Vacation, Part 2

So here's an update of what we've done in California.

We went to Muir Woods on Sunday to look at the redwoods. It's just a few miles across the Golden Gate Bridge but the roadway had so many curves in it, my arms were about worn out by the time we got there. The parking lot is tiny and there's an overflow lot that has only a few spots as well so we had to park about 3/4 mile away and walk to the park. Once inside, the redwoods were amazing! Many of them were nearly 250 feet tall and were probably ten feet or more in diameter.

After checking out the redwoods along a two mile trail, we headed back across the Golden Gate Bridge and stopped on the south end. There we found an old fort, The Presidio, that we explored and got some fantastic pictures of the bridge. Following a dinner at Olive Garden, we pretty much just hung out at the hotel and played some cards.

On Monday, we had purchased tickets for Alcatraz. So far, this has been the highlight of the trip for me and I'd certainly recommend it for anyone visiting San Francisco. When you first get off the ferry, there are park rangers that give short talks about those who tried to escape from The Rock. Then there's a self-guided audio tour of the prison. After the tour, we were mulling around the souvenir shop and Kyle decided to get a book called "Escape from the Rock". Little did we know when he picked up the book that the author was there that day signing them. Her dad had been the warden at Alcatraz at one time and she basically grew up on the island. I was wearing a Purdue jacket and she asked if we were from Indiana. When I said yes, she explained that her dad had been the warden at the Terre Haute federal correctional facility before he had been transferred to Alcatraz.

Tuesday we tried to finish off all the other things we had wanted to do while in San Francisco. It started with a trip down Lombard Street (also known as the world's crookedest street) and then we proceeded to Coit Tower. The tower sits on top of Telegraph Hill and is about 280 feet tall. Other than the Transamerica Tower, this may be the highest observation area in San Francisco and has some great views of both the bay and the city.

From there, we wandered throught Chinatown for a while. Karen and I had decided that we were going to give the kids a real cultural eating experience so we dropped in a little restaurant. We split some chow mein, pot stickers, fried rice and chow fun and the kids really enjoyed eating something a little different.

After lunch, we decided to take a cable car ride. One word of wisdom for anyone wanting to do this in the future: ride the cable car up the hill and walk down the hill to get back to your starting point! Yes, we made that mistake!

Today we got up and drove from our hotel to Arcadia, just northeast of Los Angeles. The drive down I-5 was boring as there's nothing but rocky mountains and brown vegetation on either side of the roadway. On our return trip to San Francisco, we're going to take the Pacific Coast Highway. Anyway, our hotel here was having a barbecue tonight so we ate some hot dogs and hamburgers and headed over to the Rose Bowl. Purdue had played in the Rose Bowl a few years ago and I wish now that I'd had come out for the game. It was hard to see much of the stadium but there were all kinds of people walking around, jogging, playing soccer, etc. On our way back to the hotel, we drove by the Santa Anita race track. Growing up not far from Louisville, Kentucky, most people are surprised that I've never been to Churchill Downs or the Kentucky Derby but I was surprised by the size of the track and the stands.

After a quick dip in the pool and a few minutes in the hot tub, I was ready to call it a day.

Hard to believe that our vacation is half over already. I'll catch up with all of you in a few days to let you know how the rest of it went.