Hello, There is no way to imagine Hearst Castle. I took hundreds of pictures (which wasn’t easy because my on/off button on my trusty camera has failed....battery in......battery out!) and these are just a few I liked.
Quite a few are of the amazing old ceilings that he imported from all over the world. They were cool. I’m not going to go in any big detail about William Randolph Hearst and his immense wealth that enabled him to do this, and many other, projects. But you definitely get the impression that he was a fun guy and he shared his home with so many interesting people. It’s truly a story like a fairy tale. What fun. San Simeon is now a California State Park and they do a wonderful and caring job of sharing this extraordinary place. We took two different tours out of the four offered. The first tour showed us both of the pools, one of the guest houses and several of the large main rooms of the big house. The second was more personal and I think we enjoyed it the most. Plus, the sun came out. Besides the pools, which I think are in every tour, we were able to view many of the guest rooms in the main house and the upper story rooms where W.R. Hearst lived and worked. Also, the huge kitchen.
The portrait in his study is the only one ever done of Hearst.....and it was done when he was quite young. He lived to be 88 and San Simeon was his favorite place on the planet, and he’d seen most places for sure. There are films and photos at the visitor center that show he and his guests through the years. It’s all very well done and well worth doing if you’re ever down this way. The camping on the coast was cool.....and somewhat foggy.
We have been very ready for quite some me to find more warmth, so we headed East. We stayed for one night in the valley at a place we’d never heard of called Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park. Allen Allensworth was born a slave but went on to retire as a lieutenant colonel in the 24th Infantry, one of the army’s four African American regiments in 1906. Highest rank ever for a black, back then. The colony of Allensworth grew from his vision and was, for a me, a very successful community, complete with schools, churches, businesses and became a judicial district. It was called “An Ideal Negro Settlement” by the L. A. Times.
Eventually the town grew too large, and the water system failed. But there seems to be a lot of education regarding the place and much of the town remains. There were two or three hundred folks there on the Saturday when we arrived, but we were only one of two campers at the end of the day. Interesting place.
We drove up towards Lake Isabella to a town called Glennville. One of our neighbors on Kauai lives there and we had planned to stop by and see Dale. She and her husband have several businesses in this small town. A grocery, a motel and a great restaurant called Hassano’s. We met for lunch at the restaurant and Dale took us for a tour of her life. Her husband was very busy in the kitchen and we’re hoping that he comes to Hawaii when we are there so we can get to know him be er. Their home is only a mile or two away from the businesses, but a world apart. Lovely place with horses, Rocky the cat, and a new puppy was being picked up that very afternoon. Thank you, Dale, for sharing your home and life with us. See you on Kauai!!!
We then drove down one of the steepest (if not the most steep) passes ever. Good thing we have a stick shift . Even at that we pulled over and let the brakes cool down somewhere in the middle. When we could throw water on the wheels and they didn’t sizzle, then it was okay to continue on!!
We went through Kernville, which is located on the North end of Lake Isabella, and drove up the Kern River to find a campsite. There are a bunch of National Forest Campgrounds up that way. We went into the second one we came to and found a very nice site, right on the river, and there was a ton of firewood. Most important thing, firewood. There was actually a fire laid in the site we chose! Can’t beat that.
We stayed for two nights and enjoyed a day of doing nothing. The river was running high and there were lots of rafts going by all day long. OH....did I mention that it was HOT? Felt so good.
Yesterday we drove over to Hiway 395, headed North and made our way as far as Lone Pine. We needed a place to plug in, dump, do laundry, internet, clean up the joint, etc. Because today we start playing again. We’re headed to Bishop to see Debbie and Todd, friends from when Mike and I first got together on Oahu, and tonight we’re going to a rodeo! Then camping together and more stuff.
So...I’ll send this out and see ya next me! Bye....Gayle
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