California Here We Come!

Dear Family and Friends,

This year we decided to drive the California coast for Matt's vacation.

Our trip started out by first visiting Kylie, our daughter, and Bryce, our grandson in Dublin California.

We flew from the Tri-Cities to Oakland, CA and took the BART to Dublin where Kylie and Bryce picked us up for a fun filled weekend.

We had to change planes in Salt Lake City before going to Oakland.  I took this picture as we were landing in Salt Lake.  It looked like we were landing on another planet.  Very cool landscape.

On Sunday morning, Bryce cooked our breakfast.  He loves to cook and does an excellent job.

After breakfast, we headed to the BART to go into San Francisco.  Kylie had bought tickets for us to go to Alcatraz.

In order to go to visit Alcatraz, you have to go by a dedicated ferry.  Here is Alcatraz as we approached the island.  The prison is the building at the top of the island.

Alcatraz was a federal prison from 1934 until 1963.  It housed some of America's most hardened criminals.

Here is was a typical cell.  One tin cup, toilet paper, a towel and a bed.  No windows, all cells faced the interior.

There were many escape attempts, but only one was successful.  The three men below escaped in 1962.  A movie was made about their escape in 1979, Escape from Alcatraz, and starred Clint Eastwood.

No one knows if they survived the escape.  Some believe they drowned in the cold waters of the San Francisco Bay and others believe that they were able to make it to freedom.

If you would like to know more about the interesting Alcatraz prison you can go to this site:  www.alcatrazhistory.com

Matt volunteered to try out one of the cells.  I guess that would make him a "JAIL BYRD."

We spent the rest of the day at Pier 39.  Here is Kylie, Matt and Bryce at the pier. We had a great time together.  It was the perfect way to start our vacation.

Monday morning we picked up our rental car and headed to the coast for our drive to San Diego.

We have so much to share with you about that.  I will post about the coast next time.

Love,
Nancy