Day 18, Saturday, October 5th, 2002
Another gorgeous morning. Woke early to take
Mikey for a walk/run on the beach in front of Morro Rock. Just after
taking him off leash I met another gal walking her dog on leash who told
me about the woes of local dog owners. Apparently there is a lot of
noise in the local political arena about getting rid of the last dog friendly
beach (the one we were on). And I learned that the dogs were supposed
to be on leash (Mikey quickly got legal). By then he was pooped out
and pretty happy to just hang with me. I am coming to realize just
how spoiled we are in Seattle with what really is a dog friendly environment.
After breakfast Mom and I left for Hearst Castle. Got there within 20 minutes, in time for the 8:50 am Experience Tour (Tour #1 and National Geographic Movie about Hearst Castle). Actuallly there were so few people there at that time, that they allowed us to go on the 8:40 am tour..... The place was fantastic. We got to see the Neptune pool, part of one of the guest houses, La Casa Grande, and the indoor pool, which is underneath the tennis courts. I think the most fantastic thing was the Neptune pool, followed by the indoor pool. The ridiculous fact about the indoor pool was that it was dug out by hand (no blasting) underneath the pre-existing tennis courts. The courts are very plain, compared to the rest of the place. Why the hell he didn't get rid of the tennis courts, then build the indoor pool with tennis courts on top, who knows.
By the time the movie was over, it was about 11:30 am. Back in Morro Bay by noon, met up with Dad, the RV and Mikey parked on the beach. They had checked out of Morro Bay RV Park, waiting on us to return. We had lunch in the RV before getting back on the road. Oh yeah, skipped lunch at Hearst Castle (run by the California State Park System) since a hot dog with chips and soda cost $9 bucks.
Drove down through San Luis Obispo (another festival ongoing, no parking, a mad house) without stopping, then down through Santa Barbara and on into Ventura to stay at the Ventura Beach RV Park. While pretty, it isn't on the Beach, but rather on the freeway, and was very noisy with road traffic. Dad went to the Ventura Pier to fish, while Mom and I went to Sam's Club and Walmart in Oxnard, CA. I truly believe that Oxnard is just one big parking lot for the acres of shopping malls. The transition from seeing acres of green peppers, celery, lettuce, asparagus to tarmac, cars and stores was harsh.
After breakfast Mom and I left for Hearst Castle. Got there within 20 minutes, in time for the 8:50 am Experience Tour (Tour #1 and National Geographic Movie about Hearst Castle). Actuallly there were so few people there at that time, that they allowed us to go on the 8:40 am tour..... The place was fantastic. We got to see the Neptune pool, part of one of the guest houses, La Casa Grande, and the indoor pool, which is underneath the tennis courts. I think the most fantastic thing was the Neptune pool, followed by the indoor pool. The ridiculous fact about the indoor pool was that it was dug out by hand (no blasting) underneath the pre-existing tennis courts. The courts are very plain, compared to the rest of the place. Why the hell he didn't get rid of the tennis courts, then build the indoor pool with tennis courts on top, who knows.
By the time the movie was over, it was about 11:30 am. Back in Morro Bay by noon, met up with Dad, the RV and Mikey parked on the beach. They had checked out of Morro Bay RV Park, waiting on us to return. We had lunch in the RV before getting back on the road. Oh yeah, skipped lunch at Hearst Castle (run by the California State Park System) since a hot dog with chips and soda cost $9 bucks.
Drove down through San Luis Obispo (another festival ongoing, no parking, a mad house) without stopping, then down through Santa Barbara and on into Ventura to stay at the Ventura Beach RV Park. While pretty, it isn't on the Beach, but rather on the freeway, and was very noisy with road traffic. Dad went to the Ventura Pier to fish, while Mom and I went to Sam's Club and Walmart in Oxnard, CA. I truly believe that Oxnard is just one big parking lot for the acres of shopping malls. The transition from seeing acres of green peppers, celery, lettuce, asparagus to tarmac, cars and stores was harsh.
Morro Rock, CA |
San Simeon from Hearst Castle, CA |
Neptune Pool |
Neptune Pool |
Neptune Pool |
Dining room |
Before Dinner Lounge |
Billiards room, CA |
Indoor pool |
Indoor pool |