4-2-09 Thursday (Happy Halloween)

What an interesting day it turned out to be. Today was to be Santa Barbara day. We got up early and even got moving early! Amazing, I know. We kinda blew by Santa Barbara on the way to San Luis Obispo. Not intentionally, we just miscalculated the distance between the two. Our weather was cold and cloudy. We pulled up the weather in Santa Barbara and found out that it was crappy there too. We were going to take an open aired trolley tour. Oh well. We decided to head 4 hours away, with RV and all to see the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose. We gave up the common beach scenery and shopping (Santa Barbara) to experience the oddity that is the Winchester House. Here's the gist of it:

In 1884, a wealthy widow named Sarah L. Winchester began a construction project of such magnitude that it was to occupy the lives of carpenters and craftsmen until her death thirty-eight years later. The Victorian mansion, designed and built by the Winchester Rifle heiress, is filled with so many unexplained oddities, that it has come to be known as the Winchester Mystery House.

Sarah Winchester built a home that is an architectural marvel. Unlike most homes of its era, this 160-room Victorian mansion had modern heating and sewer systems, gas lights that operated by pressing a button, three working elevators, and 47 fireplaces. From rambling roofs and exquisite hand inlaid parquet floors to the gold and silver chandeliers and Tiffany art glass windows, you will be impressed by the staggering amount of creativity, energy, and expense poured into each and every detail.

We did 2 tours. The regular tour as well as the "behind the scenes" tour. Click here for a quick amazing facts summary. This lady was into the number 13, and had her own seance room. This house is cool but borders creepy.

The ride to the campground after the Winchester tour was beautiful. We hugged the Pacific Coast most of the way, again seeing breathtaking views. Our last destination of the day, the city of Pescadero, to Costanoa Coastal Lodge and Camp. We were just able to see the final portion of the coast line as we arrived to the campground at sunset.

On a side note, as I was making this entry, I saw that Liz from Eternal Lizdom "dedicated" a blog entry to Jim and I. Go read it! Fun stuff.