WJ Adventures

A Photo Journal of Our Travel Adventures

Hearst Castle Tour

February 23, 2016 by The Schneider's Leave a Comment

Are you thinking about visiting the Hearst Castle? I highly recommend it. The castle has 165 rooms and 127 acres of gardens, terraces, pools and walkways. The art collection throughout the property is extensive and impressive. I have been on two of the four tours available and liked them both. The best place for you to go to get information is the castle website (See below). They give you all the details you would need and have a place where you can purchase your tickets in advance.

Hearst Castle Tours
Go to website

Location:
750 Hearst Castle Rd.
San Simeon, CA 93452

Take a look at some pictures we took from the Upstairs Suites Tour.

View on the drive up the hill.
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Looking at the ocean from the castle.
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The grounds.
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The Roman pool.
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The Doge’s Suite (bedroom and sitting room). What do you think about that ceiling?
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The Main Library.
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The Gothic Suite.
This was Hearst’s personal study where he worked… not a bad office.
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The Duplex Bedroom. This ceiling is the first thing you would see every morning after you woke up.
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The Celestial Suite
This room sits at the base of the bell tower and has a matching room in the other tower. Imagine the sound of the bells from this room 🙂
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Filed Under: California, Central Coast, Museums, USA

Dallas, Texas

December 22, 2015 by WJMD Leave a Comment

We just got back from our stay in Dallas Texas. We spent some time in McKinney visiting my sister. The last three days of our vacation we stayed in the city. Here is our little whirlwind tour of Dallas.

Uptown

We rented a little apartment in Uptown through AirBnB. It was our first time using this company and we had a good experience.  Uptown ended up being a good location as it was in the middle of all the other parts of the city we walked to. The night life, bars and restaurant options were medium. But if you aren’t afraid of walking (or taking an Uber/cab if you have extra cash) it was only about 1-2 miles for some good food. We did find a cool coffee house called Crooked Tree Coffee House that made a good espresso.

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Downtown

The walk to Downtown from uptown was about 2-ish miles and really easy. We stumbled on the Historic West End and got some of the best southern fried chicken I ever had at a little cafe called Ellen’s. In Downtown we had one main purpose and that was to see the Dealey Plaza (the JFK assassination site). The plaza actually has more to see than just the book depository and motorcade route. There is a landmark description of who George Dealey is, (and why this plaza was founded for him) Old pioneer cabin relics, the JFK memorial, the Old Red Museum, Holocaust museum, the Reunion Tower and more.
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That being said, the Sixth Floor Museum is a must. You get to actually stand where Oswald did (or pretty close) to take the shots and see what he saw. After you do the tour inside the museum go walk to the grassy knoll. It looks exactly the same as every picture I have seen of it. If you feel extra brave jump into traffic and take a picture next to the “x” marking the location where Kennedy was hit.

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Southside

After we explored Downtown we headed to Southside. A friendly bartender recommended this rooftop bar/hotel for great views of the skyline. The hotel is called NYLO and was a really cool place with funky decor. Next time we go I want to stay here! From Downtown it was another 2-ish miles and an easy walk.

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Deep Ellum

Our second day in Dallas we just started walking and ended up in Deep Ellum. This is by far my favorite place in the city. It is arty, weird, unique and had some of the best BBQ we tasted in Dallas. The Pecan Lodge was recommended to us and by the line out the door it lived up to its reputation. We lucked out and sat at the bar without waiting in line 🙂 They had a $28 single beef rib ($11 per pound) on their menu. We decided to splurge and it was a good choice. So good.

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We wandered around and ended up at a dive bar called Double Wide. This was another good find! Get the Yoohoo Yeehaw, their version of an iced white Russian.

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Filed Under: Dallas, Museums, Texas, USA

Northern/Central CA Camping Roadtrip

August 15, 2015 by The Schneider's Leave a Comment

camping

We went on a little California camping road trip.  If you are looking for a easy and beautiful camping excursion this is a nice one. We started in LA/Orange and drove straight to  Richardson Grove State Park. This was a beautiful site surrounded by the redwoods. From there we wanted a little beach camping so we headed to the coast. We worked our way down the 1 and stopped at three more places.

Here is a breakdown of some of the campgrounds we stopped at.
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Richardson Grove State Park
Caspar Beach Campground
Point Arena Lighthouse
Bottchers Gap Campground

The best part about this road trip was the variety of little cities we passed through to get to each stop. See the list above of just a few. We spent a few days at each campground and took our time getting back home. This is one trip you could adjust the time length as needed.

Filed Under: California, Camping, Central Valley, Hwy. 1, North Coast, Road Trips, USA Tagged With: road trip

Bottchers Gap Campground

August 15, 2015 by The Schneider's Leave a Comment

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Bottchers Gap campground is located on the northern edge Los Padres National Forest along the central California coast. The campsite is about 20 miles from Carmel.

Palo Colorado Canyon
Big Sur, CA 93465
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The road leading to Bottchers Gap is long, narrow and winding that cuts through a redwood grove. There are several houses along the road and it ends at the campground parking lot. All sites are on a first-come, first-serve basis, with no reservations accepted. Sites have a pit and a table only. Be warned there are no water bibs of any kind in the entire campsite and the bathrooms are terrible! I have no problem with pit style toilets but these look (and smell) like they haven’t been cleaned out since the 80s.
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Overall the campsite is not very enjoyable. The sites are very small and on a slant. Our site may look big in the pictures but it is really two next to each other. The views are decent but there is poison oak EVERYWHERE. Not just here and there but all in the sites, the trails, the bathroom areas, etc. You have to be extremely careful where you walk and forget about letting your dog more than 4 feet from you. That made for a very unhappy puppy. lol

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We brought abalone from our last campsite to cook here for dinner.

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Filed Under: California, Camping, Newport Beach, Road Trips, USA

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Meet The Schneider’s

"We are newly weds loving life and adventures! Our days usually consist of black coffee, long walks, photography, English bulldog stalking, blogging and dreaming up the next adventure. It is nice to meet you."

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