While in San Simeon, we toured the William Randolph Hearst Castle, constructed on a mountain top beginning in 1919 and still uncompleted at the time of his death in 1951. Some have called it a monstrosity and an homage to material excess. Those of us with delusions of grandeur say, "OFF WITH THEIR DAMN HEADS!"
An inlaid ceiling.
A 2nd or 3rd century AD mosaic over a doorway.
A detail from a 14th or 15th century tapestry.
A sarcophagus from the 1st century AD.
The outdoor Neptune Pool with statues and friezes from the 2nd century AD.
The indoor Roman pool with 24-carat gold inlay.
One of several guest houses.
Visitors to the Castle aren't allowed to touch any of the antiquities. But at the visitor's center, they are encouraged to touch reproductions of some of the sculpture. This lady appears to be particularly popular.
We left San Simeon and continued down the coast to Morrow Bay, where we found the mother of all sea stacks nearly 600 feet tall. Morrow Rock is one of nine large volcanic sea stacks along the California coast called the "Nine Sisters."
We drove to the beach surrounding this rock, a nesting place for two pairs of peregrine falcons. We saw two of them were chasing away a hawk at least twice their size.
Sandpipers digging for shellfish on the beach at Morrow Bay.
We arrived in Los Angeles early in the evening.
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