The only thing that I ever knew about Randolf Hearst, was that he owned newspapers, and his daughter, Patti, was kidnapped, suffered Stokholm syndrome, and was jailed for robbing banks. In fact, Hearst owned lots and lots of newspapers, film production companies, magazines and 80,000 acres, (yep, probably as much as all the small holdings in Ireland), of ranch land in California. He built a mansion on this land. Though it’s now owned by the state, the ranch is still run in the way that he ran it. All cowboys still work on horseback. This is not a gimmick, it’s the way it’s done. It’s a very interesting place, just a few minutes from San Simeon.

We spend a couple of hours there and then get back on the road to go find the beach, where the elephant seals come to rest, mate and bear their young. Dozens of seals line the beach. They sleep. They roll. They stand up and gaze. The young males practice fighting on land and in the shallows. The females bear their young and rest. Rest I can understand. But mating?  Well, given that the male is up to 5,000 lbs weight, and the female is 1,600 lbs,  hmmm. It’s seems kinda squashy to me.

We move on to the Pfeiffer beach. I only go there because I expect to find Michelle, but it’s main claim to fame is the Portal of the Sky. Apparently, at certain times of the year, you can see the sunset through the cave-like hole in the rocks. We don’t see it today, but I have to say, it is a most beautiful, enchanting place. The sea crashes onto the rocks and beach. The setting sun lights the place like a natural theatre and the dark forest surrounds it all and isolates it in wonder. In short, it’s a pretty good spot.

We spend the night in Monterey. I remember it from the famous music festival of 1968(?). The first time I ever heard of people like the Mammas and the Pappas, Jimi Hendricks and many more. It’s quieter now. We walk down to the Wharf and have a beautiful seafood dinner.

Morning time sees us in Pebble Beach. I thought it was just a golf course but in fact it’s  community, almost a county. Mind you, it’s pretty much dedicated to golf. There are seven golf courses. There are also fabulous beaches, forest routes and very expensive and exclusive residential areas. All within the Pebble Beach complex. Yes of course we visit the famous course and have lunch there. Yes of course we walk some of the fairways and check out the golf challenge. There are two different pro-am tournaments on and we get chatting with some of the organisers and get some gossip on the various courses around.

It becomes a very Irish day, with misty rain and overcast skies, so we get back in the car and continue north. Arriving in San Francisco, we have no idea of where to go, and end up wandering down streets, having been directed by a rather dodgy looking character in a petrol station, to find a motel, which we do eventually find. It turns out to be not too bad at all. Drop our gear and walk a few blocks, (we were told it was safe to walk here. We begin to question this advice), to find food and drink. We find a lovely bar restaurant with a great atmosphere and some lovely tappa style food. All in all a good day. And we make it safely back to our motel. Can’t be bad, ay?