The big one, or my west coast adventures. Day 22

Wow, I've been on the road for 3 weeks. It seems forever. My work is something far, far away, and that's not a bad thing. It's  also the first morning in at least a week that it's kind of cool out here. I'm going to have to dig out the sweater.

Thanks to Holiday Inn, for that wipe down towel,  I wonder if it will show up on my bill ;-). The bike was covered in dew. It's a, not so warm 55°, cool, but not too cold for this bike. I'm gonna have to use the seat warmer this morning.  Loaded up and I'm out of the town quickly, and back into the never ending farmlands. A lot of people working those fields this morning.

Not too far into the ride, highway 1 comes back to the coast. My first stop is Pismo Beach.

 I wonder if I'll see any wild seals?

 I'm early enough that the tourists are still sleeping. That or it being a Tuesday.

Quiet beach anyone, a few surfer's out there.

A nice seaside town. A lot of nice old vintage buildings. But I do resist having breakfast or a coffee and I'll be get on my way. Just outside of Pismo Beach is Shell Beach.  I'm a fan of the movie "Dark City". Could this be that shell beach?. It must be because I couldn't find it (not that I really tried).

Next stop is the "Madonna Inn" The only way to describe this inn, is to say if Elvis owned a Inn,  it would look like this.

It's a fun and interesting place to explore.  I almost stopped in for breakfast, as the coffee shop looked good, but I managed to get away. Here's the link, for you to explore.

Madonna Inn

PS: this inn has nothing to do with Madonna the singer :-)

Finally the want for a coffee or a Latte becomes too much,  so at the next town, I stop. Which is Morro Bay. A nice little tourist town, but I'm looking for a coffee shop.

 No sitting in this seat, as I'm having a great day.

 A good coffee shop, and a really nice bagel.

I'm not sure this is the real thing, or, that's what they call a rub-n-tug down here. No, I didn't go in.

So after getting my caffeine and begel,  I'm back on the bike to Hearst Castle.  On the way I come across some Zebras.

Why do you breed zebras,  I have no clue. But I get the answer later on. Cool seeing them though. Just down the road is the welcome center for Hearst Castle.

 I go in and get my ticket. I also find out that it costs $25 to visit each floor. So I just stick with the main floor. I've got a 1/2 hour to wait, so I watch the building of Hearst Castle movie. Then I go and line up for the bus that takes us up there.

 Some of the thing's they had on display at the theater entrance.

Now I'm on the bus to take us up the winding road up to the castle.

It's hard to believe how high Hearst Castle is above the Pacific Ocean. Your looking down on the clouds. Anyway,  after about a 15 minute drive, we reach the top.

 This is what your greeted with.

 The "backyard", and I mean the hills and mountains.

 This really is the best view I have ever seen from someone's house.

 The first thing to come to mind, is "The village" from "The Prisoner". It really has that feeling, with all the art scattered around.

 Solid marble,  impressive.

 That view, with you above the clouds, what more could you ask for.

Now on to the inside.

This is the reception room and one big ass fireplace.

 Dinner is served.

 You don't see to many Mace's in someone's house.

 The smoking room.

 They are cleaning the ceiling.

 Pool anyone?

 French pool, no pockets.

His own private cinema.

 The tennis courts,  and below

 Really the most impressive part.

Since I'm too cheap to do the upstairs tour,   (kind of, but I also don't have the time as well). I hit the bus for the drive down. BTW, the zebras are from the private zoo WE Hearst used to have around the Castle.

From here I'm back on the bike and across highway 1 to see if I can see any seal lions.

 Nice beach and view, no seals though.

 If you look closely,  at the top of the mountain,  you can see Hearst Castle.

Well, California does make it easy to find them. They put signs on the highway.  Lion seals here!

 I got a feeling people feed them!

Yep, they're all seal lions. It was really cool to see them in the wild. It's been a good day. Little did I know it was going to get even better.

After saying goodbye to the seals, I'm on the road again. One thing about this stretch is the wind. This is a 900 lb bike with me on it and I'm being pushed all over the place. Thank god it doesn't last too long. The road is also changing as well. It's going higher and is a lot curvy, as it's got to follow the ins and outs of the coast. I'm getting in some of my best riding yet. You can be 100 feet high off the coast, then a mile down the road your up to 700 feet.  Amazing. I hit the Ragged Point Inn and stop in for a Latte. As the first thing I see is coffee shop :-)) Here's the view you get with the Latte.

 They have trails that go down to the ocean. This brave couple went down. I don't think the girl really wanted to go down. That's love though. I don't know if they ever made it back up.

It's kind of a mini resort. With the view being the big selling point. I was going to fill up here as I only had 1/2 tank. But at $5.79 a gallon, I'll wait, till I came into a big town.

 You can see the dolphins swimming down there.

The rest of the ride is mostly more of this. A motorcyclist dream. Hours and hours of it. The PCH lived up to my expectations and blew them away. I've gotten lucky as well, the weather is perfect for riding,  maybe a touch on the cool side. But it is the coast. I've got some video of the riding, really good stuff. But there is no way for me to edit it and add it to the bolg. When I get home I'll do it.

The videos and tv programs really can't do this route justice.  It's something you have to experience on your own. I'd even go to as far to say this ride should be number 1 on your bucket list, for motorcycle riding here in North America.  I couldn't even imagine this day before I rode it, it was that good.

So if you get the chance, take a week off, rent a bike (if not a bike, a convertible Mustang like every 5th car I see out here) and ride the PCH.

Things mellow out as you come into Carmel (the town Clint Eastwood is mayor in), nice town, but I just went through.  Then I'm on to Monterey and my room for the night.

Total mileage 4698 miles / 7561 km

=====================================