North to San Francisco

We decided to take the REALLY scenic route from San Luis Obispo to San Francisco and stick to the coastal Highway 1. It was narrow, windy, sometimes precarious, and consistently breathtaking. We barely made it ten miles outside of SLO before we had to pull over to see Morro Bay, and this small mountain (also known as a volcanic plug) sticking out of the water just offshore. It was surrounded by beautiful beach and seemed to create its own weather as the sunny day was plunged into thick, cool fog just around its perimeter.



There were lots of bird watchers who had set up camp with giant cameras in the parking lot, and dozens of young kids heading out to practice surfing in the safety of the cove.

Brave little surfers

I think the birdwatchers were there for the peregrine falcons that are said to roost there, but we didn't see any of those. We did get to see this sweet mom and baby seagull pair though.

It wasn't long before we were enticed to stop again, this time at the Hearst Castle. The tours were too long and expensive for us, but we did spend a few minutes walking around the enormous visitor center at the base of the mansion's hilly perch. We learned a bit about William Randolph Hearst and in the end decided we didn't really want our money going to his legacy anyway.

The Castle

If we had gone on the tours, you would be seeing a lot of pictures like this one, which Sean got from another photograph.

We just had to include this photo of Sean with a Pohutakawa tree, the famous New Zealand species that we got to know so well on our travels there. It turns out that California has borrowed many plants and trees from NZ, so we have enjoyed revisiting our old green friends.

After passing on the castle we continued to follow the gorgeous Pacific Coast Highway, stopping only a half dozen more times to take in the amazing scenery.

The plant life along the side of the road was also great. We couldn't believe how colorful the wildflowers and ice plants were -- literally covering every spectrum of the rainbow.

Just a small sample

By a lucky coincidence, we pulled off the road at a memorial grove and following a short walk into the forest along a creek, we got our first redwoods experience.