We Started in Palm Desert, CA and Spent Our First Night in San Luis Obispo.

We Then Headed Up The Coast Highway.

No Schedule, ...

... No Real Plan, Other Than...

... Getting to San Francisco.

We Stopped When The View Begged Us, ...

.. And Stayed As Long As We Wanted.

As We Drove, We...

... Talked - Novel Idea!

The Elephant Seals Were Molting. Some...

... Enjoyed the Sand.

Most Used It As a Sun Screen.

Others Were More Interested in the Water.

This One is Enjoying the Sun, While...

... This One Was Barking Up a Storm.

The Coastline Changed Dramatically During the Drive.

In Some Spots We Could Get to the Beach, But...

... In Others We Viewed From Above.

We Stopped at the Ragged Point Inn...

... For Lunch.

It Was a Beautiful Afternoon.

The Fog Would Drift Through And Then Clear.

The Meal Was Good And...

... The View Was Tremendous!

Hey Dad - Time for a Hair Cut!

This Section of the Coast Highway Marks The Start of "Big Sur" Country.

Notice the Road About 2/3's Up The Coast. They Had LOTS of Rain in the Spring and Were Still Repairing the Damage.

We Sat and Enjoyed The Tranquility.

We Could Have Taken a Nap, But...

... We Were Off to San Francisco.

There Were So Many Nice Vistas It Was Difficult to See Them All.

You Can Still See The Coastal Haze at 3:00 PM!

We Met Another Father/Son Team Touring on Their Motorcycles.

There Was Never an Issue Finding Someone Willing to Take Our Picture.

Purple Haze Man, Purple Haze!

We Made an Unexpected Detour to See Carmel by the Sea.

The Beach Looked Inviting, But...

... We Were Really There to Stretch Our Legs.

Dad Took a Few to Catch Up With Nancy at the Office.

Off To Pebble Beach And...

... 17 Mile Drive.

Surf, Golf Courses And VERY Expensive Homes.

We Enjoyed The Surf, And...

... Dolly Enjoyed a Break.

I Think Dad Enjoyed It Too.

Time to Get Back on the Road, to See...

... The Lone Cypress.

A Really Beautiful Spot, But Time to Get Back in the Car.

We're Off To...

... San Francisco.

We Stayed at the Wyndham Canterbury Resort.

As You Can See We Had a Room on One of the Upper Floors.

We Had a One Bedroom Unit - I Took The Couch.

The Mini Kitchen Allowed Us to Make Vi-Shape Shakes for Breakfast.

Dad Worked on a Contract, Then...

... Off to Pier 39!

We Met My Sigma Chi Big Brother...

... Pete Bertrand For Lunch At...

... Neptune's Palace.

Hey, Let's Eat Rick!

We Had a Wonderful Window View of the Bay, And...

... Alcatraz Island.

After Lunch We Toured The Pier.

We Didn't Visit the Floating Restaurant.

I Think Someone Forgot to Tell This Seal Which Beach to Molt!

The Pier Was Crowded, With...

... Mostly Foreign Tourists.

I Couldn't Pass This One Up!

We Had a Beautiful Day, To...

... Enjoy The Pier With Bert But...

... Now It Was Time To...

... Head to Pier 33, For Our Visit to...

... Alcatraz!

This Photo is NOT to Scale!

Let's Get This Tug Moving!

It Was a Good Day to Sail Across, But...

... We Motored. Here's Neptune's Palace.

This View IS to Scale.

The Alcatraz We Know Was Opened as a Federal Penitentiary in 1934, But...

... It Had Been Used For Decades by The Army.

Much of the Island is in Disrepair.

The Penitentiary Was Closed in 1963.

We Approach the Dock.

What's Left of the Warden's Residence With the Old Lighthouse.

Guard Tower With Power Plant in the Background.

The Island Was Used To Hold American Indian Prisioners Around The Turn of the 20th Century.

You Can See Why It Was Torturious - So Close to Freedom!

The Views From The Island Are Spectacular.

We Waited For The Tram Ride Up The Hill.

I Guess We're Safe.

We Took The Self-Guided Audio Tour, Which Started in the Showers.

The Cells Were "Cozy".

There Were LOTS of People. Tickets Sell Out in Advance For Most of the Summer, So Buy Early Online.

No Inmates to Add a Fresh Coat of Paint.

A Stark Existence!

The Exercise Yard, With...

... The "Easy" Way Out!

Hey, Here's a Prisoner Still Remaining.

Lock Him Up, ...

... He Looks Dangerous!

The Solitary Confinement Cells, Were...

... "Spacious", But There Were Surpisingly Few of Them.

A Few of the More "Famous" Bad Guys.

The Penitentiary Never Held More Than 300 Prisoners And Could Not Hold Women...

... They Were Not Deemed to be "Incorrigible" Until 1964.

The Audio Tour Was Very Comprehensive.

No Way Through The Sky Light.

Here's Where One of the Most Famous Escape Attempts Occurred.

An Inmate Climbed the Bars And Used This Spreader to Get Into The Gallery.

Back Outside For A Room With a View.

The Golden Gate Bridge Appears Very Close But Is Actually Miles Away.

They Said The Inmates Could Hear Parties From The Mainland.

The "Inside" of the Warden's Residence.

WOW

It Was VERY Windy, But...

... We Were...

... Enjoying The View.

They Had a Few "Furnished" Cells.

Off to Receive Visitors, But Wait...

... What Do You Think This Window is For?

Few Inmates Received Visitors. San Francisco Was a LONG Way From Most of the Country Between 1934 and 1963.

Hi Ma, Welcome to Alcatraz.

The Wardens of Alcatraz.

The View From The Warden's Residence.

The Central "Control" Room.

Our Prisoner Relaxes in the Dining Hall.

A Birds Eye View of the Island Back in Its Hey Day.

I Walked Down the Hill While Dad Waited for the Tram.

Any Idea What This Could Have Been Used For?

The Power Plant. I Recall Something About The Island Going Solar Soon!

The Guard Barracks. Many Guards Lived on the Island With Their Families.

The Other Side of the Guard Tower.

I Imagine It Could Get Chilly Up There.

The Electrical Repair Shop.

We Had a Nice Tour, But...

... Our Ride Has Arrived.

YIKES, Look at the Line! Where's...

... The Tram?

Another Odd Feature - Can You Imagine Using These Steps?

It's Not The Desert Heat, But...

... It Was Time to Head Back.

We Enjoyed the View of the Golden Gate Bridge, And...

... Downtown San Francisco One Last Time.

Hey - Our Prisoner is Escaping!

We're Back at Pier 33, Let's Have Some...

... Dinner!

We Enjoyed Dinner AND The View From a Sidewalk Table in Little Italy. Then Back to the Canterbury, Where...

... Laura Was Glad to Meet Dad.

I Guess She Was REALLY Glad! Our Prisoner Has Charisma!

The Next Day We Toured Berkeley, Then Headed For Golden Gate Park.

The "Bay" is Enourmous.

LOTS of Shots of the Bridge.

Here's a Different Perspective on San Francisco.

I Got Out And Explored a Bit While...

... Dad Worked From The Car.

The Photos Don't Do It Justice.

Oops - Use The Fill Flash!

This Was a Bit Better, But Virtually Impossible to Out Do The Setting Sun.

Nice.

Very Nice.

I Like The Brush in the Foreground.

We Tried To Get a Table at the Beach Chalet At...

... Sunset, But It Was a 2 Hour Wait (We Should Have Asked Laura to Make a Reservation).

We Ate Dinner in China Town.

When We Returned We Doscovered Laura Had Selected Us As The Daily Cruise Winners! It Pays to Have Friends. We're Off to Gold Country!