There are always some elephant seals there. In the fall you will probably see the immature males. Not a whole lot, but still very cool. We saw them in the fall and then last year in February. In Feb. we saw the Big males, mommas with babies!!

Hearst Castle is so neat I would hate to have you miss it. Perhaps one person could sacrifice their visit in order to baby sit? Will he stay in a back pack? Don't feel bad if you don't see it - you will just have to go back some day!!

Good luck on your trip.

Hi Marlena -- when we were in San Fran with our 13-month-old (hard to believe that it's already 3 years ago!) we stayed at the Cow Hollow Suites. We found it to be in a good location and the 1-bedroom suite (with kitchen, living room etc.) was perfect for us.

We had a wonderful 3 week trip which included San Diego, Hwy 1, Paso Robles (and the surrounding vineyards), Yosemite, San Fran, etc. It was an absolutely phenomenal trip! Now we're heading to Oregon in a few weeks -- but this time we'll have our TWO kids with us -- we can only hope it goes as well :))

Have a great trip!
Jenn

I was sure that there were kids in strollers at Hearst Castle when we went - I must be mis-remembering, or maybe they used to allow them and have since changed the rules. It has been awhile since we were there, so either case is possible.

Hi Marlena- The Elkhorn Slough Safari Tour asks that children are 3 year old and up. Sorry :(

Hi Allyson, we booked our hotel in Monterey. We are staying at the Hotel Abrego. Only paid 80 per night, which seems very decent.

That's a great price for a hotel in Monterey. I haven't stayed there, but it is a good location and looks good from the outside. Just around the corner is the Wild Plum Cafe, which is a funky little place with great breakfasts and really nice staff.

I'm tring to book the rest of the hotels.. Any suggestions on hotels/locations for two nights.. We have one night in SF, two in Monterey, and then we are heading down the coast.. not sure how far though... we have two nights then we have to turn back and spend the last night in San Jose.

We want to see beautiful scenery obviously on the way, and will stop at the castle, and see the seal beach.

Any suggestions? :-)

I would stay in Cambria, which is a pretty little town on the ocean. If you can find a good price on a hotel on Moonstone Beach, that would be ideal. There is a row of small hotels along Moonstone Beach drive with the beach right across the street. It isn't a swimming beach, more of a beachcombing and maybe wade in the water type of beach.

You could head out from Monterey and spend the day in Big Sur making your way south to Cambria. Then see Hearst Castle the next day.

For the drive back to San Jose, if you take Hwy 101, which is the inland route, the drive will take you about 3 hours. The inland route isn't as picturesque as the coast, of course, but it is a nice drive through rolling hills and farmland. If you are interested in California history, there are a couple good missions along that route that you can tour.

Thanks november moon! How far is Cambria from San Simeon? And from the castle?

According to Yahoo maps, Cambria to San Simeon is 6.35 miles. Cambria to Hearst Castle is 10.31 miles.

Wow that's closer than I thought! I gues I could have looked that up. Thanks for your help!