California 2011 - Enroute to the Coast from the Bay area via PCH 1 (Route 1) to Big Sur and environs

These were all taken from a moving car, so it is amazing they turned out as well as they did.

The first half were last year.

After the  ~*~* are this year's photos, also taken from a moving car.

This is the Big Sur area, 2010.

We traveled from the Bay area south, via the Pacific Coastal Highway, a two-lane, winding road.

Best for scenic views, but it is slow.

Also the Big Sur area.

Iceplant, native to Iceland.

This is actually closer to the Bay area.

Glare from the car window or haze over the ocean or in the atmosphere interferes with the picture.

This is our journey in 2011, from the Bay area down mid-state to San Simeon, home of Hearst Castle.

It is the halfway point between San Francisco and Los Angeles, and, via Route 1, it is a slow journey.

But well worth it.

I love knotty trees.

Green farmland, the produce area for the world.  Not hazy here.

 

Diaphanous fog, eery and mysterious.

Half of our trip was shrouded in this low-lying fog.

 

 

 

This has a fascinating effect, because the photo is mostly blurred from traveling in a moving car. But the blurry foreground matches the diaphanous fog in the background, so I think it works.

 

Now we are in the Big Sur area, with haze over the water, which makes it difficult to get a good photo.

Or at least difficult to get a good photo from a moving car.

Still, the geological landscape is fascinating.

Shapes, juxtapositions, flora -- all are so very different from the Northeast.

 

 

Looks almost like a travel ad  for a romantic getaway in an exotic place -- California.

 

 

I liked the effect of the fog hovering over the red sandstone.

 

Steep cutaways and dangerous switchbacks in the road.

 

 

California can't get any greener than this.

 

 

 

This is in the region of the Los Padres national forest.  I find this geology and geography just so fascinating, merely because it is unlike the northern maple topology.

 

In the background is the Hearst Castle at San Simeon, about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

It took William Randolph Hearst and his architect, Julia Morgan nearly three decades to build this castle, which, to this day, remains unfinished. It is in a rococco, Italianate style, with lavish pools and rooms.

Hearst had camped with his parents during childhood in this location, but as his wealth grew, he wanted a lavish place for entertaining.

He had a large zoo at one time, and until recently, zebra still roamed the place. A few zebra still exist.

The tours are rather pricey and each tour is limited in what you see. Many narrow, angled, red-tiled steps adorn the exterior of the castle.

You can see more Hearst Castle photos here: