Driving South Day 1/ Manejando hacia el Sur Dia 1

So off we went in our new rental car. It wasn't long before we realized the car wasn't working right. I was driving, and the steering wheel was vibrating, at times shaking vigorously. It was hilarious, it was fun for a minute to think it was like a free gym membership and we would be arriving in LA with our arms all toned, but it was really ridiculous and exhausting. So we called the rental company after about 30minutes of driving and they said we could go to the next agency and swap it there, and that they had available cars. So almost another hour's drive and we got there. A shitty faced bitch who barely looked at us said they had no cars available at all, and that we would have to wait "2, 3 or maybe 4 hours" for one to be available. We were spewing. Luckily the guy was more helpful and although he said they had no cars he said he would take ours for a drive to test it. After 5 minutes he was back, agreeing that the car was crap and suddenly he had a car available for us. So back on the road after the detour.
We drove along the beautiful highway along the coast, with views of the sea and cliffs. We stopped at a restaurant called Nepenthe (recommended by Karen) which was just gorgeous and with stunning views, a really cool place. We saw a bizarre ecosystem- together in the same place: sea elephants, seagulls, squirrels, crows, and condors (wtf?!?!) We went to Hearst Castle- an insane place. This guy decided to build a castle, just like that, cause he wanted one. So there's this huge castle on the top of a mountain, and all there is around it is nothingness: land, bush, and the coast with sea and cliffs, and small towns here and there. And it's a European style castle, really out of place for USA and even more for the setting he chose for it by the coast. Eccentric to say the least. But amazing. And it even has 4 Roman columns from IV BC as part of a temple by the pool, and 4 original egyptian statues- just wrong!
We stayed the night in a town a bit past Hearst Castle, called San Luis Obispo. BUT before we found ourselves a room, we went to another hotel, called Madonna Inn, just cause we had read it was "quirky". Quirky was to say the least, what an awesomely bizarre place! They had books with pictures of every room so we could look at them, each with a different themed decoration, some hilarious, some fun, some scary. And the bar and dining rooms were just like out of Alice in Wonderland, it was like being transported to a parallel universe being there. So we took lots of pictures, even in the men's toilet with its waterfall, and then we went to our more modest and mundane hotel for the night.

Asi que partimos en nuestro nuevo auto alquilado. No paso mucho tiempo hasta que nos dimos cuenta que el auto no funciona bien. Yo estaba manejando, y el volante me vibraba, y por momentos se movia ridiculamente para todos lados. Nos cagamos de la risa, fue muy divertido por un momento pensar que era como ser socia gratis de un gimnasio y que las 2 ibamos a llegar a Los Angeles con los brazos todos tonificados del ejercicio, pero era realmente ridiculo y agotador manejar asi. Asi que llamamos a la agencia como a la media hora de haber salido y nos dijeron que podiamos ir a la siguiente sucursal y cambiarlo ahi, que tenian autos disponibles. Asi que casi otra hora de manejo y llegamos a la siguiente sucursal. Una mina cara de culo que casi ni nos miro nos dijo que no tenian ningun auto disponible y que ibamos a tener que esperar "2, 3 o tal vez 4 horas" hasta que hubiera un auto disponible. Estabamos a las puteadas. Por suerte el tipo fue de mas ayuda y aunque tambien nos dijo que no tenian ningun auto disponible dijo que iba a llevar el nuestro a dar una vuelta para probarlo. Despues de 5 minutos estaba de vuelta, concordando con nosotras que el auto era una cagada, y de repente tenia otro auto disponible para darnos. Asi que de vuelta en la ruta despues del desvio.
Manejamos a lo margo de la ruta divina bordeando la costa, con vistas al mar y los acantilados. Paramos en un restaurante llamado Nepenthe (recomendado por Karen) que era alucinante y con vistas increibles, mucha onda tenia. Vimos un ecosistema bizarro, en un mismo lugar: morsas, gaviotas, cuervos, ardillas y condores (?!?!). Fuimos al castillo Hearst, una locura. Un tipo decidio construir un castillo, asi porque si, porque tenia ganas de tener uno. Asi que hay un castillo enorme encima de una montania, en el medio de la nada: tierra, bosque, mar y acantilados, y pueblitos de vez en cuando. Y es un castillo estilo europeo, totalmente fuera de lugar para USA y mas aun para el lugar donde esta sobre la costa. Eccentrico. Pero alucinante. Y hasta tiene 4 columnas romanas del siglo IV AC, como parte de un templo al lado de la pileta, y 4 estatuas egipcias originales- mal eso!
Pasamos la noche en un pueblo llamado San Luis Obispo, pasando un poco el castillo de Hearst. PERO antes de buscarnos un hotel fuimos a otro hotel, que se llama Madonna Inn, solo porque habiamos leido que era "raro". Raro era por decir lo minimo, que lugar magnificamente bizarro! Tenian libros con fotos de todos los cuartos asi que las miramos todas las fotos, cada cuarto con decoracion de un tema diferente, algunos graciosos, otros divertidos, otros daban miedo. Y el bar y el restaurante eran como salidos de Alicia en el Pais de las Maravillas, estar ahi era como ser transportada a un universo paralelo. Asi que sacamos muchas fotos, hasta en el banio de hombres con su catarata, y despues nos fuimos a nuestro hotel por la noche, mas modesto y mundano.