Valencia to San Simeon, California

Not a lot of driving today. We left the motel in Valencia at 8:15AM. After getting slightly lost for a few minutes we started towards the Pacific Ocean. Route 126 had us winding through valleys of farms and vineyards. Besides grapes we saw orange and avacado groves. Very cool. We reached the ocean at Ventura. That's where we stopped for breakfast at Denny's. Yummy. From Ventura it was US101 North through Santa Barbara and San Lius Obispo. Our view of the ocean came and went all morning. By the time we reached San Simeon the view was spectacular. We arrived at the Best Western Cavalier Oceanfront Resort too early to check in, so we walked down to the beach. It's very windy here today, and chilly (68). That didn't stop us from swimming right after we finally checked in to our room. The pool was nice and warm and we had it all to ourselves. It was funny seeing people walk by bundled up in their winter coats while we were splashing in the pool. By the time we got out it had warmed up to 75, which was very nice. After relaxing in the room for a couple hours we drove 7 miles North to Piedras Blancas. This is the beach that the giant Elephant Seals sun themselves on. There were 2 groups that we saw. About 20 were right by the edge of the beach and another 30 or so were farther down. They mostly lay around and sleep, then wake up and flip sand on their backs, then start grunting and fighting with each other. They got pretty loud. After we left the beach we stopped for some sunset photos then headed for dinner in a small town named Cambria. Very nice. We ended up eating pizza at a place called The Round Up. The food was excellent and everyone was happy. From there it was ice cream for dessert and back to the motel. Before bed we spent a few minutes on the beach at the fire pit. Toasty warm and quite peaceful. Tomorrow we head towards San Francisco...