Photo TR: A Short Adventure in CA!

[arrowfanman]

Hey everybody!

 

Ok, so several months ago, I began talking to people about the possibility of making a short weekend getaway. Why? Just to get away I suppose. Do something different. Change things up. I began talking to Chuck about it and he was totally on board with the idea.

 

So for months we've had a rough itinerary and a few weeks ago, the plans were finalized--that Chuck, TJ, Kelley, and myself would drive up to Bakersfield and stay at Chuck's father's estate. The house was a Mexican-style Casa custom-designed and built and would serve as an amazing "base camp" for our adventure. The following day, we would visit Hearst Castle.

 

What is Hearst Castle? For those who don't know, Hearst Castle was the estate of multi-millionaire William Randolf Hearst, who was a newspaper giant at the start of the twentieth century. Why is some dead guy's house worth visiting? Because it's a freakin' amazing house! To quote Wikipedia:

 

"Hearst Castle was like a small self-contained city, with 56 bedrooms, 61 bathrooms, 19 sitting rooms, 127 acres of gardens, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, a movie theater, an airfield, and the world's largest private zoo." The house was furnished "with truckloads of art, antiques, and even whole ceilings that he acquired en masse from Europe and Egypt." Also, for those who are familiar with film, Hearst was the basis for the Kane in the movie Citizen Kane (and likewise, Kane's estate was based off of Hearst Castle fairly closely). But enough about Hearst, you can look up that information on your own!

 

We then concluded our adventure in Morro Bay, a small bay in Central California, where we stopped to watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean.

 

The following day, we returned to catch the Coaster Expedition Volume 9 DVD release party.

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, onwards to the pictures! I hope you enjoy the PTR!

 

 

 

 

 

-Jahan

The group, ready to head up the hill!

 

As this makes a natural break, more will be continued in the next post!

Our bus of choice for today was a "kneeling bus". Oooooh.

Once it was over and we had awoken TJ, it was time to finally take the bus up the hill!

The film was another informative, charming, cinematic masterpiece that was probably 20 minutes too long. I could have easily trimmed 15 minutes from the 45 minute long production!

Before heading up the hill, we decided to check out the "National Geographic Theater".

We're shameless tourists!

 

Here's a photo of Chuck pointing to the "Chuck" cut of a cow, randomly posted in the visitor's center.

It's a 5-mile drive up a curvy-mountain road to get to the estate, so you park at the base of the hill and will board a bus to get up.

There it is! Hearst Castle!

 

*whispers* It's only a model!

 

Shhhh!

YAY! We finally made it to the Pacific!

...we then make it through the final mountains on the way to the ocean. Notice that this hill is *much* greener than the other--we are getting close!

...Eventually, the Valley gives way to the Coastal Range, and the drive becomes hilly and twistier...

Though the San Joaquin Valley is very flat, bland, polluted, and bland again, there is a certain uniqueness to be appreciated. On our route we encountered oilfields, a prison, the memorial/location of James Dean's death, and cows. Lots and lots of cows.

The majority of our driving was done on a creepy 2-lane road.

 

Much passing was to be done!

This truck makes me giggle.

After a morning of movies and ant infestations, we were finally on our way! The drive to Hearst Castle would take 2 1/2 hours! Yuck!

The courtyard leading to the backyard.

 

Notice the ant-infested box of Triscuits on the ground. LOL!

But when the chaos of dealing with that finally stopped, we were able to soak in how amazing of a house we were in!

After the movie, we realized that we had left out a bunch of food from the night before and it was now swarming with ants!!!! Chuck began to attack the ants while I evacuated the food!

 

Looking back, I'm pretty sure I ate an ant or two the previous night! Yeagch! Lol!

The next morning, we watched the movie "Rookie of the Year", which has the most exaggerated plot, characters, and even musical score--and for that reason is awesome.

We concluded the night with the ONLY somewhat-redeeming factor of Apple Computers---Garageband!

 

Maybe I'll make my self-produced smash hit titled, "I'm Persian and You're Not" available to the public one day.

...we were sneaking old photos of Chuck! He's going to kill me for this! =P

After an AMAZING feast, grilled up by Chuck's father, we chilled out in the house bar/game room listening to tracks off of the jukebox and playing pool. When we weren't randomly dancing with pool sticks...

Apparently TJ's idea of "packing" is throwing a bunch of clothes and toiletries into a basket and shoving it into the car!

About 1 1/2 hours later, we arrived at Casa De Chuck's dad. The house was beautiful! And the hospitality was amazing. I still owe Chuck's dad so much for how well we were treated!

Our adventure began at 7pm on Thursday! I was picked up in Valencia by TJ, Kelley, and Chuck, and we began our journey north through the Grapevine to Bakersfield.

[arrowfanman]

...continued!...

When we returned to the car, we made a mad dash for Morro Bay. The hope was we would arrive before sunset, so that we can enjoy it.

 

The report will be continued in the next post!...

...or you can go for the smaller, hand-held model for only $50.

OMG! I found a smaller replica of the three nude chicks feeling each other up! Apparently it's a big deal! The statue is called the "Three Graces". And for only $480, you can take them home with you! LOL.

When we got back down the hill, we instantly encountered a gift-shop--naturally. I found myself a little-Persian carpet.

 

Like the cat.

 

Meow.

More boob!

I just *love* how the still water reflects the celing.

The tour then concluded at the indoor swimming pool, designed to look like an old Roman bath.

We then entered Hearst's private theatre to screen silent video shot from around the grounds "back then".

Chuck and Kelley goofing off in the game room.

 

It may be a game room, but that didn't keep it from having on of the world's oldest/largest tapestries of all time....just because it could.

As Ketchup was a luxury when Hearst lived in the house, the Heinz bottle was the ultimate expression of wealth at the dinner table and remained next to Hearst.

 

Hearst sat in the right chair, always. The left chair would be the seat of his biggest guest. Naturally when the guide threw out names, "Walt Disney" caught my attention.

We next went into the dining room, which is considered to be one of the more "colorful" rooms of the house.

Chuck pointed out that "virgin" was spelled in the wall in Latin. Why he decided to tell me, the world will never know.

 

*rolls eyes* =P

We then went inside of La Casa Grande. This is what can be considered the building "lobby". Hearst's guest would meet here for some drinks before heading into the dining room.

Here's the entrance to La Casa Grande, the main edifice on the estate. It's designed to look like an old church.

 

Some say Hearst viewed himself as God. Some say he was hiding things from God. Some say he just liked the way it looked.

Almost (but not quite) as beautiful as three naked women groping each other, was the view!

 

On a clear day, you can see 300 miles out to sea.

Dude! Three chicks feeling each other up! This man had real taste!

One of the problems with Hearst Castle is there is SO MANY antiques, artwork, and artifacts, that you were just passing by stuff that *you know* has some sort of significance in someway, but didn't know why because they try to condense the main bits and pieces into an hour.

TJ and I dragging down a classy estate with cheap antics.

That first building I showed you (the bungalow) was the first building we entered, designed to look like a Spanish/Mediterranean building, but with the clear Islamic-architectural influences of the Moors.

 

Remember--this is just a "guest house".

A higher-up view of the pool. Suddenly that "150 steps" sign is coming into play! LOL.

 

BTW--when Hearst owned the castle, his estate extended to that mountain in the distant background of the photo.

We then went to the "Neptune Pool", which is "themed" to be a great Grecian pool. I'm reluctant to call it "theming" however, as it's all real marble and whatnot. The real deal, not fully an impersonation.

There was MUCH nudity to be seen everywhere! It was truly a learning experience for me!

The tour first took us to a terrace below a bungalow. That's right, this 3 story structure--which is probably larger than most of our houses--is a mere guest bungalow located on the outskirts of the castle.

As grand as the entrance was, we later learned that it was just one of the small residual back access staircases! The REAL entrance was on the other side.

Finally we arrived, where I was greeted with a butt high up on a wall. I could already tell that it was going to be a great day!

The road up was seriously like a mouse coaster, winding back and forth!

As we began up the hill, the tiny castle began to grow. And grow. And grow. It seriously just got bigger!

[arrowfanman]

...let's finish this thing!

That should do it for today's PTR. I'm going to end the report with a photo of Hector and Chuck battling each other with spoons, because it's an awesome photo!

 

I hope you all enjoyed reading the report! Thank you!

 

-Jahan

After coasting down the hill at "way fast", we arrived in Valencia safe and sound. Our trip was over.

I love how you're just driving on the flattest land you've ever seen, and then all of a sudden---BOOM. You get hit in the face with the Transverse Range!

It was actually all right! Like I said, not a Frozen Coke, but enjoyable!

A photo of us awaiting our CreamSlushes. I really like this one, for some reason!

But first, we stopped at a Sonic--my first Sonic too, since apparently a Sonic Slush is amazing.

 

Not Frozen Coke amazing, but amazing.

The following day, we slept in--the cherry on top of an entirely relaxing weekend. After sleeping in, we headed back for Valenica.

The Chuck's niece and I engaged in a tickle-war which became so painful for me (I was losing), that I forced her to agree to a truce!

 

She doesn't seem to happy about it!

We concluded our night by playing Rock Band, which I sucked at but eventually did decently on the drums.

When I arrived at home, I sure as hell didn't take it for granted! I was lucky to be alive! LOL.

Driving back, we almost died tons of times! We thought we'd take a "short cut" and well--that's how most bad stories begin. We took the 41, a highway that, unlike it's counterpart (the 46) was so windy that you'd often times not see where the road in front of you was leading to! Add that, the fact we heard gun shots, and the case where we almost got in a head-on collision and you have the SCARY drive home!

With all light gone and the small city sparkling away, it was time to head back home.

Realizing there was still a little bit of light in the sky, we decided to drive out to the "plug" and hang out by the crashing waves as we lost our light.

No caption I can think of would make this photo any better.

We found these random "grab bags" and were VERY scared to know what was inside of them!

After the sun set, we went walking along some shops at the shore. Here, Chuck looks for a whale penis.

*cease dramatic background music*

 

I love the colors the sunset produces.

Nearly gone!

Sort of a dorky-shot, but I think that it came out well!

Getting closer!

 

Notice the seal in the water.

Waiting for the sun, I was able to appreciate the quaint little port that is Morro Bay. Much smaller than CA's other ports.

 

With the exception of San Fransisco, which is probably the best natural harbor in the world, California has horrible natural harbors. A problem mariners have faced for nearly 500 years now.

 

 

 

That was random.

With the Rock there, it really is quite a dramatic scene!

With *just* enough time to spare, we arrived to catch the setting sun. We went out onto some random, small dock.

When we arrived in Morro Bay, we were greeted by Morro Rock, which is apparently a "volcanic plug". Naturally, the word "plug" led to all sorts of fun names for the rock. =D

[Tömmioh]

That was great! Out of the whole Hearst estate, I've only seen the Grecian outside pool before, so it was definately cool to see more.

Not forgetting the extra spice of you having a bit fun in there, as sometimes on some of those historic building/museum etc. tours, you just need to do that, if the guide sucks or you are to overwhelmed with what you see, you might get really crazy for sometime, so then you have to act a bit crazy (in a good way) to balance it out.

That probably didn't make much sense, oh well

 

The Sunset pics were nice and made me miss to see the sea and feeling the summer warmth!

Anyway, Thanks!

There really needs to be more random TR's like this!

[ebl]

I've been wanting to visit Hearst Castle for years, but for some reason, just haven't gotten around to it. And I'm only a few hours down the coast from it!

 

Nice TR...glad you all had a good time!

 

Eric

[hifalling]

YAY!!! Even though I am mortified by some of the pictures (WHALE PENIS! Inside joke for some.) I really enjoyed the trip...and this P:TR! Thanks for documenting it Jahan!

 

chuck "here's to the sunset!" garcia

[Flippero95]

That was a cool TR. It's funny that my main thought was "Wow. I can't believe you've never been to Sonic." I love Sonic.

[haiderodes]

Sonic...haha. All my SoCal friends go crazy for Sonic when they come to Vegas. I hear its a rare commodity down there. People treat it like its White Castle.

 

You can get any flavor slush...yes including Coke! Not like real frozen coke, but pretty close.

[gotdane]

Great TR, Jahan! Looks like you guys had a blast. Morro Bay is a beautiful spot. The one time I was there it was extremely windy though, throwing the sand into our faces!

 

Random adventures are always fun!

[ebl]

You guys didn't go into town and play chess with the giant chess pieces, huh?

 

Eric

[Homer]

Everybody needs a weekend away from it all. I didn't know California had more than parks and coked up celebrities.

 

Great TR Jahan.

[RCFreak]

That was a freakin' awesome PTR! I have yet to really explore much of California and all the cool places like Hearst Castle and much of the coast line as when I lived or traveled north it was always up the 99 (dear lord there's a boring drive for you)

 

It was great seeing you and the rest of the gang at the party though.

[Jew]

^^What's next, a joke about the weather in CA? Or the traffic?

 

Cool TR. Turns out Chuck was in the same HS band as a long time family friend of mine, and I would have never known that without this TR.

[cfc]

"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan a stately pleasure dome decree . . ."

 

This was a trip down memory lane for me, Jahan. I've driven by the James Dean Memorial many, many times on my way back to Cal Poly. And I've spent some time hanging out at Morro Bay Rock, too.

 

Next time you're up that way, check out a Monsterburger at Frank's Famous Hotdogs. I think it's still in business on Monterey Street in San Luis Obispo.

[TheRapidsNerd]

Sorry I'm so late to the party on this one, Jahan. Had only seen bits and pieces of Hearst Castle on Travel or Discovery channel.

 

The detail around the pool is just increadible, and what a great view.

 

You've illustrated yet another reason why the Random thread is so great. We all like to play tourist, but don't always have the chance to go see places like Hearst Castle (yet) or places other than theme parks. It's a great change of pace and chance to see something new. Glad you took time to post this.

[BeemerBoy]

Awesome report, Jahan.

 

Two things: The next time I visit California, I'm staying at Chuck's dad's house , and Hearst Castle is definitely still on my list of places to visit, along with the Biltmore Estate.

I've actually still got a book from the Hearst gift shop from when my parents visited back in '86. The place is amazing.

Since you dig this kind of stuff, if you're ever in Miami with half a day to kill, you'd probably be interested in Vizcaya.

[dandaman]

There it is! Hearst Castle!

 

*whispers* It's only a model!

 

Shhhh!

 

Mmmm, that's good classic reference.

 

 

It's the 2-D version of Japan's Meat Cow!

 

We found these random "grab bags" and were VERY scared to know what was inside of them!

 

...Presumably, body parts of the corresponding sexes/ages.

 

Awesome, awesome TR, Jahan. Makes me want to visit Cali even more than I already did!

[65skylark]

Great pictures Jahan. I remember visiting Hearst Castle when I was 11 years old with my family. We probably took the same tour as I remember seeing both pools and that insane dinning hall. Looks like you all had a lot of fun.