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Fully refreshed (well nearly) we departed Venice Beach in a thick sea fog (unlike in the shot above taken then night before) and drove through Malibu on to San Luis Obispo. Not the most famous name in world but it does have bubblegum alley. Apparently some students many years ago stuck some gum on there and it has grown ever since. Some want to clean it up but if they did I (and others) probably wouldn't stop there. A cross between amazing and disgusting. Judge for yourself 
On to Hearst Castle. Apparently old man Hearst made a fortune when he discovered a silver deposit. He gave young William Randolph a newspaper company to play with and by the time the young fellow was 50 he was filthy rich too. When he inherited the 400 plus acres at San Simeon and all the dough from his dad he built like a madman for 30 odd years and money was no object. He once asked whether he could buy the contents of the Louvre to stock Casa Grande (the main building). WC Fields, who was a guest, was commenting on the size of the property saying it was great if you had children as you could send them out to play in the morning by the time they returned they were adults. Hearst was forever changing his mind and ripped out a rose garden to build a pool. He subsequently decided it wasn't big enough so enlarged it (twice!). The result is Neptunes Pool below. Excessive yes, amazing yes. Worth seeing? Absolutely.
Back to the hotel to watch the sunset from our balcony with a glass (or two) of some local wine.
Scenic Highway 1 (aka Cabrillo Highway) to San Franciso tomorrow.
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