OMG what a massive day! After a quick breakie in our room, headed off about 830am in time for our 920am Hearst Castle tour, only a few miles up the highway. Day started with thick fog, drizzly rain and quite chilly but following the bus ride up the windy steep ascent to the castle, we were greeted by brilliant sunshine! The grandeur and opulence created by Randolph W. Hearst were evidently results of both wealth and eccentricity! Really amazing! Loved the Neptune Pool, the gardens and the views.
Continued north on the scenic Highway 1 through the Big Sur - 90 miles of rugged awesome Pacific coastline on one side with the majestic Santa Lucia Mountains on the other. Incredibly windy, the journey would probably have been more picturesque in sunshine but was quite eerie as predominantly shrouded in fog. Trip became a little stressful when our GPS died !! All of a sudden we had to rely on ....a MAP!!!
We stopped for "gas" and a sandwich and coffee at a quaint service station and cafe at Big Sur. Raym checked tyres further on then we made the detour along 17 Mile Drive to Pebble Beach!! He was more than excited to check out the Pro Shop, the Lodge and some of the course! Just gorgeous! We then headed back to the highway and made our way north via San Jose to San Francisco!! Incredible effort without the GPS but we did it! Our motel although far from flash is in a fabulous area. Found a lovely Italian restaurant just around the corner for dinner - really pleasant.