The Garners go to Alcatraz

The boys are out of school and into prison - for the day anyway. We took a ferry out to Alcatraz Island. It was surprisingly sunny for Alcatraz, so the grounds were very pretty. But it would be absolutely depressing to have to live in the prison. The cells are so small and you would probably never be warm. No wonder they all tried to escape.
Nathaniel found a bird that was willing to pose for a picture.

A garden shed on the grounds looked almost inviting.

The narrow strip of ground to my left was some of the prisoners' gardens.

There would be a cot in the cell for the prisoner. Lovely.

Self portrait

Prison in the background. Agave growing over rubble from military family housing off to the left.

Yeah, just in case you didn't know it was illegal to help prisoners escape.

Nathaniel didn't like the signs all over the place that said, "Access restricted for your protection" He would have liked to go up all the stairs (like the ones on the guard tower in the background).

Happy Birthday Nathaniel

Nathaniel turned 10 years old. See him grinning over his birthday banana cream pie? What a great kid! When I asked him what his favorite part of our Thanksgiving trip was, he said it was the empty pond at Stanford. He would like to go to Stanford University when he grows up because it would be nice to live by that empty pond.

Boating is still allowed. Look close; he's out there.

San Francisco Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year found us "camping" in Chris' San Francisco studio apartment. One person on the bed and three on the floor nearly filled the place. But it's a great base camp for exploring San Francisco.
View from studio apartment's door.

Cable Car Museum

Cool building we noticed while we were standing under it.

Walking up Telegraph Hill.

Coit Tower on top of Telegraph Hill.

Bay Bridge from Telegraph Hill.

Interesting details all over city.

Lighthouse, Marin Headlands.

Picnic at Marin Headlands near one of the many military bunkers.

Fort Baker - Marin side of Golden Gate Bridge.

Walkin down Russian Hill. Steep (look at door frame to see actual horizontal line).

Lombard Street. The memorable part is driving up the other side before you go down the zig zag. Soooo steep!

Exploratorium science museum. The science of toilet water.

Muse'e Mechanique at Fisherman's Wharf.

Christmas tree lighting in Union Square.

Cable car ride. So welcome after walking up hills for a few days.

Halloween Costumes

My sister Sue said her Halloween costume is whatever her 18 year old daughter was the year before. This year - pink kitty; next - lady bug. Take a look at my costumery future if I adopted that method.

What do you think? It's a version of Link from Legend of Zelda.