Pacific Coast highway

July 23, 2006 Maurice Leave a comment

We traveled up the Pacific Coast highway through Carmel. The road twists and turns along some of the most spectacular scenery you’ll ever see.

Surfer dudes abound along the coast. The waves were pretty darned impressive! I sure wouldn’t want to be snorkeling out there.

Sea lions in the ocean: Just north of Hearst Castle is a colony of sea lions. They sun themselves on the beach or cavort in the ocean and generally make a spectacle of themselves.

An interesting succulent that grows along the beaches, and is apparently planted to prevent beach erosion.

The mascot of the Seven Feathers Casino in Southern Oregon. It’s halfway between Vancouver and San Francisco. A perfect spot to spend the night on the way to SF.

Vacations

San Francisco

July 21, 2006 Maurice Leave a comment

We really enjoyed San Francisco a lot. It is a really pretty city, and even more laid back than Vancouver, if you can believe that! The picture on the left is a view from Fisherman’s Wharf up the hill towards Coit Tower (on the left) and the Transamerica Building (on the right). Coit Tower sits on Telegraph Hill, a monument to the heroism of San Francisco’s fire men.

Straight down the hill from the Coit Tower is this church. Really quite an attractive building. One thing that really stood out about San Francisco was the really interesting architecture everywhere.

The Exploratorium is an interesting looking domed building surrounded by beautiful parklands. It’s been featured in tons of movies, including Dirty Harry. It’s a great place to take the kids, as it has a hands on science exhibit.

San Francisco’s City Hall. It is apparently a replica of the White House and has been used as a stand-in in a number of movies. It looks the same from the front and back, which leads to the joke that SF politicians don’t know whether they are coming or going.

These are the famed Painted Ladies of San Francisco. These Victorian era homes are in the Haight Ashbury part of town, and have been lovingly restored to their former glory.

The Transamerica building as seen from the top of another very famous landmark, Coit Tower. It is arguably the most distinctive landmark on the San Franciscan city landscape.

Vacations

Morro Bay and Hearst Castle

July 19, 2006 Maurice Leave a comment

“Self portrait” in a Morro Bay restaurant! The restaurant had really lousy scallops. shiver But it was a nice to wander around the town. Very picturesque.

William Randolph Hearst built an astounding home in the hills above San Simeon. If you get to that area, you MUST go see it. You will be astonished. Unbelievable architecture, unbelievable artwork, unbelievable views. This is the outdoor swimming pool area, built in a classical style.

Here are some of the remarkable statues surrounding the pool. Hearst brought some home from his many tours of Europe, and others he had copied. Note the foggy weather!

The Casa Grande, the main entry to Hearst Castle. A Spanish style dominates the main house. Very impressive. Note the lions – he had that lion reproduced over and over and can be seen in literally hundreds of locations around the grounds.

The main meeting room. From here Hearst managed his hundreds of companies, and met with the most powerful men of his time. About the only disappointment in his life was failing to become president.

The indoor pool. The gold color, is indeed gold. An extremely decadent pool. It is truly gorgeous – too bad it merely sits there day after day and not used, like it was meant to be.