After we visited the Hearst Castle we went to see the California Elephant Seals. Everyone that we had spoke to had told us it was something that should not be missed.
Gnomeo couldn't miss this!
The Piedras Blancas rookery is located on Highway 1 seven miles north of San Simeon (and the Hearst Castle) on the California Central Coast. There is a boardwalk for you to walk on to get a better look without being to close to the seals since they are very aggressive.
Elephant seals spend most of their life at sea, only coming to shore to molt, give birth & mate. You will notice in the pictures and videos that they are not very active. That is because they are fasting. The females fast while mating, birthing and nursing and the males will also go with out food or water for up to 3 months during this time.
Male seals are between fourteen to sixteen feet long and weigh up to 2 1/2 tons. Females are much smaller than the males, they average ten to twelve feet in length and weigh between 1,200 to 2,000 pounds. The pups are approximately 75 pounds at birth and weigh around 250-350 pounds in less than a month (mommas milk is 55% fat).
This was a male letting his voice be heard. I guess the best way to describe the sound they make is a very loud grunt.
In this video one male was getting to close to another that did not appreciate it and let him know it. You will see the seal that was coming close turn around.
It was so cool to see these "beasts" in their natural environment. You may be able to see in some of the videos the seals coming out of the water and others throwing sand on themselves to keep cool.
This "little" guy was so cute! He kept scratching his belly. He was using his flipper like a hand and when he would scratch it looked like he had fingers. My mom and dad said he looked like their dog, Ernie, sleeping like this.
Here is a live video stream of the elephant seals at Año Nuevo Island. Please note: Due to the remoteness of the camera and actual location of Año Nuevo Island, the Sealcam ocassionally goes offline or the picture becomes less clear.
Wouldn't you know it, but we had rain July 4th. The lady that own's the campground we are staying in said that in the 7 years she had lived here, it had NEVER rained in the month of July. It rained like 3 or 4 days in a row. On the 4th it was a gully washer! We weren't sure that we would be able to watch fireworks. Luckly it stopped a few hours before the show was to start and we drove up to Tehachapi to watch. Tehachapi is not a very big town, so we were fairly impressed with their show.
My mom took this video of the fireworks
& added some tunes for your enjoyment!
I am so glad I was able to spend the holiday weekend with my parents. It was wonderful getting to share some of our California experiences with them. I just wish they could have stayed a little longer!!
Fourth of July weekend was a fantastic time! First of all my (Sarah) parents were here! My dad had some work in LA so my mom joined him and they had a little mini vacation. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with my mom. The first day they were here I headed to LA to take my mom on a sightseeing adventure. We hit Beverly Hills & Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood Blvd. was our last stop for the day because........wait for it.........we went to the Jimmy Kimmel Live show!!!
My Mom & I infront of Jimmy Kimmel Live!
We met a very sweet lady in line that had misplaced her tickets and I just happened to have an extra. She had just recently injured her knee, so it was going to be very hard for her to walk down the stairs into the studio. Because of this we were taken into the studio through the back door and we sat on the 2nd row! I sat in the second seat closest to Jimmy during his monologue. If you watched that show you would have seen the back of our heads!! This was such a strange experience. During the applause we had over exaggerate our yelling and screaming. By the end of the show my throat hurt and my hands were tired.
On the show were actor Kevin Nealon, TV host Dave Salmoni and Parachute performed. We went to the show during the Charlie Sheen hype. Two and a Half Men had just announced that they were going to kill Charlie off. Jimmy sent someone out on Hollywood Blvd. to ask kids how they thought Charlie should die. It was hilarious!!! I found the video on YouTube and added it here for you to see.
I also found a part of the video from Dave Salmoni's animals. On the second half of the video you will see a huge bird. You will have to listen to Dave talk about how dangerous this bird is. Remember we were on the second row. A little close for comfort!
My dad had a few more days of work, but finished early on Friday and came up to our area. On Saturday morning we all woke up early and took a trip to the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, California.
Gnomeo & The Sign
Enter Gnomeo. Last Christmas we were blessed with this amazing Razorback gnome from my parents! When Tyler and I went home in May I made sure that Gnomeo made the trip back and he now travels with us on our many adventures. You will see him in many pictures from now on. =o)
OK back to the Hearst Castle. What a beautiful place. First of all the weather was fabulous! We were fighting 100 degree days in the desert and at the coast it was in the low 80s and upper 70s! But the castle was breath taking.
Hearst Castle
My Dad (Don), my Mom (Liz), Me & Tyler
The Hearst Castle was built by William Randolph Hearst. He started the project in 1919 and took 28 years to complete. The castle was built 1,600 feet above the sparkling Pacific Ocean and is surrounded by 120 acres that are still used as a working cattle ranch.
We began the tour in the welcome center with a movie telling the story of how the castle came to be. It explained how Mr. Hearst would come to the land, that would eventually be home to the magnificent castle, as a child to camp with his family. It told of his travels across Europe that influenced his tastes and the styling of the castle. It explained some of how the castle was built. We were a little disappointed it didn't give more details of the building process, such as how much concrete was used. What it did show how the castle was used as a place for Mr. Hearst to entertain his many friends. Many, many famous people would come to the castle to relax and enjoy the many amenities that were offered. The tour then continued with a bus ride to the top of the mountain.
In these two pictures you can see just how far the castle was from the welcome center. You can barely see it in the middle of each couple.
Here we were loading the bus. Notice my dad in his Razorback shirt!
We have to represent everywhere we go!!
The view of the Pacific Ocean on the bus ride was breathtaking!!
In this picture you can see an air strip. Mr. Hearst would fly his guests in for their stay.
Our tour of the grounds started on the main terrace, which acts as a central plaza for the estate, show-casing the main house as well as views of the Pacific Ocean. Located here is a beautiful lily pond.
This is the Casa Grande (the main house). It is 69,000 square feet and contains 115 rooms. This is where all the guests would gather for meals and indoor entertainment.
This is the main entrance.
This was the main gathering room in the house. Guests would gather here for cocktails before meals.
This is a picture of the celling in the main room. It was very impressive!
When dinner was served guests would leave this room and enter the dinning hall.
This is the billiards room. To be honest I don't remember much about this room other than it was HOT! And I think I was busy people watching rather than listening to our tour guide. And I believe we had figured out our tour guide was a bit of a quack.
Here we were in the movie theatre in the main house. We watched a short movie of all the movie stars and famous people that spent there free time at the castle. To be honest neither Tyler nor I really knew who any of the people were. This was the last stop on our tour of the house. We could now explore the grounds on our own.
The grounds were absolutely beautiful! Besides the main house there are 3 cottages, 2 pools (one indoor & one outdoor), tennis courts, countless gardens and tons of marble statues.
The cottages were actually the first buildings constructed and housed family and guests.
One of the Cottages
Some of the gardens & one of the cottages
Gardens again with a statue thrown in
This statue caught mine and Tyler's eye. Interesting is all I can say.
The Neptune Pool
The Neptune Pool is the crown jewel of the Hurst Castle. The pool ranges in depth from 3 to 10 feet and holds 345,000 gallons of water. It was heated year-round to the mid-70s. The pool is still used today for family members and once a year for employees.
Tennis Courts
You will notice near the net some squares in the court. These are glass blocks that allow light into the indoor pool below.
The Roman Pool
The Roman Pool is located inside the Gymnasium. It is actually the only portion of the gymnasium complex completed, and because of this it was not as popular a destination as the Neptune Pool for Mr. Hearst's guests, and it was rarely used.
This is a picture of the bottom of the pool. The pool is 10 feet deep and holds 205,000 gallons of water. Everything that you see that looks "yellow" is actually 14 cart gold. It was everywhere in the pool room. On the floors, walls and ceilings. What a weird feeling to be walking on gold!!
On our bus ride back to the visitor's center we passed what was Mr. Hearst's zoo. He had exotic animals located here for the guests to see. During the great depression Mr. Hearst donated all of his animals to the zoo's in California. He did leave some zebras and they are still wild on the land today. We didn't get to see any of them. =(
Zoo
Across the highway from the Hearst Castle is the town of San Simeon. This is where families of the employees lived.
School House (I believe it is still working)
I love this store!! Well, we didn't go in, BUT it is my nephew's name!! <3
We had a great time visiting the Hearst Castle. I will be honest....I think it was over priced for what we saw, but I am still happy we went to see it. Our day didn't end here. Stay tuned for Part 2!!
