Moro to Monterey

It was foggy when we woke up so there was nothing to see in Moro. We drove to the harbour but could barely see past the boats on the dock. This would make a nice vacation spot for a few days and, the restaurants have fresh fish every day by 12, when the fishing boats return.

The fog stayed with us most of the way to the Hearst Castle. The sun burned through the fog just as we were arriving to the castle location. As we would find out later in the drive, this section of the coast has a lot of fog banks, and I’m not sure what factors determine if the fog moves inland or stays at sea. Every time the fog moved in, temperatures dropped to 65F. When the sun was out, they rose to 85F. Perhaps the wind makes the difference ... but what factors cause the wind to blow on shore? Perhaps the shore profile. It seemed that canyons directed the wind better than sheer cliffs. One more thing to learn about.

The Hearst Castle is a sight to see. It deserves it’s reputation as one of the most popular California tourist visits. We were lucky to get a booking several weeks out and you could never get a spot via a drive up. The castle and it’s story are facinating and here you can see what a billionaire can build when money is no object. Having said that, the place is not as large as a European castle, but it is opulent and the attention to details is incredible. William Randal Hearst spent 29 years building his dream home, and it shows. I’ll so a section of pictures just on the castle and you’ll see what I mean.

From there, we drove up the coast and simply said, the coast is the focal point. This is the most spectacular coast line that I have seen. Rugged cliffs, pounding seas, fog banks drifting in and out, sand dunes, strange vegitation - we had to stop every few miles to explore and take pictures. We had a picnic lunch on the beach and I almost got stranded by the rising tide. The left side of the beach where we ate was boulder strewn, but after getting right to the ocean to explore the tidal pools (another fun activity), I notices that behind one of the cliffs that jutted out to the sea, there was a beautiful beach - and no one was on it. Making my way to the cliff that jutted out to sea, seperating the 2 beaches, one could see that when the waves ebbed, there was about 2 feet of beach open so if someone timed it right, they could run along the shore and make it to the sand beach before the next wave covered the point. Also, the wave pattern seemed to surge and ebb, so I waited for an ebb pattern and successfully made the mad dash. There was a beatiful cove on the other side and fishermen were storing their boats against the cliff. They had ropes and buckets stung up the cliff, likely to haul up their catch. While walking along the shore I noticed that at high tide, most of the beach is covered by water and that’s when the thought popped into my mind - which way is the tide going? A quick look back at the cliff told me that I picked the wrong time to cross. The gap at the cliff was now covered during the ebbs. While running back to the cliff, my mind was calculating plan B’s - I could ride it out by the boats and in worst case scenario, there were the ropes going up the cliff, so I knew worst case scenario wasn’t going to be that bad. When I got to the point on the cliff, the water was high enough that my concern was dealing with the current as the water swirled through the rocks and bounced off the cliff. I waited for the first big ebb (i was timing the ebbs while running) and ran through, this time knee deep. Whew made it, but 10 more minutes and we would have been forced to stay for 8 more hours. Liz had already wondered where i was since she hadn’t seem me for a while, so I broke another scouting rule - don’t go exploring unless people know where you are.

We continued up the road with several stops, with the best being at Julia Pfeiffer Burns park, where a small creek flows down the hills and creates a waterfall that cascades into a beautiful cove with turquoise sea.

Julie wanted to visit a resort that friends had spent some time at. She tried to book a room there earlier but they only accepted a minimum 2 nights stay. When we got to the gate, we were informed that tours were not possible to protect the privacy of guest, but we could have a drink in the bar, but, when they saw Jonathan, we were turned away - no children allowed. Our first impact with California snobbery. Jonathan can be rather interesting at times, but he can act like an adult when he needs to while his parents inspect a resort. I guess california children have a reputation of being uncontrollable.

When we got to our hotel, Jon took one look at the waves and, since they were bigger than Ventura beach, couldn’t wait ‘til he got into the water. I only saw severe undertow, and the absence of surfers suggested that my hunch was right. The warning signs at the entrance to the beach provided extra strength to the argument. I suggested that he check with the front desk before he jumps into the sea. They told him that the surf was indeed too dangerous and that there was a shark attack a few days ago, just up the beach. Jon went straight to the pool.

We ordered dinner (room service) for the children - pistachio encrusted halibut and clam chowder, while Julie and I headed out to do laundry - we ran out of clothing. One and a half hours later and Burger King deluxe, the laundry was done. What we do for our kids.