Headin Down Route 1 AGAIN

Well, it was somewhat sad to leave the romantic town of Carmel this morning, but I was anxious to get this show back on the road.  I mean, back on Route 1 headin South.

So back we were on the edge of the coast driving cliff side up, down and round and round.  The day was pretty overcast so most of the pictures I took today look a little drab.  Just south of Carmel is Big Sur country.  The cliffs were magnificent in both size and beauty.  Crossing several bridges added to the thrill, but I must be getting a little used to it because my foot wasn't braced on the floor the whole time.  It felt good too getting back up into the timbers.  However, it didn't last long enough and we were soon back down at sea level.

There were a few showers but the sun appeared every now and then, and we were able to get out of the vehicle to view special sights often.  One of the sights was of hundreds of Elephant Seals sun bathing on a beach.  For the most part they were sleeping, but there were a couple of them frisking in the water and others that were having flipper to flipper and face to face battle.  It was a real show!  The sign notified that this beach was where the younger seals stay behind as the larger and adult seals head North to Alaska at this time of year.  From the looks of some of them, I think they must have weighed 800 - 1000 pounds, so I'd like to have seen the larger adults - Wowzy - they must be big boys and girls.

The landscape was changing as we drove further south into what I would describe as large rolling hills or gentle rolling mountains.  It was very picturesque with ranch homes and cattle gracing the hillsides.  A few grape vineyards popped up every now and then, but for the most part it is ranch country.  Peter was day dreaming of riding his horse in "these parts."  

We came upon the entrance to Hearst Castle right at the time I needed a rest stop, so we pulled in to use the facilities.  We had pretty well decided earlier that we didn't want to tour the castle and that proved to be an excellent decision because people were pretty much wall to wall in the visitor center.  So we were quite content to be back out on the route 1 knowing that we could see pictures of the castle later online. 

Another decision that we made was to head inland to view somemore of the highlands, so we left the coast at Morro Bay and drove to San Luis Obispo.  Stopping there we viewed the Mission of San Luis Obispo De Tolosa and toured the museum which had several rooms of Franciscan & Indian artifacts from the 1700s.
We first went into the church and said prayers of thanksgiving for this excellent trip and for all of our loved ones.  We walked around town to see some of the unique shops and we also saw the Guiness Book of Records site for bubblegum - Bubblegum Alley!  It is about a five foot wide alleyway between two buildings that is covered, over and over again, with various sorts of chewing gum.  Rather than being the disgusting sight you would think it would be, it was quite artistic.  The gum was of assorted colors and much of it had been "arranged" into art.  I took several pictures and may show one on tomorrow's blog, but you know, a picture never does the real thing justice.  Peter and I were very disappointed that we did not have any gum to add to the walls.  There is definately a need for a gum vendor at that spot because while we were there several other tourists were also in need of gum.  Just down the street two young guys were begging for quarters whereas they could have a lucritive job selling gum at a good markup. 

Well, we will head further into the highlands tomorrow.
Love and hugs to all.  Don't forget us.
I know you are all busy getting ready for Thanksgiving so I really am thankful that you will be hugging up each other on that day.  We'll be thinking of you.
Meanwhile, good luck to Samantha at the regional game tomorrow.  xoxoxoxo  Win or lose - just have fun!
Love to everyone,
Mom/Belle/Nana xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo