18 May 2010
I’ve never even come close to the length of time in-between blogs as I’ve done this time. Sooo, were do I start…
Our journey coming out of California was partially on California Highway 1. We drove that winding, narrow, slow highway from just outside of Los Angeles to Santa Cruz. After leaving the Morro Bay area we headed up to see if we could get a tour into the Hurst Castle. Just about 5 miles south of the castle, California has another state park that we were able to get into. This worked out great as we were able to get an 8:30am tour at the castle the next morning and this would give us a quick and close run up in the morning. The afternoon prior to our tour we got our tickets and took the opportunity to see the I-Max movie of the Hurst Castle. There is no doubt this is a great story and a good piece of history for the state and the country. If he was to have tried to live the life-style today with all the women in his life and the way that he treated his family, he would have gone into seclusion I’m sure, but that was a different time and he did build quite a monument to himself that draws a huge crowd year after year. Louise
and I totally agreed on one thing, the “castle” it’s self was a disappointment. It was really “cold” inside and made you feel very uncomfortable. The outside of the castle left a lot to be desired too, but the landscaping
and the pools…amazing.
God, with all that money and all the property equaled quite a dream come true for him. Continuing on our coast drive we made one more stop for a nights rest.
We knew that we were getting close to Los Gatos and the home of Laurie and Bob so with a quick phone call we got ourselves invited to stay a day or two. Our kayaking buddies are great hosts and friends and we were made to feel right at home in their driveway. We’re hoping to join them on the water again when they make it up north. From Los Gatos we headed over to take I-5 and made our next stop at the Casino in Redding. Our last time there we left with just under $150 and this time we (Louise) left with another $100. Now as we leave Redding, we’re heading into the snow and rain and we’ll carry that with us all the way to Salem, Oregon. I have a 94 year old aunt that lives here and I just wanted to stop by and see how she’s doing. Aunt Neola has been a tough lady all her life and being 94 hasn’t slowed her down much. Then a stop up I-5 to Charbonneau and have lunch with Leroy before ending up our day with a stop in Gresham. We’ll stay in Gresham with Ricardo and Suzie for a couple of nights, pick up our car that we left with them over the last 6 months, and then head up to the Tall Chief resort.