Notes from the Road, Part 3

If you ever make it to California, we highly recommend a visit to Hearst Castle. Kandee, her daughter Carly, Kendall, and I went there yesterday (and drove home 5 hours afterward). We were very impressed; the castle and its grounds are spectacular. We took many photos, and here are several. Note the oft=heard quote about the castle and its grounds: "If it glitters, it's gold." (And let me tell you, there was a whole lot of glittering going on. In the ceilings and elsewhere.) P.S. If you hate this stuff, scroll down to the pic with Kendall in it; it's worth a laugh :)
Can you imagine the work that went into this mosaic in the pool area? It took eight men years to complete it. (Mosaic tiling is very extensive throughout the castle and grounds)
One pool wasn't enough. They had to have two, and the outdoor pool is equally spectacular. And see those Roman columns? Those are actual Roman columns, from Rome! Mr. Hearst's property has art pieces from thousands of years into history. Incredible. Every single ceiling in the castle and guest villas was completely covered in either paintings or carvings of one sort or another. The artistry was incredible. The following photo is just a small part of a huge ceiling. This piece represents one of the "Eight Virtues," and was maybe 2 feet "square."

Every single door and doorframe was unique and artfully crafted.

This final Hearst Castle photo is part of a collection we started during this vacation; photos in the category of "There Ought to Be a Law." This photo is Kendall's contribution :)

And the closer-up version...

Other offerings to the There Ought to be a Law include the classic,

And my personal favorite (just so you don't think I'm perfect; yes, this is me.)

Tomorrow's post will be about the more "odd" aspects in our vacation. After that, we are headed back to Vegas, where dear Bill has no Internet access (or even a computer! Can you believe it?!) so I have drafted a special post for Friday and scheduled it to post automatically. Tomorrow, we are off to visit tide pools, and maybe the beach here in La Jolla. Kendall is still a bit french-fried, so we may have seen our last day at the beach. (And judging from these photos, that may be a good thing!)

P.S. For the record, my dear, sweet daughter would never take a photo like this (of me fat) unless I asked her to, which I did :)