choreography as well. Here is a short sample:

Next: Money money money money money.

Trees. Big Trees.

After Oahu, we returned to California for a lot of non-photogenic relaxing and socializing.

Okay, mostly non-photogenic. The Santa Monica Pier (iPhone photos make everything look like it’s been taken in front of a green screen); a cat finds my web searches fascinating; Venice Beach; a gloomy day at Pismo Beach.

Then we went to Sequoia National Park. Sequoias are huge, generally between 250 and 300 feet tall, and with bases sometimes more than 30 feet in diameter (94 feet around). For example, the “President” Sequoia tree—the oldest known living sequoia, at 3,240 years old—is 247 feet high and 27 feet in diameter.

The largest tree in the world by volume is the “General Sherman” Sequoia: 275 feet high, 25 feet in diameter, and a volume of 52,000 cubic feet. It’s almost pointless to photograph them, because a camera cannot capture their massiveness, but I tried anyway, because, what else was I going to do?

Forest fires are good for sequoias, in moderation, because the heat makes the seed pods open and sprout. Moreover, sequoias have very thick bark which protects them against fire damage. However, there have been some severe fires in the last few years which have left their marks on the forests. Moreover, severe weather has caused landslides and eroded the road base; as a result, the adjacent King’s Canyon National Park has been closed since 2022.

The King’s Canyon access road. Photo credit: Fox26News

Next: Kites!

Oahu

Leaving the car at LAX, we flew to Honolulu to see friends and, for me, to attend a ukulele workshop. (Ukuleles are far more portable than drum kits.) Damn, it’s pretty here.

For any of you who want to watch a ukulele performance, here is “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” performed by the workshop organizers.

Next: More California.

Jerome and Joshua

After we left the Grand Canyon, we decided to go to Sedona for a night, but once we saw that the cheapest hotel rooms started at $400 per night, we re-routed ourselves to Prescott. (A lot of our trip segments have been planned about 40 minutes in advance.) Prescott is a cute town filled with galleries and bars, including a speakeasy called “The Point” that serves some amazing cocktails, including this one, the “Bastard Son”:

The view into mining territory from the center of Jerome.

While we were in one gallery, the owner said “You’re also going to visit Jerome while you’re here, right?”—to which we asked “What’s Jerome?” Jerome is a former mining town that has become an artist’s colony and refuge for aging hippies. Like many mining towns, it had a reputation as being a sinful place, full of bars and prostitutes. We visited the next day, which happened to be the town’s 125th anniversary, so naturally there was a parade.

Serious small-town vibes. Plus, hippies. Amazingly, for a town of 436 people, the town has a ukulele orchestra. Even more amazingly, when I went out to Honolulu a few weeks later for a ukulele workshop, I met one of the Jerome Ukulele Orchestra members.

From there, we drove to Joshua Tree National Park. Joshua Trees were designed by Dr. Seuss were created by cross-pollinating an oak tree and a toilet brush were given their name by Mormon immigrants who likened the trees to the biblical figure Joseph, because their limbs seemed to beckon the travelers westward.

In addition to the Joshua Trees, there are cholla and barrel cactuses, plus some funky rock formations including “Skull Rock.”

From there, it was onward to the coast, Los Angeles, and the Aquarium of the Pacific. Things are now back in order.

Next: Ukuleles.

The Grand Canyon

Again, there’s nothing for me to say about the Grand Canyon. It’s there, it’s huge, and I have more photos of it than I’ll ever need. (I’ve been told that pictures don’t do the Grand Canyon justice, but apparently I felt obligated to try anyhow.) This is just a sampling from our first hike into the canyon.

This is the switchback that leads in and out of the canyon. All the little dots are people.

While our first day there was clear and sunny, the second began with a snowstorm. We stayed on the rim for our next hike. The clouds dissipated quickly, but the snow came back later for about an hour. It made for some rapidly changing vistas and weird cloud effects.

Next: Joshua Tree.

Monument Valley

Just photos, because it’s not like I can add anything. In fact, the hardest thing about this post is the editing.

The wind and rain have carved the rocks, as did some early settlers.

Next: the Grand Canyon.

Roswell

They really lean into it here. Even at the Lego Store. And at the wine store.

Next: this time, Monument Valley.

Carlsbad Caverns

In modern times, the Carlsbad Caverns were found by a teenager, Jim White, in 1898. He used a wire ladder like the one above to descend into and explore many of the rooms, the lower set of which are at least 1,027 feet below the ground. (There may be still lower chambers that haven’t been found yet.) The site became a national monument in 1923.

If you aren’t into stalactites and stalagmites, you can stop here.

This is a cave within the cave.

Next: More otherworldliness, but above ground.

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com

Up ↑