Dateline July 23, 2013, Monterey, Carmel, and the California Coast

It was time to leave awe-inspiring Yosemite and head to the California coast, with the Monterey Peninsula as our target. We arrived at the Monterey Fair Grounds, a great facility with RV slots that open up when the bigger events (like horse shows) are not on. There is something about pulling into your water hookup and finding a sign that says "Don't Wash Horses Here." The horse stalls were right behind our slots. The camp hosts could not have been nicer.

The weather was rather nice but the temperature only reached 64 degrees, which was a small concern since we had a tee time at the Bayonet Course the next morning at 7:50 AM. We headed into Monterey for a walk around town.

The last time we were here was before we were married, at a Citrix Systems conference. They had hosted a magical evening dinner inside the Monterey Bay Aquarium as part of the conference. So it was a small walk down memory lane.

We did some light shopping, picked up some local chocolates, and avoided the tourist trinkets. We were always looking for things to bring back for the grandchildren. As evening came in, we headed back to the fair grounds. We met the gentleman in the slot next to us and joined him for a drink and some conversation. He recommended a great seafood restaurant called Phil's Fish Market, in Moss Landing, and we made a plan to stop there for lunch the next day after golf.

Golf at 7:50. To our surprise there was no marine layer, the sun was up, and we hit our shots off the first tee at Bayonet.

The PGA had held its championship here in 2012, so we knew the course would test us.

We found the local animals, as we usually do, this time just as we were lining up a putt. The course was a real test of golf with glorious views down to the bay. By the time we finished the round, the marine layer was rolling in and the temperature was dropping. Glad we had the early start.

We put the clubs back in the RV and went looking for Phil's Fish Market. Off the highway, down around several corners, across a bridge, back into where the fishing boats unload.

There it was.

We cannot say enough about the food. It was fabulous, and the prices were reasonable. We had oysters on the half shell and split a fresh snapper sandwich big enough that the two of us together couldn't finish it. Just incredible. The seating outside, when the weather is good, is right on the water. We would recommend this place to anyone passing through.

After lunch we drove down to Carmel to walk around town and stop in at the Hog's Breath Inn. Carmel's stores are interesting, and we found a children's shop where we picked up a few gifts for the grandchildren. We then walked over to the Hog's Breath only to discover that Clint Eastwood no longer owned the place and had opened a new spot down the road. Disappointed, but we figured we had saved ourselves from spending the entire afternoon at Clint's old bar.

We then drove over to the Lodge at Pebble Beach. The Terrace Lounge overlooks the 18th green, the famous closing hole sweeping along Carmel Bay. It was a good crowd, and we ordered a wonderful glass of wine. As we settled in, Annika Sorenstam, the famous LPGA champion, walked in and joined some friends. It certainly helped make a special place feel even more so.

We finished our wine and headed up to The Inn at Spanish Bay, on the 17 Mile Drive. The outside patio has benches around gas fire pits. The temperature was in the lower 50s, but the fire kept us warm. We ordered a bottle of wine and waited for the arrival of the Scottish bagpiper.

He starts somewhere out in the fog.

You hear him first. Then he walks closer and continues to play. Then closer still, until you can finally see his outline coming through the fog onto the patio. The experience is hard to describe because it is a combination of golf, weather, and the Scottish heritage of the game. As he arrives, he continues to play, and both the adults and the children on the patio sit with the kind of attention that is rare for either. Phil Mickelson had just won the Open at Muirfield, Scotland the day before, which made the moment feel even more right.

The next morning we headed down the Pacific Coast Highway through Big Sur, toward San Simeon State Park and the Hearst Castle. The Big Sur coastline is beautiful, with the marine layer moving in and out so you never know when a view will open up.

Janice spotted an elephant seal off to our right and could not stop, then a sign appeared for a viewing area just ahead. These are northern elephant seals. During June and July they come ashore to molt, and they need the heat of the sun and beach for the process to work. It is called a "haul-out."

We watched them come out of the surf and work their way up the beach, lumber around the sand, find a place to sleep, push sand onto their bodies with their front fins for the heat, and occasionally fall into the kind of slow-motion territorial argument these huge animals seem to specialize in.

We stayed a long time. Fabulous to watch. Then over to the state park for the evening.

First thing the next morning we were at the gate for the Hearst Castle tour. The Hearst Castle story begins in 1865, when George Hearst purchased 40,000 acres of ranch land along this stretch of coast. William Randolph Hearst spent his youth camping on the property, eventually inheriting what had grown to more than 250,000 acres. Hearst had spent much of his early life traveling in Europe and visiting castles, and he envisioned building one of his own. He hired the architect Julia Morgan to do it with him.

They completed the bulk of the work together in 1947. The castle has 165 rooms and 127 acres of gardens, terraces, pools, and walkways, all built to Hearst's specifications and to showcase his legendary art collection. His empire of newspapers, magazines, and entertainment was so large that an invitation to his home was honored by Winston Churchill, Calvin Coolidge, George Bernard Shaw, Charlie Chaplin, Errol Flynn, Lionel and John Barrymore, Clark Gable, and dozens of others.

Marion Davies became his constant companion and confidante. During the Depression, Hearst Corporation went deep into debt, and Davies wrote Hearst a check for a million dollars to save the company. Hearst also kept a private zoo on the property. When the financial difficulties hit in the late 1930s, he began selling and giving away the animals, a process that took until 1953. Most went to public zoos. The real survivors are the zebras, who escaped, founded a herd, and can still occasionally be seen grazing along the highway.

The Hearst Corporation still manages cattle on much of the property. The rest is part of the California State Parks system.

When we walked back through the reception area, we asked a gentleman at the information desk where the good local wine was in Paso Robles. He pointed us to Adelaida Cellars. He happened to be one of their weekend tasting-room hosts.

Off to Adelaida Cellars we went.

The drive took about an hour and was worth it. We entered the tasting room, handed over the card from their colleague at the Hearst Castle, and were welcomed with a free tasting. We enjoyed all of their wines and bought a few bottles of rosé along with four bottles each of their Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel for the RV wine rack. We made sandwiches and ate on the terrace. We joined their wine club on the way out, so a few bottles will find us at home in the months ahead. We then drove the thirty miles or so to San Luis Obispo for the night.

The next morning was the long, beautiful drive south on the Pacific Coast Highway through Santa Barbara and on into Malibu. We were excited to see this community of the rich and famous. We found a great campground up the hill off the Pacific Coast Highway, with views down over Malibu Beach.

The campground had wonderful picnic areas. We took cocktails down and watched the surf.

When we asked at the camp office what there was to see in Malibu, they laughed and said it was really just a residential town with limited public access to the large homes or the famous people. Oh well. We can now say we spent the night at Malibu Beach.

In the morning, over to Simi Valley for the Reagan Library.