Highway 1: Monterey to San Simeon

MONTEREY.  

We stayed in Monterey at the fairgrounds, great spot for the night.  Backed our trailer up to the horse barns under a giant coastal live oak.

Monterey marina...

John Steinbeck's Cannery Row; I don't think Steinbeck would recognize it today although some of the cannery buildings are still standing.

View in the other direction...

PACIFIC GROVE

Point Pinos Lighthouse

Huge Aloe Vera plant in full bloom.

MONARCH GROVE SANTUARY

The dark clusters near the middle of this photo are hundreds of monarch butterflies.  They move about when the sun shines directly on them so the best time for viewing is from 11:00am to 2:00 in the afternoon.  Today was windy so there were very few butterflies flying around.

The butterflies clustered in the center of this protected grove of Monterey pines and eucalyptus trees making them difficult to see.  They moved to the middle of the grove a week ago because of the winds.

This is a better photo because you can distinguish the butterfly wings, they look like dried leaves.  Thousands of monarch butterflies migrate to Southern California for the winter so I'm hoping to get another chance to see them on this trip.

ROCKY POINT

VIEW FROM HURRICANE POINT

Wild Calla Lily

Bixby Bridge

Truck and trailer parked at Hurricane Point.

Each time we pulled over we could see migrating whales and sometimes dolphins closer to shore.

Pulled off the highway just south of Big Sur for lunch, enjoyed this beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean.

HIGHWAY 1 TUNNEL

Our first view of Hearst Castle begun in 1919 by newspaper publisher Wiliam Randolf Hearst with San Francisco architect Julia Morgan.  Their collaboration on the project lasted from 1919 until 1947.

SAN SIMEON 

Old San Simeon schoolhouse with Hearst Castle visible up on the hill.  William Randolf Hearst called his hilltop house the "ranch at San Simeon."

We had hamburgers made with Hearst ground beef at Sebastian's General Store and this was the view from the outdoor benches, part of the Hearst warehouses built by George Hearst to store goods that arrived by boat and still in use today.

At the back of Sebastian's General Store is the post office for San Simeon. 

These zebras are part of the 80 member herd that descend from the zebras William Randolf Hearst had as part of his zoo collection.