Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Week 5: Driving the Beautiful California Coastline, Day 2

My happy place...anywhere alongside of the gorgeous California coastline!

We started our second day at the Morro Bay golf club, which is nicknamed 'The Poor Man's Pebble Beach' which isn't really true at all! It's a lovely place the coast but for the most part the holes weren't that interesting. It was, however, warm and sunny and we had a good time none the less. I did hit the green on this par 3. Missed the birdie putt but made the par! From there we began the long and winding road up highway 1. Every turn is a stunner, every view beautiful.We did make a brief stop in San Simeon where Hearst's Castle is located. We didn't take the tour but just looked around. The castle sits high on the hills above the sea. Quite a place.
A clear highlight was pulling over the see the California Elephant Seals. We were lucky. It was their breeding season and the beach was strewn with hundreds, if not thousands, of elephant seals. Because the breeding season follows the birthing season, there were many new seals on the beach as well. It was fascinating watching these huge animals call to one another, wrestle with one another and then procreate. The males are just enormous and it was so cool watching how they would spot a female and then shuttle/waddle/blubber along to go after her!The drive continued along the amazing coastline. What a beautiful stretch of highway. We took another brief stop in Big Sur, amazed by the forest that butts up to the sea.We finally made it to our lovely hotel in Monterey, hotel Abrego. A free upgrade to a beautiful room with a fireplace welcomed us.
The next day was Doug's 50th birthday and the 17 mile drive.

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