I started this trip at a hotel in Cambria. I had been staying there to redeem a free night voucher that was going to expire. They offer free breakfast, so I decided not to use the "breakfast" rule and eat in my hotel room. I rejoiced as I pressed my Pop-o-Matic dice dome to "roll the die" and a "4" showed. That meant I could turn right, North, and might get a chance to see the Elephant Seals in San Simeon. Of course, that could have easily turned around with a later roll of the die, but I was off to a good start.
My first stop was at the "brown sign" park called Leffingwell Landing. This was the parking lot I had pulled into the previous night to watch the sunset. It looked quite a bit different in the daylight, offering many opportunities to picnic and take short hikes. Overlooking the Pacific Ocean, and with a stairway leading down to the shore, this was a wonderful way to take in the views up and down the coast. There were some interesting rock formations just under the bluff and the weather was truly amazing for January!!
There are so many vista points on Highway 1 that I decided only to stop at those with the blue "Vista Point" signs. I usually took a photograph looking North, one looking South, and sometimes one looking West. I stopped at the Washburn Day Use Area, which has a wooden boardwalk leading down to the beach. San Simeon Creek flows under the highway and out to the ocean here, and so there are some amazing rocks to be seen. The "sand" is really pebbles and rocks and is beautiful. This is not too far north from "Moonstone Beach" in Cambria. Because this creek comes from the hills, there is also lots of driftwood on the beach.
I stopped at the San Simeon State Park, which I discovered is composed of two separate campgrounds. One, San Simeon Creek Campground, is closer to the beach and the other, Washburn Campground, is located back in the hills. They are both nice campgrounds, with tent camping. I live so close and I never knew these campgrounds were right off the highway!! I will have to make some time to camp here in the future. The campgrounds did not have a lot of campers this time of year, but I loved smelling the campfires as I drove around.
I was thrilled when my "dice" took me up the Hearst Castle road. I decided not to take a tour, but watched a documentary movie in their IMAX theatre after I checked out the gift shop, ate lunch in their cafeteria, and wandered through the free museum. When I bought my "Wish You Were Here" postcard in the gift shop the saleslady told me that there was a tiny post office in old town San Simeon. So, I headed down there immediately so I could get the "San Simeon" postmark!! The post office is adjacent to an old country store, which unfortunately was closed. In the field by their parking lot there is a great old school house. And, across the street there is an old Mission-style building that William Randolph Hearst used to store all his arts while Hearst Castle was being built. I visited the William R. Hearst Memorial State Park, which offers picnic areas, kayak-rental, the Coastal Discovery Museum, and the San Simeon Pier.
The die was rolling numbers in my favor, and it continued to take me North. I was able to stop at all the Vista Points, including "Elephant Seal Beach". This is an amazing place where the Elephant Seals give birth and spend the winter. Right now there are mostly females with their pups, some large males, and more young males that are just practicing. The noise is deafening, young pups with their high-pitched calls, females making occasional irritated calls, and of course the males with their deep bellowing. I was surprised that it didn't smell bad, one would think it would with the thousands of seals on the beach. Here is a video clip I recorded to allow people to experience a bit of what it was like:
After I left the elephant seal beach, the die sent me back onto Highway 1, going North. I was supposed to go until the third exit. Well, let me tell you, that is one long lonely stretch of Highway 1!! There is nothing but beautiful ocean on the left and ranchland on the right. Every time I thought I found a street to turn on, it turned out being a ranch gate or a private driveway. I got to a really windy place on the Highway and knew I was headed for Ragged Point. Although Ragged Point is a little town, it really doesn't have an "exit"!! So, I just decided that I had driven quite a long time looking for an "exit" and I would turn into the Ragged Point "oasis" and call it an "exit"!! It is so beautiful in Ragged Point, with all the amazing vistas. It is sort of a combination of the high-end with an Inn, a Restaurant, an espresso bar, etc. And at the other end there are the remnants of the vintage camp feel, including a gas station mini mart, a snack bar, and a little jewelry shop. I wish it was all vintage, I loved the snack bar and the old ice boxes in the mini mart.
Luckily my die took me North as I left Ragged Point. The sun was setting and I was able to get some great light for some pictures. I ended up back in San Simeon for the sunset, stopping at a Coastal Access that I had stopped at earlier. When I was there earlier there were a couple of surfers, and there was still a couple of surfers out there surfing while the sun went down. I watched the sun set and then walked back to my car, only to find my keys locked inside!! I ended up walking up to the Best Western Plus Cavelier hotel up the street and they generously let me use their phone. She even knew the phone number I should call, and let me wait by their fireplace while the tow truck driver came over from Cambria Towing. The tow truck guy was great, he got my car unlocked in no time flat!! He is a surfer and showed me how to tell if there is a rip tide, as well as taught me how to pronounce Cambria properly!! When I told him there were a couple of guys still surfing and he could tell by their cars who they were. I asked him how late people surfed here and he said that he wouldn't be out because of "Whitey", the great white shark who hangs out in the cove. I love small towns where everyone knows one another and happily helps people out.
After I got my car started again I decided that my day trip was done and I headed back to Morro Bay. It was a really nice drive, with hardly anyone on the road. I was out and about for a little over 8 hours, and traveled a bit over 50 miles. I was able to tweak the "Road Rules" a bit more and plan on publishing the current draft for people to use if they want. I handed out my card to three people today and left a card at one of my stops. I am already looking forward to my next travel day, I hope it will be soon!!
To check out more of my trip, check out my
Facebook Photo Album.
© 2011 Traveling by Chance
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