Cambria

Travel Dates: 12/27/2007 - 12/31/2007

Janhavi and I went to Cambria for our first wedding anniversary, 29th Dec 2007. Actually, we left a day earlier on the 28th. The idea wasn’t to visit Cambira at all but to explore beautiful the Californian coast via Highway 1 along the way.

Day 1.
We made a late start to our day since we to skip the morning rush hour and we had to go to the local temple as well. We skipped the local edition [LA Area] of Highway 1 since we’ve seen it may times over and its quite commercialized; exactly opposite of what we wanted to do on this trip. So taking the 101 we joined highway 1 just outside LA.

From there onwards it was a smooth ride along the ocean side. We made a stop or two to enjoy scenic view and of course take pictures! Our first stop I remember was a small community by the sea with long unused pier going deep into the ocean. The weather of course was a bit cloudy & chilly and that made the whole scenery that much better.

Our long first halt was Santa Barbara. We had lunch there in this little ocean side café right on the beach. Cold weather, cold beer and nice hot & spicy chicken Wings - Tres’ belle!! Leaving Santa Barbara, we headed for Solvang. Since it was a week day I didn’t expect much traffic there but this is the slowest I have ever seen Solvang which, was good for us, since we could explore the city at leisure. Janhavi had her first taste of Ablesqueber and we took some along with us for the night. By the time we left Solvang it was getting dark but we stopped Moro bay and Pismo Beach only for a short while. We saw the sun set at Pismo Beach – quite beautiful. The rocky Pismo Beach is a perfect sun-set vista point.

Finally, we arrived in Cambira. Actually, we were staying in a small city outside – San Simeon. By the time we reached it only 8pm but it was pitch dark. We had dinner at the Best Western and then strolled on the best western’s backyard which backed in to the ocean. They had fire pits lit up and it was just so relaxing to just by the fire and enjoy the roar of the sea. Next I will stay at Best Western.

Day 2.
We wanted to do something memorable for our Anniversary so we decided to go to Paso Roubles just 20 miles from Cambria. It’s an leisurely uphill drive with moderate turns. But the views are fantastic – at one point we could see all the way to Moro Bay about 20-30miles south of us. We reached Paso Robles and headed for a couple of wineries we had research. ‘Everglades’ was one we wanted to go to since they gave a tour of their ‘Wine Factory’ and the famous Cave – a huge underground Wine Celler. It seems they offer wine tasting inside the cave + lunch for a reasonable price but has to be booked prior. We regret not knowing about it earlier cause it looked interesting. We bought a mix of wines from them – but their Shirah and dessert wine were the best. Having graduated to a novice wine connoisseur on their lot we left for other wineries in town. Most of them were the same – nothing mentionable – we just bought wine wherever we went. We visited a winery off the main road just to check it out. He had a unique grape imported from Spain – I will save this wine for a good occasion. But to me, it was the back country drive around Paso Robles that was more interesting than the wineries themselves. The drive really takes you away into the wilderness – places where one wouldn’t expect a Winery. After copious amount of wine ‘tasting’ we had a buzz and decided to call it quits and head to Moro Bay for the sun set. We took an alternate way down, one that weaved and turned more than the route we came. It was another back country road that went thru forest and small farms – mostly forest areas. At Moro Bay we parked our car before the Moro Bay island and walked to the Rock. Its amazing how high the rock really is and how out-of-place it look on a rather flat costal area. First discovered by a Spanish explorer, the Moro rock is said to be the tip of an extinct Volcano. No kidding, there are black ignitions rocks everywhere. We walked all the way to the breakers and found a spot to relax and watch the sun set. More adventurous people we are perched on the breaker itself but the rocks, the high winds and the huge waves deterred me. The waves were splashing right over the breakers. After sunset we headed for dinner a nice (expensive.uuhhm) steak dinner in Cambria.

Day 3
Today we decided to go North on Highway 1. As far north as we could reasonably get. Well, we got as far out as Big Sur. On the way just outside San Simeon, is a beach where Elephant Seal come every year for mating/breading. We were lucky to be there for the breading season. It was a surreal sight. A huge chucky blob of meat – no wonder its called Elephant Seal – just laying around, basking in the sun and occasionally bellowing a load cry. It hard to believe that an lethargic animal such as this is an expert swimmer. But dare I call it lazy cause I saw one seal climb and a steep sand dune to bask in the sun all by himself at the peak. He must have wanted some ‘alone time’ since there rest of them were packed on the beach like sardines. We even saw a newly born seal being cleaned by its mother and the sea-gulls eating away the new-birth material…Nature’s recycling.

Anyway, after that we headed north along the coast on Highway 1. The road hugs the cliffs of the coast and twists and turns along with the cliffs. There are magnificent views along the way. The water is beautifully blue and clear. We saw a lot of seals along the way. We even saw a school of seals on a rock heating their bodies form the Sun. They are a loud animal.

The more north we headed it just got better. We parked at a rest stop along the way and had lunch there just looking at the ocean. The views are so mesmerizing its easy to loose track of time. There are some very cool houses along the way perched high above the cliffs or very close to the water. Although, far from any city or town their seclusion from the rest of the world itself is admirable and enviable.

Finally, we reached Big Sur by late afternoon - We had taken many halts along the way! After some tea we started our return journey. We had to make good time coming back since it gets pretty dark over there. At one time I even turned off my headlights and it so dark we couldn’t see a thing – no exaggeration here. Today we had dinner at a local diner in San Simeon.

Day 4
Final day of our trip. We went to Hearst Castle! We had booked the basic tour which gives a good overview of the castle. A movie about the castle at the visitor center was followed by a Bus ride to the top of the hill where the castle is located. The guide gave brief history of the castle, narrated interesting incidences and pointed out places of prominence inside the castle. Really this Hearst guy was something – the house is nothing short of a museum. Every piece of furniture, walls and ceiling included, have a history. We walked thru the guest resorts, the great yards, the great outdoor pool, the reception area, the dinning area, the game rooms, the theater and finally the indoor pool also called the Neptune pool. Great, Great, simply great. It’s worth going there at least once to see the epitome of fashionable living.

And with that end our holiday and we made our way back home to reality.

by Kartik Gupte