Hot Day in Paso

It's pretty hot here - 100 degrees or so. So we jumped in the car and drove over to Cambria where it was a very pleasant 61 degrees! After lunch, we drove up the coast a bit to San Simeon and turned around. At that point you can see the beautiful Hearst Castle way up on the hilltop, so I thought I would include a few photos of Hearst Castle taken a couple of years ago. "La Cuesta Encantade" the enchanted hill, was built by William Randolph Hearst. Julia Morgan was the architect, and it was begun in 1919 and took 30 years to complete. The main "house" has 115 rooms, (56 bedrooms and 61 bathrooms) and 90,080 square feet. There are 2 huge swimming pools, guesthouses and 8 acres of cultivated gardens. Hearst also established his own private zoo, and you can still see zebras grazing on the hillsides as you drive by on Highway 1. The Hearst family gifted the "castle" and some of the land to the State of California and it is now a California State Park and for a fee, you can tour the house and gardens. Hearst used the castle as a "get-away" from his hectic life, and whenever he was there, there were usually famous guests staying as well. For more information about Hearst Castle, check out http://www.hearstcastle.com/

The zebras are about the only animals left from Hearst's private zoo - they seem to do quite well grazing with the cattle.

The huge outdoor Neptune's Pool

And the lovely indoor Roman pool