Essexgirl's Californian Exploits - Part Seven:The Pacific Coast and back to LA

We drove into Monterey the next morning. It was still a bit foggy but we had heard that the Seventeen Mile Scenic Drive around the Monterey peninsula was fabulous, so we decided to give it a go anyway. We paid $8.50 admission which is a bit steep when you consider that most National Parks are $10. The drive isn't 17 miles along the coast (which we had hoped) but a circular route that takes you past many of the exclusive golf clubs in the area. $8.50 is a lot of money to drive 10 miles and look at golf clubs. Admittedly if was a grey day, but the coastal scenery was quite disappointing. When we moved back onto Highway 1 South, we saw much better coastal scenery than we did on this Scenic Drive. We also had a nice picnic lunch. We made it down to Hearst Castle at about 3.30 but had missed the last tour. We had hoped to see this, so decided to stay in the area that night and drive back there for the 8.40am (ouch) tour the next day. We stayed in San Simeon State Park that night, we walked to the local beach which was nothing special, but it was a nice area. The facilities were limited at the site, but we cooked a meal, saw some TV and played Los-Angeles-in-a-Box again, and this time Ratboy beat me.

The next day we had an early start to Hearst Castle. It was a fascinating place and great to see what too much money can do for your taste! The indoor pool area was fabulous, we saw dining rooms and guest rooms. There are actually five tours that you can do, but we only had time for one tour, for the beginners. Ratboy wouldn't let me stay for the included film as he wanted to get on, as we needed to get back to just outside LA tonight. We managed to get a spot in Malibu with a sea view which was nice. There were some fabulous houses to be seen.

The next morning we had a paddle, it was very hot in the sun, but the sea was quite cold. Then we drove back through Santa Monica to drop off the RV. We got caught in some traffic and were a bit late, and had to wait for a taxi for a while. We still had plenty of time at the airport though, before getting our flight. The entertainment system on the plane home was even better than the one going, although it crashed several times (the entertainment system - not the plane!) and I watched Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (crap) and Along Came Polly (fab and funny) and tried vainly to sleep. At the end of the day - there is nothing better than your own bed!