Bubble Gum, Anyone?

A little southeast of our previous stop, we headed to Paso Robles.  We were trying to make our way down the coast and based on campground preferences and a recommendation to check out San Luis Obispo, we ended up in this area.

The campground was a nice little place.  Nothing fancy, but had lots of sun since we had been covered by redwoods at the previous spot we were happy to have it.

The car and camper had a professional bath this week.  They are white again.

This area is another wine spot.  Paso Robles has more than 200 wineries and everywhere you drive you see vineyards.



Over the weekend we took a wine tour and learned a lot about how the wine is made.  I'm not a big wine fan, but the tour was interesting.















There is an area on the coast not too far from Paso Robles, call Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Roockery and it just an area on the beach that is protected.  People are not allowed down there for I don't know how many miles.



This was such a cool outing and there was a lady from the "Friends of the Elephant Seal" organization and she was just talking and we were listening.  There was so much information and these animals are so so cool.



They are out at sea for 8-10 months a year and the females can dive to 5,800 ft.  There are so many cycles of who is on the beach; males fighting for dominance, females giving birth, the pups by themselves, the teenagers.  Depending on which months you are there you have a completely different experience to watch.  There is a website with a live camera so you can see who is on the shore and what part of the annual cycle they are.

Just down the street is the famous "castle" built by William Randolph Hearst.......The Hearst Castle.
We took a tour of the main rooms and the extravagance was over the top.  The views of the Pacific Ocean were beautiful.  In it's prime, this property had a full on zoo as you would drive up the winding road to the house. William Randolph was the son of a man who struck it rich during the California Gold Rush and he ended up in the film industry.  He built this enormous castle on a piece of land that he spent a lot of time as a boy with his father.  Everything was over the top and it even has it's own runway at the base of the hill for all the celebrities that spent time there.

Hearst Castle from the parking lot.  It's way up there on the hill.

After a while I needed to get out of there to breathe, but Sofia would have loved for me to leave her there :)

Sunset on the way home from Hearst's Castle

San Luis Obispo was a city just south of us and we spent a day down there.  Diego found Starbucks and the girls and I went on a hike up to Bishop's Peak.  We didn't make it to the top of the peak, but made it pretty far and had a great view of the city from up high.





There is an alley way in SLO that is called Bubble Gum Alley.  You don't want to be in there with a lot of people.  Stay in the center!

Sofia wrapping up before she enters

They are a little grossed out.

Stayed for the farmer's market that evening.