Elephants and a Castle

Finally able to post after 2 days of no network.
This ride started out with a continuation of the previous day's hills for the first 22 miles. We had been told that until Ragged Point the road was winding and treacherous. Winding yes, treacherous, no. I'm sure it helped that it was morning. Most of the time the traffic was sparse. There were some pretty long climbs, but there was off and on a decent shoulder. Needless to say, I didn't experiance much treachery, just spectacular scenery.
After Ragged Point the road leveled out and I was able to pick up some speed. The sun was out and I was down to just shorts and a jersey. Before coming into San Simeon, I stopped at the Elephant Seal Viewing area. There were several of them lounging on the beach and "playing" in the surf (or fighting--not sure). Now I know what Connor's belching sounds like! They were quite entertaining. Interestingly, I had another encounter with some people who had seen me at the bakery in Carmel. That was two days ago!
Next up was Hearst Castle. I didn't go to the castle itself (resevations were required and it was expensive). Instead I went to the museum and visitor's center.
I rode the last 5 miles to San Simeon St. Park where I had a COLD shower (apparently the hot water is a little fickle) for .50. My camera batteries were almost dead so I charged them at the camphost's RV.
The H/B sites are just below the hwy, but it beats a bunch of kids singing!