California 2007 - Day 2

I’ve driven California’s Highway 1 past Hearst Castle many dozens of times over the past 40-plus years and never stopped. But Liis and I made it a late add to our itinerary, so on Septemer 12, 2008, we both enjoyed this spectacular creation for the first time.

At least Liis had the excuse of being Canadian and not a native-born Californian, like me, who grew up in Los Angeles, went to grad school in the Bay Area and traveled to nearby Big Sur frequently, if not obsessively, after moving to Seattle in 1989. I should have visited sooner. Much has been written about William Randolph Hearst and his Castle, but it appears that he got his money’s worth.



Liis Todd













Departing Hearst Castle, we drove towards Solvang, California, for accommodations at a Trendwest resort, headquarters for our tour of the Central Coast wine region made famous by the feature film Sideways. Solvang is a city founded by Danish immigrants and still displays architecture, food and other cultural features reminiscent of Denmark.

We stopped at the ocean during the drive on a near-perfect sunny California late summer day.



Arriving in Solvang, we found a farmers market set-up in the downtown area.