I know it has again been too long since my last post. No excuses, but we’ve been finishing up our language classes in DC and are now en route to our new home in France. However, I would like to catch you up with our trip over the holidays. We spent a week in Wisconsin with friends and family, then flew out to San Francisco and drove down to Los Angeles to celebrate New Year’s with Julie and Mike. Before I get too far in the story, here are the images to accompany it:
The Golden Gate Bridge made a spectacular appearance for us.
As you might expect, we hopped on the only moving national landmark … the SF trolley.
The hills are as steep as I remember from childhood trips, but there were not nearly as many as I thought.
We also made the obligatory stop on Lombard Avenue to witness one of the curviest roads in the world. Me being me, I ignored the fact that I was sitting in an intersection.
Interesting sign, huh?
Someone was kind enough to take our picture.
This battleship was a majestic foreground to Alcatraz Island.
The Buena Vista bar on Hyde Street had authentic Irish coffees that were delicious. The process was an art form.
As we walked toward Fisherman’s Wharf, we hopped on a small charter boat to tour the bay.
She looks like a lucky lady, but I don’t know if I’d push my luck in a storm with her…
The boat took us out around the old maximum security prison, Alcatraz, underneath the Golden Gate Bridge and back to the wharf. The next few images are all of the Golden Gate Bridge and our little craft.
We also had a chance to tour this WWII submarine, the USS Pampanito. It was built in late 1943 and completed 6 combat patrols, including a couple near our old home in Guam.
The red lights kept night vision, and avoided using white light during critical missions.
Anna’s inspecting the map … ensuring we were on the right course.
Torpedo tubes loaded.
We again headed out to Alcatraz Island. This time, we opted to stop and tour the facility. Its infamy lives on today. It began as a military fort in the civil war, then a military prison and was closed as a federal prison in 1963 (it was cost prohibitive). When it became excess land, a group of Native American’s moved out to the island in order to occupy it. Their rationale was that by treaty in 1868, all excess land should be returned to them. However, the government didn’t want to let the island go, and a lengthy dispute ensued. Eventually, the island was turned into a national park. When you visit the island, there are remnants of all phases of the life on the island.
This magazine (one I enjoy reading from time to time) is representative of an inmate’s cell in the 1960s.
This is the view of the cell as it looked one night in June 1962. There were four prisoners who attempted to escape the purportedly inescapable Alcatraz. Of those four, three (Frank Morris and brothers Clarence and John Anglin) were able to get out of their cells and use a homemade life raft to attempt the impossible. The dummy in the bed gave them a little longer head start. The vent in the back is where the men were able to get out. Then, they proceeded into the wall, and eventually off the island.
Here is the back side of the wall where Frank, Clarence and John all worked their way out.
The San Francisco skyline.
Muir woods is the home to some of the world’s largest trees, the California Redwood. Not only are these trees massive, but also ancient. Some are thousands of years old. It’s humbling to walk among them.
We walked among the giants with our friend Gabriele.
These next images are again of the Golden Gate Bridge … this time at night.
This is the Bay Bridge connecting San Francisco and Oakland.
That finished our time in San Fran. Next we headed to the wine country in Sonoma County for a couple days, then down Big Sur to meet Julie and Mike in Los Angeles.
Those images and the story of that adventure will be in the next post. Until then…
–Jim
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Our Family Story.