Our Summer Trip Up North

Our Summer vacation started Monday, June 30 and went to Saturday, July 5th. We packed up a car and drove North where we stayed in Cambria for two nights. Tuesday, I was very excited to get up early and see Hearst Castle. It was definately a highlight of our trip. Mike strapped Isaac to his back and I had Lillie Kate in the baby bjorn over my very huge protruding tummy. I must have been a real spectacle because in most of the pictures I look like I am about to fall over backward. This is us heading up the mountain to Hearst Castle. I though Hearst was a mansion on the beach, I was wrong.

Isaac excited to get into the "school bus" for a drive




The outside pool. Another thing I learned is that William Hearst imported Art from all over the world to decorate his home.
Part of Hearst Castle.. there are many different buildings to Hearst castle and each building is built in a different style of architecture. The stories, the paintings, the wall hangings were outstanding. I really enjoyed hearing about all the different people that came to visit William Hearst in his remote mansion... Charles Lindberg, Amelia Earheart, the Wright brothers, Bing Crosby, Myrna Loy, Cary Grant, Charlie Chaplin, Clark Gable, Winston Churchill and so many others.

Mike and Isaac in front of one of the guest quarters. Isn't he photogenic?

Lillie and I infront of an Egyption statue of Ra. And I am not tilting in this one.

A few more miles down the road we were able to go to the elephant seal rookery near San Simeon. Isaac enjoyed looking at the seals and hear them snort at each other. Most of them were males and were starting to molt. The females during the month of July are usually out to sea.

Further down the road we were able to see the harbor seals in their habitat. Unlike the elephants seals these ones perfer to layout on the rocks.
We thought these two harbor seals were so cute that we did the unthinkable and took them home.
On Wednesday, we decided to continue up route one. We hoped to take a look at Big Sur but the road was still closed from the fires. In these pics you can kind of see how smoky it was.
Isaac the avid rock climber.
Mike and Lillie touring a rocky beach in Los Padres National Forest.



Rocky beaches mean great tide pools if your timing is right. We love tide pooling! This starfish was among one of our finds that included a sea anenome, crabs, crabs, and more crabs.