In ShortSprinkled with single-gas station towns, the Central Coast is a swirl of Spanish Mission history, California counterculture and road-trip kitsch. Isolated beaches draw surfers south; the air becomes cooler up north, where classic-car enthusiasts parade their motorized mistresses and ATV riders zoom around Pismo's dunes and tide pools--the only place in the state where it's legal. Elephant seals lounge on the beach, and the highway continues past breathtaking scenery to the 250,000-acre Hearst Castle ranch.