More From California

On our last full day in California, Dr. Tryon, our chaperone, made sure we got to 'See the Sights' in San Francisco. This included a stop to Pier 13, and a lovely trip out to Alcatraz. It was incredible. The boat ride out to Alcetrez left a little something to be desired, as it was foggy and rather chilly by California standards. Not too mention the Bay was incredibly choppy, and I don't really like being on big boats in the best of circumstances. However, once we got out there it was truly a memorable event. We got to tour most of the island. Unfortunately, the pelicans and gulls were nesting, so a fairly good portion was closed to visitors. And to make that a bit worse, we couldn't even get any of the pelicans to hold still long enough to get their pictures taken. However, while we were in the main jail house or whatever you want to call it, the youngest guard to ever serve on Alcatraz, Frank Heaney, was there signing copies of his book. I had been having great difficulty finding something to bring home for my father, and it was totally perfect. Kind of one of those moments where the person you have been having trouble finding that perfect gift for pops right into your mind when you see something and you think, yup, that is just what I've been lookin' for.

I believe that is the officer's club we are coming up on in this photo, but I'm not certain, even after I took these photos in and got them developed I had a hard time figuring out what some of them were.

From what I can tell from the map in Dad's book, the church like building is probably the bachelor's quarters on the island, but I'm not sure.

I believe this should be the upper portion of the married officer's quarters building. It goes over the edge of the cliff and down to the lower level. This is a view of the lighthouse and what is left of what should be the warden's house. The park that now owns the island is trying to get up enough money to fix all of the buildings, and while they have done a tremendous amount of work, they hadn't gotten quite to this point yet.

Now this photo I know if of the married officers quarters. I took it as we were pulling up to the dock. Up above you can see the lighthouse and the warden's house.

These last four photos are from the inside of the prison. The first three are the cells from the famous 'Escape from Alcatraz' inmates, Clarence Anglin, John Anglin and Frank Morris. The interior contents of the cells are set up the exact way they were found after the men had escaped from them. The last one is a photo from the group of cells were Robert Stroud "The Birdman of Alcatraz" was held. (Sorry they are so tilted. I think that happened when I scanned them.)

The cell in the very top right hand corner was the Birdman's.

I will post some more photos from the trip in the near future. I had about seven cameras full of pictures after the trip. Including shots of the mountains, the Redwood forest, two vineyards, and a bunch of sea lions, as well as a few more dairies. I also have a whole bunch more shots from the places I have already posted on. If anyone would like me to post some more, just let me know and I would be happy to do so.