We got up early to visit Carmel Valley in order to do laundry. We had a few loads and the laundry was close by, but not in the campground. It opened at 8:00 a.m., but we left a little early to get breakfast out this morning. We decided to eat a Jeffrey's, next door to the laundry. Lots of regulars in there as they were all greeted by name and asked if they'd like their usual. Most did. I had scrambled eggs, toast, sausage, and potatoes. David had Cajun sausage and pancakes. It was terrific and it was $22 before tip!
Laundry opened and went spent a couple of hours there and then headed back with nice clean clothes. Then it started. My phone rang, but the call was dropped. I checked and it was our vet. I called them back and they had our dog, Molly, there. Molly is a 14-15 year old sweet doberman who stayed with our neighbors. Since she's so old, we'd made arrangements in advance for the "inevitable." And it happened. I asked the vet's office to call our neighbors to let them know what was going to happen.
Molly had been unable to stand on her back legs, so our wonderful neighbors, Paul and Tina, took her to the vet. The vet first thought it might be treatable, but it turned out not to be so. After discussing it with the vet's office and each, we decided to have her put down. It was not an easy decision. I cried most of the day and David was very quiet. It was almost as if Chrissy knew something had happened as she was in my lap most of the ride and extremely sweet.
We got on Highway 1 near Carmel and headed south. We'd been warned it was a twisting and winding road on the coast (hills and curves for the next 63 miles). Twisting and winding don't begin to describe this road! We stopped to take pictures several times and got cold! David's hat was blown off a couple of times, but he managed to retrieve it. That was at Hurricane Point....appropriately named! Since we have the RV behind us, we have no choice to go slow and use the turnouts when possible. Some guy on a motorcyle was Soooooo thrilled with us that he showed us that we were number one. Wasn't he nice?
Next up was a rock slide. We spent about 30 minutes parked along the coast watching the workers scoop up the stuff that until an hour before had been on top of the hill. They cleaned it up quickly and were reminding each other how long the road was being closed.
We stopped at one viewpoint where docents were present. There were elephant seals there on the beach! They flip sand on themselves and just hang out in the sun. I asked the docent why they flipped the sand. He told me that they use the sand to cool themselves and as a sunscreen. We asked how far Hearst Castle was and he pointed to the hillside. You could see the bell towers from there.
As we got to the parking lot, David's cell phone chirped. It was Tina. She told us more about Molly. Tina and family took the time to go visit Molly. Tina fed her and gave her a treat and told her how much we all loved her. She brushed her and cleaned her, also. She said Molly gave her a look like it was okay for her to leave and it was time for her to go. I lost it when she was telling us this. David ended up talking to her. We have wonderful neighbors and they'll never know how much this means to us.
Molly will be cremated and we'll scatter her ashes when we return. She loved running in the back pasture, so we'll scatter them there.
On to the castle....it had been cool on the beach, but it was over 100 degrees on top of the hill where the castle is. One brochure said no photography and no drinks up there. Turns out it was wrong on both counts, so I have no pictures and didn't have any water either! I'd like to go back to visit it again. We missed the movie (45 minutes) and did the experience tour. They have 5 different ones to choose from.
Sign on the road near Big Sur: A will is a dead giveaway.
It's now late in the day and we have to drive on. The road is less winding now and we make good time, but it's getting really late and we'll never make it to Santa Barbara. We stopped at one place at Pismo Beach, but wanted us to pay for a "premium spot" so we didn't have to unhook the truck from the trailer. We left...to much for it. We kept driving and driving and driving. About half a hour from Santa Barbara and almost dark, we saw a county campground at a lake. We were tired and pulled in. If the didn't have hookups we could make it one night. Turns out they had terrific hookups and a spot where we could back in and not unhook! Off to bed without dinner.
See ya down the road!
Jenny :)
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