Week 24 (Continued) - San Francisco, CA ("Fog City")

Hello Family and Friends,

On our way to San Francisco we stopped for just a night to experience Monterey Bay Aquarium. My favorite was definitely the otters. Atlas loved being surrounded by the water. He even got to splash his hands in the water while touching some kelp.

Atlas just barely missing a stingray swim right past.

We also drove the 17-Mile Drive. It is a scenic highway along the rocky coast of California.

The rocky coast of California along 17-Mile Drive

Having lived along the white sandy beaches of the pan handle, I think I have become a little bit of a beach snob. Furthermore, the beaches just don't compare to the splendor of the mountain. Also most of this part of the california coastline is protected in order to help rehabilitate some of the sea life that used to be abundant in this area such as seals and sardines.

As far as San Francisco goes, I don't get it. People talk about how great San Francisco (the second most densely populated city in America) is and how much they love it, but this was lost on me. When you read about the city, you would think it was the best place in the world. I even found a quote by Gene Fowler that goes, "Every man should be able to love two cities, his own and San Francisco". I didn't feel this type of affection towards it.

I say these things about San Fran with hesitancy as I realize there were some things working against us and maybe we just did the city wrong. First and foremost, we were exhausted. Our first day there we didn't do anything but laundry and eat. Even with laundry we cheated. We dropped off the clothes and 4 hours later we picked them up cleaned and folded. However, we did get to ride a Waymo. This is google's self driving car. It was a little trippy to be riding in a car without a driver, but I am a total believer in self driving. All the things that the car took note of and could see is exponentially more than I observe as a driver. And I think Atlas really enjoyed riding in the Waymo. They look totally different than a normal car and whenever we would see one drive past, Atlas would point it out.

Riding in a Waymo following another Waymo. Observe how there is no driver behind the steering wheel.

Atlas walking to dinner with his hands in his pocket like his father.

So the first day we did nothing, our fault we were tired. The second day we tried to make up for it. We took a 15 minute ferry over to Alcatraz Island (no ferry pictures because we already have plenty of those). Alcatraz is famous for being a prison for such notorious characters as Al Capone. They have a pretty good 30 min audio tour that shares about prison life there.

One of the prison cells at Alcatraz

After it was a prison it spent about 19 months occupied by Native Americans as protest to America's treatment of the native people.

The current sign at Alcatraz post native american occupation.

The history of Alcatraz is mildly interesting, but visiting it over all was meh. The island was too expensive to run as a prison and the buildings show the wear of being beaten by the wind and water. A lot of areas on the island are just closed. However, it would make for a great set up for a haunted house, because the buildings are a skeleton of what they once were.

The officers club on Alcatraz island. Only allowed to view from the outside, because the structure isn't safe.

There is a lot of bird life on Alcatraz. This one side of the island was full of birds.

Not at all impressed with Alcatraz and to top it off the weather was terrible. But come to find out that the summers in San Fran are always terrible. There is sun each day from about 11AM-4PM and then it is foggy, windy and cold. There is no reason for it to be 60 degrees Fahrenheit in July. Atlas and I had to buy some San Fran gear just so we could be warm. Brett, of course, was loving the gloomy cool weather. So that was another strike for San Fran. Alcatraz was a bust in my opinion, but surely the Golden Gate Bridge would make up for it.

Our obligatory picture in front of the bridge.

Nope. It's big, it's red and they are working to make it suicide proof. Maybe it's cool because it is a bridge that encourages pedestrian traffic. Did learn that the wires that hold the bridge can wrap around the equator 3 times. A very large bridge, but that's it.

Now San Fran did start to redeem itself when we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge to visit Muir Woods National Monument. You have to have a reservation, but you get to see the Coastal Redwood trees. These trees are tall and old, like Genghis Khan old. The park did an excellent job of creating a very accessible boardwalk to stroll among the Redwoods.

A cluster of Redwoods reaching for the sky.

Getting some perspective on the enormous height of Redwoods.

Atlas and mommy enjoying the trails.

Of course, because the trails were so accessible, there were way too many people. There are more difficult trails off of the main trails, but Brett said we didn't have time for me to be crazy.

We enjoyed the Redwoods, not a must see, but grand in their own way.

A view of the top of the Redwoods from the road.

Another point for San Fran was the trolley car. The way they had to manually turn it around at the end of the line was insane.

The conductor manually turning the trolley around and then pushing it back onto the tracks.

Another insane sight was this parade of single wheels riding down the road.

Brett says we didn't spend enough time in San Fran to really get a feel for it and I completely agree. However, I'm not sure it's worth going back to. There is a whole world to see. I'm okay not understanding what people love about San Francisco.