Mumblings and Musings…

OK, so I wasn’t technically in the slammer…but, as close to it as I ever intend to get. Several months ago I visited one of San Francisco’s biggest tourist traps, Alcatraz. I have decided that it is a tourist destination for a reason, as I had a terrific time! I was extremely fortunate with the weather and got a warm sunny day with white puffy clouds. This was a solo day-trip into the city while I was still job hunting and my husband was in school. So, just the excitement of a lone adventure had me up and rearing to go at daybreak. I rode the CalTrain in to San Francisco(public transit is still a thrill for this Texas girl) and took a bus from the station, down The Embarcadero, to the ferry dock for Alcatraz. Did I mention my eagerness that morning? Well, I got there a little early. But, that was no matter. I grabbed a great cup of coffee and a croissant from a nearby cafe and took up post at one of their “standing” tables out front, so that I could watch all the interesting passersby. San Francisco is a great place to people watch!

When my alloted Ferry time came around, I clambered onto the large swaying boat, armed with my camera and a sudoku. I took a seat on the top of the boat with the sun beaming down warmly on my shoulders. It did get a little windy up there(lost my sudoku) but the ride was wonderful! Alcatraz is situated on prime real estate, right in the middle of San Francisco Bay. If only those prisoners had a room with a view!

Upon docking, I huffed up the very steep and long hill to the top of the island where the prison building sat. Along the way, I passed different buildings, some were homes to the prison guards and their families. I find it interesting that the guards all lived on the island with their families, children and all. These kids would take a boat onto the mainland for school, but, went home to the island each night. This is where they grew up! One of them should write a book.

The prison building is truly intimidating and spooky. It is cell upon cell and every sound echoes in the massive hall of a room. I took some pictures of an individual cell. They are extremely small, the cot just barely fitting inside. The prisoner had an option of sleeping with their head clanging into the bars or draped over the toilet. I am not really sure which I would choose!

I took the audio tour, which was excellent. I don’t usually do these, but, it has been rated one of the top audio tours in the country, so I gave it a try. The program was the right mix of drama and fact. I enjoyed it thoroughly and became so engrossed that I forget the people around me as I was led from room to room. I even stopped in one of the solitary confinement cells and shut the door to experience the darkness. From that moment on I promised myself to lead an honest life…or just never get caught. Yikes!

After I was done inside, I stepped outside into the sunshine(freedom!) and had a real treat. There was an air show going on in the Bay and the planes were buzzing right over Alcatraz. It was quite spectacular and I took lots of pictures. I would highly recommend the Alcatraz Tour for the great historical site as well as the beautiful scenery. It is yet another great spot in the fabulous city of San Francisco!

Having a dog in the Bay Area has proven to be difficult. When my husband got into Stanford last spring, we had several offers from friends and family members to take our little pooch off of our hands…so we could live in cheap Stanford housing(which accepts not so much as a goldfish) and have an easier life in general. We were aghast! We could never leave Hollis behind! He is our child, our personal home entertainment! Surely we could find a cheap place to live that allowed dogs and surely he would add to, not diminish, our quality of life on the west coast!

Well, now we are here, ensconced in a house that is twice the rent we were paying in Austin for the same size, and it is in a bad neighborhood.(by bad I mean dangerous). But, it allowed us to have our dog…one of the only places that would. When we want to go for a hike(which is most weekends) we have to pick one from our “Hiking the Bay Area with Dogs” book…because these hikes are few and far between. Just last weekend we drove over an hour to do a hike that was in our book. The four open space preserves that we passed along the way all prohibited dogs. We parked in a beautiful redwood forest, paid the fee, let Hollis out of the car(there is no turning back at this point, he knows that we are hiking and can barely contain his glee), and started walking, only to be greeted at the trailhead with a ‘no dogs allowed’ sign post! Somewhere between the publishing of our hiking book in 2007 and this last weekend, they decided to ban pets from the park!

The places that do allow dogs, only allow them on leashes. Now, I can understand this rationale in some places. Not all dogs behave well, dogs will go after some wildlife, and not everyone picks up their dog’s poop. However, anyone who doesn’t understand why there needs to be off leash dog areas, does not like animals! Dogs need to run, it is in their nature to do so and my sedate human pace, pulling him along with a leash tied to his neck, is not going to cut it! The space also has to be larger than a parking lot of dirt with a fence around it(aka ‘Doggy Park).

I have found some great places to take Hollis…like Fort Funston(though even here, they are talking about making it leash required). It is frustrating to be in a new area…one as beautiful as northern California, and have many of the natural areas closed to me. I could, of course, leave Hollis at home when I go hiking. But, that seems cruel and unusual. I look forward to the day when the new travel search engine, Kango, has added its pages for ‘pet friendly’ activities and things to do. I definitely could have used it last weekend!

The little guy is lucky I love him so much.