Three more places to blog about! The first is the Golden Gate Bridge. I’ve been to San Francisco several times before this trip, but for some reason I’d never been close to or driven across. So, on this trip it was a must. Here are a couple shots from the touristy photo spot:

The standard shot:

And the artsy shot with birds:

I snapped this shot of a flag as I was walking back to the car:

After crossing the bridge, we headed to Muir Woods to see some trees. Muir Woods is a National Park with tons of Redwoods and Sequoias. We only waled around for an hour or so and didn’t get to see any of the huge Sequoias, but we did see a few large Redwoods.

And that leads us to the last of our adventures, Alcatraz! We did a night tour of the island on our last night in town. We’re glad we waited until the last night, because it was the best thing we did on the trip, and it was great to leave town on a high note. The entire trip was fascinating. One of the greatest things about the island (and the entire tour) was that everything has, for the most part, been left untouched from when it closed in the early sixties. Sure they have signs and chains, but everything else has been left just as it was when it was a functioning prison. The self guided audio tour was a definite highlight. It’s narrated by actual guards and inmates, and has a bitchin’ sound effects background that really adds to the realism.

Here’s the island in the ferry ride out:

From just off the dock:

Buildings that had burned from arson fires have been left as-is:

There were lots of fun textures everywhere:

I loved all of the repeating patterns and light from inside the actual prison:

And one last shot:

Soon I’ll be doing a post of all the repeating patterns, textures and graffiti from the trip. Those are some of my favorites from the entire week.