736 February 25, 2022 Enjoy The Ride
The Morro Bay Harborwalk was the perfect setting this morning. The air was brisk but the sun was warm and the sights were so pretty!
I passed an otter nursery in the harbor. I could have stood there all day watching them play.
We left Morro Bay and went north on 1, past San Simeon and Hearst Castle. The castle is temporarily closed but I still had no desire to go and see it.
Yesterday, on our way to see the elephant seals, I swore that I saw a bunch of zebras running among the hills. Today, I was watching to catch another glimpse. There is a herd of 126 wild zebras that live here between San Simeon and Ragged Point. William Randolph Hearst originally brought them to his property sometime before 1937.
We continued on 1 for another 70 miles. This portion of the highway is dubbed the most scenic in America. We have driven on some beautiful scenic byways…Highway 1 in the Keys, Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia, the road along the Sea of Cortez in Baja, the Alaskan Highway, the Million Dollar Highway, Top of the World Highway, Blueridge Parkway, and Skyline Drive. The road to Big Sur definitely belongs in our top ten drives!
There is a lot of information for RV travelers about this portion of road. This is a turning, twisting, winding road cut into the mountainside. It is famous for rock and mudslides, rough sections, and loose gravel. It is quite the undertaking to try and preserve this place and to keep the road open. There is fencing and netting and wire holding rocks back. There are retaining walls and jersey walls. The hillsides have been graded and terraced. Dune grasses have been planted to stabilize the soil.
Tim really did his homework, reading blogs and comments from other RVers and asking other people who had been here. The soundest advice was to pay attention and take it slow. We stopped frequently to get out and look. We used the turnouts to allow more hurried drivers to pass. We pulled over to let parades of cars go by. We had no trouble. If we had gone around the other way to Big Sur, we would have missed a whole lot of pretty.
Our breakfast spot. I hiked to the cliff’s edge. The ocean was calm and the air was crisp and chilly.
The sights long the way.
We arrived at Riverside Campground in Big Sur in early afternoon. This is another lovely place. We are parked right along the river among the redwood trees. The sound of the water rushing by is lulling.
There is nowhere on the east coast where you can get this kind of uninterrupted view of the ocean for miles and miles and miles. I was sad when we arrived in Big Sur. It was like reading a really good book or watching a great movie and not wanting it to end.
