Hearst Castle

Here we are at Hearst castle.  We stopped by here on the way home Sunday after the wedding.  We had never been before and figured it might be a long time before we ever got a chance to make it back.

Maria and Nate at the steps leading up to the castle.

My amateur photographer getting in on the action.  He was taking a photo of his Baba.

Nate spotted this squirrel stealing this orange.  Funny to see him running around with this big orange hanging from his mouth,

Nate and I on the other side of this little pond.  You can't see it, but there's a little dog ramp leading out of the pond because Hearst's dogs would run into the pond and chase the frogs and fish and the staff got tired of going to get the dogs out.

Nate was getting tired and that usually means uppy time.  Maria snagged this shot with the dance hall in the background.

Part of the decoration in one of the rooms.

Rooms are preserved and decorated as they would have been in the 30's when people would actually be staying there.

Of course it seems everyone has seen this view of the pool.  The right side is the deep end, although harder to see up close because of the way it was designed.

One of the security guards had commented that if Nate had been wearing flip flops, he could dip his feet in the pool.  Too bad for Nate, good news for Baba.

Of course M enjoyed the cooling pool, until the tour guide yelled at her to get out of the pool.  There was apparently some confusion between the tour guide and the security guard.  It was worked out and the tour guide apologized. 

Apparently in Sept, select people are still invited to come swim in the pool. We found out that Kelly's new boyfriend has access to this privilege.  The security guard mentioned that if he was invited, he could bring up to five guests.  Perhaps we'll get an invite back and get an opportunity to swim in this pool.

One of the many pieces of art around the castle.

That's one of the smaller guest houses in the background. 

Another view of the guest house, or one of them anyway.

Nate and Baba with beautiful San Simeon bay in the background. 

More artwork

Nate was getting bored and so he and I had to leave the tour and sit outside.  He proceeded to dance and play while trying to keep cool.

The highlight of the tour for Nate was getting his Hot Dog, before the 6 hour ride home.