Traveling the coast of California

Last week we made our get away and travelled down highway 1 along the coast of California. We didn't travel very far from home, but, living where we do in Northern California, it isn't all that necessary to go great distances in order to see beautiful and unusual sights. Our excursion lasted four days. Our first stop was the beach at Carmel, where we ate a picnic lunch and played in the ocean.


We drove on to the Big Sur and stayed at the Big Sur River Inn for the first night. We arrived mid-afternoon and were delighted to find a rustic hotel set next to a lovely river. My new favorite spot. My husband and I sat in a big wicker chairs next to the river and read books and dozed, while the kids played in the grassy knoll by the river. I have now decided that I want to live by a river. It was relaxing and mesmorizing and yet there was enough gentle motion and activity that I could sit still and yet not feel that I wasn't a part of something. My restless nature, to get up and do something active, was completely satisfied and thus I could sit in total serenity enjoying my surroundings.


The second day we continued on down the coast, following the winding and scenic highway. We meandered along, stopping to gape at the beautiful vistas or pay our respects to a pod of whales travling far below us.


Close to the town of Cambria we came upon a beach where hundreds of Sea Elephants and their babies were basking in the warm sunshine on the beach. They were all alive, despite their disconcerting sluggish appearance. They would flip sand over each other and waddle up and out of the surf, indicating that they were very much alive and kicking.


We stayed in Cambria, close to St Simeon, along the coast. We spent the afternoon on the beach and the boys played in the waves, and later at the Cambria Inn where we found cleverly designed gardens, mazes crafted from the hedges and secret paths for the boys to lose themselves and play hide-n-seek in.


Friday was spent exploring the grounds of the Rennaisance castle that Randolph Hearst built in the twenties, high above the sea, at St. Simeon. It proved to be a wonderful place, filled with art work, beautiful designs and attached to it a wonderful history of famous people that have stayed at the castel, from Clark Gable and Cary Grant to Winston Churchill. Michael came away from our tour saying that he now wants to be an architect!


We drove home along an inland route, stopping to check out several vineyards in the Paso Robles area. At Bianchi, the boys played with miniature motorized saleboats, while we sipped on wine and enjoyed the view of the vines just starting to sprout. All in all, we had a nice get away. We made a family movie, in which I'm afraid, we were all terribly silly. We ate simple meals of sandwiches on the beach and nicer breakfasts on the patio over looking the river. We moved together, ate together, played together and had fun together. A nice change from our scattered activities that often times splinter our schedules and cause us to move in a thousand different directions. It is reassuring to know, that you don't have to go far, or do something incredibly spectacular, to create a wonderful memory and strengthen the bonds of your family.