My Middle Name is “Adaptable”
Tuesday, June 29th, 2010Peter and I decided to go wine tasting in Paso Robles for our five year anniversary. I’d wanted to go for years but thought we needed a good reason. A “major” anniversary was a perfect reason. Hearst Castle topped my list of sites to see while away, so we decided to stay in nearby Morro Bay, a place where my dad use to camp and go fishing with his brothers annually. Always one to jam pack my vacations, leaving little time for leisure, we’d pre-paid for our hotel and massages and purchased Hearst Castle tickets early. Once we found out we were expecting a baby, the wine tasting trip turned into a Morro Bay/Hearst Castle tourist vacation, minus the wine. I guess we’ll have to save the wine tasting trip for another time. Small price to pay for a baby.
The trip turned out to be fantastic.
Morro Bay was a cute little town full of the elderly. I swear we were the youngest people in the city! We rented bikes and road down to Morro Rock, and ate seaside every evening. I was surprised that the temperature there remains about 65 degrees almost year round. At that temperature, I was surprised to see people in the water kayaking and swimming – it was way too cold for me. We stayed at the Inn at Morro Bay directly adjacent to the Heron Rookery. If you are not a fan of birds, I wouldn’t recommend this Inn. The birds made so much noise and the amount of bird feces on the property was amazing. At check-in, they even warn you that your car will be dirtied and they give you the location of the closest car wash.
I LOVED Hearst Castle. We went on two tours, I wanted to go on more, but Peter didn’t think it was necessary. I purchased a biography on William Randolph Hearst and I cannot put it down. I want to join “Friends of Hearst Castle” – an organization that raises money to assist with the renovations. The Castle brings in more than $12 Million in a year, all of which is given to the state. The state then re-distributes the money to all state parks leaving only $100 Thousand for the Castle. According to the docents, this isn’t nearly enough money to maintain the billions of dollars worth of artifacts stored within the Castle. There is so much money in art located within those walls, its a shame the state would allow it all to deteriorate.
On the way home, I stayed awake and noticed that we passed several California Missions! Had I known, I would have tried to add them to our vacation. Next time there will be wine tasting; I’ll finish up my tours at Hearst Castle, and visit the Missions.
