West Coast California

For the last 3 days we have travelled on one of the great scenic journeys of the world, up the West Coast  of California from Los Angeles to San Francisco by Amtrak train and on Highway 1 by car. We passed acres and acres of farmland in the valleys. At times we had rolling mountain ranges on both sides of us. Reminded us of the Lockyer Valley and Downs area but on a much bigger scale. Even the grasses on the mountains had the same golden brown hue. We are sure we saw enough strawberry plants to cover all of Queensland - also artichokes, avocados, garlic, oranges and grape vines. We saw oil wells, ocean views, elephant seals, sea otters, and at San Simeon visited Hearst Castle which is a monument to what a rich man with a dream can achieve. William Randolph Hearst gathered treasures from all over the world and built and decorated his hilltop castle estate and grounds with them. Overnight stops in San Luis Obispo and Monterey gave us a chance to sightsee in these areas too, rich in Spanish mission history. Monterey Bay is a marine park and nearby Carmel a charming town to stroll in, then the drive along 17 Mile Oceanside stretch where a golf course is perched atop the cliffs and squirrels played on the sand. We had perfect sunny weather and in the afternoon were driven south to Big Sur crossing the amazing engineering feat of the Bixby Creek Bridge which straddles a huge gorge. A recent rock fall has blocked the road further south. Driving along the cliff edges gave the most stunning views of coastline including fog rolling in and out of the bays giving it a ghostly look at times. Something of note is that Chris is amazed at the amount of eucalyptus trees growing on this West coast. Sometimes we could have felt like we were actually in Australia not California. So now 5 days in San Francisco to enjoy.

Amtrak train, oil wells, farmland.....more photos to follow