Ah, the luxuries of indoor living, where you don’t get a
chilly shock when you crawl out of bed.
Plus, there was such a good internet connection in the hotel room that I
was able to add photos to all the previous blogs – scroll down to check them
out!
Trying to find breakfast in Paso Robles was a bit of an
ordeal, because all the places near the hotel were packed full of high school
students visiting for some extracurricular competition or conference or
something. So we got a late start, and
we had to hurry so we could visit - - -
Nitt Witt Ridge! A little known historic landmark, Nitt Witt
Ridge is privately owned and only open by appointment. It is located in the town of Cambria, about
30 miles west of Paso Robles. The town
doesn’t let the owner charge admission, operate a gift shop, or otherwise
operate commercially (due to a nearly century long battle between the city and
the property), but the owner/tour guide does ask that visitors donate
$10/person for maintenance and restoration.
It’s definitely worth a visit.
The owner gives a very informative and fascinating 45 minutes tour of
the property.
Nitt Witt Ridge was built by “Captain Nitt Witt” (as his
adversaries called him) or Der Tinkerpaw (as his friends and supporters called
him) from the 1920’s through the 1980’s. It is built entirely of repurposed
materials, including scrap lumber, beer cans, car tire rims, rocks, scrap pipes
and electrical wires, etc. It is
decorated with abalone shells, scrap wallpaper (so the walls don’t match),
toilet seats for picture frames, a rusty old hay fork atop a pillar, and a
toilet on the roof for sitting and enjoying the view (or yelling at people on
the street, as Der Tinkerpaw was wont to do).
Even the stove in the kitchen is made of parts salvaged from three
different stoves. The whole thing is
surprisingly strong, and has withstood earthquakes with no structural
damage.
The town has been trying to condemn it to have it torn down
since it was started, but after the state declared it a historical landmark it
became protected. Der Tinkerpaw called
it a “Hysterical Landmark.” He lived
there until he was forced to move into a nursing home in his 90’s. The current owner does not live there (it is
not in good enough condition for that), and keeps it preserved just as it was
left when the builder moved out, complete with clothes in the closet and cans
of food and Metamucil in the kitchen cabinets.
We then biked to San Simeon to see the Hearst Castle. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we learned
that the rest of the tours for the day were sold out. This surprised me, as
it’s not tourist season anymore, and half the town of San Simeon is closed up
for the winter. Luckily we have the sag
wagon, so we can zip over in the morning for a tour then (we made sure to RSVP
this time!). We were able to see the IMAX movie about the castle, which was
very informative.
The upside of this change of plans is that we had time to
cruise over to Piedras Blancas to see the elephant seals. They are so cool! They are only at the beach
there for a small part of the year. This
season is when the juveniles “haul out” to live on the beach; it is just about
time for the adult males to arrive as well.
“Hauling out” is quite the appropriate term for their migration out of
the deep ocean to the beach, because they are huge and ungainly on land. They don’t move for very long stretches of
time or distance, and even their battles and sparring matches are brief, since
it takes so much energy to move their massive bodies around.
Tonight we are camped at San Simeon State Beach, although
the campground is a bit inland. It’s
pretty full, quite the difference from the last campground we were at which was
nearly deserted. But the campsites are
spaced well and of decent size, so it doesn’t feel too crowded. It reminds me a lot of New Brighton State
Beach campground… except that this one doesn’t have any phone or internet
reception.
Today’s route: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2860758
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