We set out up the coast for Portland later than we had wanted to. "The reason?" you ask dear readers; In-N-Out Burger doesn't open until 10:30 AM. Those of you who know me, know I don't eat fast food, but Matt was the only one of us who had eaten In-N-Out Burger and he had gotten Jared excited about the "Secret Menu." Matt wouldn't tell Jared what "Animal Style" meant, but he kept promising him that he would love it. All of this promotion of In-N-Out Burger meant that we had to eat it for breakfast. I'm pretty sure both Molly and Matt got a double-double with a neopolitian shake off the secret menu, I got a "grilled cheese" also off the secret menu (I put it in quotes because it was a burger bun with cheese, pretty much a burger, just with out the meat.) Jared got a double-double animal style. The man behind the counter was very nice and very encouraging of Jared to try the secret burger. Jared asked him what it meant, and with out any prompting from Matt, the man refused to tell him, he only reassured Jared that he would love it. I hate to admit it, but I was slightly impressed with In-N-Out Burger. Molly and I talked about it and we agreed that we were impressed only because our standards for fast food were so low.
After our unusual breakfast we left LA. It was a misty day, and pretty much the whole day we drove next to mountains which the mist clung to.
We wanted to take the famous Pacific Coast Highway all the way up to Grant's Pass in Oregon. We thought the PCH was Highway 1, but it turns out we were wrong. Highway 1 runs as the PCH for a good way up the coast, but it turns out the PCH, at least in southern California, is mostly small town roads that hug the coast. So from LA until San Luis Obispo, we were inland.
When we got to the ocean, it was still misty and gray out, but we had to get into the water. Charley really didn't want to:
Sophie didn't want to either, and since Matt stayed in the car, I didn't make her. It was all for the best though because dry she was the same color as the sand!
And besides if she was wet, Matt would be giving me a very different look here:
We knew that we could never make it up the entire California coast in one day enjoyably, so we were headed for Moss Landing to spend the night with Uncle Bob and Fabianne. I called Bob to let him know we were on our way and he told me about all the cool things that we had to see up the coast. I'm sorry to say I couldn't remember everything he told me once I hung up the phone, but I remembered that somewhere there was a beach with seals, around the seal beach would be the Hurst castle, which Xanadu was modled after in "Citizen Kane," and there was a delicious restaurant in Salinas. Needless to say we had to keep our eyes open for road signs to help us along the way.
We were nearing Salinas when I saw a sign for the Hearst Castle. We turned right (because a left would be into the ocean) and began to drive up a mountain that was covered in fog. We couldn't see very far ahead of us so we had to drive slow. We passed signs for parking and followed them. Then out of the mist a building appeared. I got very excited, I wanted to see the zebra herds and the other oddities of the castle! We drove closer and it became painfully clear that we had come to a visitors' center. Apparently you couldn't just drive up to the castle, you had to park, pay, get on a shuttle, pay, and then probably pay again before you could walk through the place. We decided that we didn't have the time or the money for that garbage and we turned around and got back on highway 1. I was severely dissappointed.
Right after we got back on the highway we saw signs for the seal beach. We pulled off and in the parking lot we saw a group of squirrels who were no in the least bit afraid of humans.
This is Matt's hand feeding one:
After feeding the squirrels we walked towards the edge of the parking lot. In the distance I saw a colony of elephant seals. They were far away, but I was amazed to see wild seals that close.
Then I looked down and I saw that there was another group right below where I was standing. It was incredible!
Then, two male seals came out of the water. The one on the right was trying to get away from the one on the left. The one on the left was being a major jerk and he kept trying to attack the other one. It was an awesome thing to witness, these two 2,000 lb animals blubbering around on the beach, howling (or what ever it is they do) at each other in a slow, awkward pursuit. I was hoping to see a real fight, but the one getting attacked got out of reach. I guess it takes a lot of energy for these animals to drag themselves over the sand, and this fight wasn't worth the expense.
Look at how angry that guy is! He was definitely looking for a fight.
The aggressive seal kept following the other one around when they got to the group. I wonder why he was so mad at the other one. The more docile seal looked really sad about it.
He also had this crazy wound on him. I wonder if the mean seal took a chunk out of him...
Look, more fighting!
The beach had some amazing wildlife on it. I'm pretty sure these are pelicans:
And I think these are sea gulls.
There was also this tiny adorable rabbit. I felt so bad for him, his ears are all chewed up!
When we got back on the road, the coast quickly turned into what I heard it would be, hairpin turns and cliffs along the sea. I drove first, and it was harder than I expected, not because the road was twisty and windy, but because I just wanted to look at how beautiful it all was, and not the road.
Look! Black sand!
The whole drive was unreal. Truly breath taking. I am so in awe of how beautiful our entire country is. It baffles me to think that we, as a collective nation, aren't doing all we can to preserve and protect our land.
We got into Moss Landing just as it was getting dark. It was wonderful to see Bob and Fabianne again. We went out to dinner at this place down the road called "The Whole Enchilada." The owner was a character, but I'll let Molly and Jared tell you all about that, they have the pictures. Until next time, with love...-Christie
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