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Day 1 of our Caliofrotnia Adventure: Muir Woods. Vision, Nessa, and I rode along in She's backpack, but we were unable to leave, so you won't see any pictures of us. The drive down to the park was awful... 10 minutes of curves and slopes on the edge of a plummeting hill. Needless to say, everyone in the car was motion sick by the time we arrived. Luckily the agreeable weather and breathtaking scenery made up for it.
After a quick lunch at the local In-N-Out burger joint, the humans ran to Fisherman's Wharf to catch their ferry to Alcatraz Island. They had bought the tickets ahead of time, but there was a massive line in direct sunlight, so it was refreshing to have the puffs of mist rising up from the sea once they were on the boat. She set apart from the rest of her family to stand at the bow of the ferry, elated. Clearly She looked boats a lot more than I had assumed her to be. Suddenly I felt a little guilty that it was I who was taking the trip, and not Moana.
I'm afraid that the images shown here can't do the place justice. With pictures you can't smell the damp wood that filters through the air, or hear the distant, peaceful sounds of wild birds. We were even luckier to catch the park on an almost-empty day. It could be that it was off-season, but we all thought it was amazing regardless.
Later on that evening, the humans returned to civilization to have dinner, in a little harbor town called Sausalito. They dined on fish, chips, and sandwiches, spied some freight ships along the pier, and made the drive back to San Franciso, pausing to do some sightseeing on the way.
Day 2 of our Caliofrotnia Adventure: The next morning, the humans packed up from their hotel and stopped at the Golden Gate bridge. The visit included plenty of pictures at the lookout, a walk halfway across the bridge (Sis isn't really a fan of heights), and a stop at the museum and gift shop. Since we hit the bridge in the early morning (around eight or so), not many people were out, which was surprising. The sun may rise earlier in California, but the people do not.
Apparently there is a tradition that came about in this decade- gaining popularity around 2013, as Vision said, that two people who are in love will carve their initials on a padlock and the date with which they locked it onto the bridge. Nessa thought it was romantic. I thought it was fruitless. After all, the padlocks have to be eventually removed. But it did show a nice aspect of American culture.
After we had left the area, it became apparent that one of America's most populous cities would not stay quiet for long. The humans put themselves into the middle of the activity by going down to the water, were thousands of lines of quaint strip malls had planted their roots. The humans walked in anywhere that looked interesting, which included a historic boat house that existed by the Hyde Street Pier. She went in alone, as the other humans believed it to be haunted. No ghosts were seen inside, friendly or not, but the ropes that were placed everywhere was a little unsettling.
Alcatraz was an island that was far more beautiful than I had expected a dilapidated prison to be. On concrete railings lay curtains of flowers in every color, and overhead, an unhealthy amount of seagulls circled around, unbothered by humans and in fact placing their nests rather close to all of the activity. Adolescent seagulls; gray, fuzzy, and curious little things, poked their heads out of the brush occasionally, and She was able to get a good picture of them.
Even with our advanced hearing ability as dolls, we were unable to tell what the humans were listening to on the audio tour everyone was given. It was a world-renowned audio tour, supposedly, unlike anything else you'd find in an ordinary museum. Alcatraz, after all, was no ordinary museum, but an experience. I could tell that the beauty of the island had not been here at the same time the prisoners were. Rather, they had dehumanizing cells and a large, empty lot with high walls for recess.
The markings of were bombs were dropped onto the floor in the D corridor and the tear gas vents in the dining hall were certainly not a pretty sight.
Once the tour was over, it was time to head back to the mainland. A friendly seagull came along for the ride.
The humans concluded their evening with a trolley ride and a quick stop at the museum before driving off to different hotel. Tomorrow would be another big day in another part of California.
Okay, I think I'm going to leave it here for now. I realize that this post was really more of a picture dump than anything else, but being that it was She's first time in California, She had to take a lot of pictures. Since the amount is a little overwhelming to put it all in one post, I will continue this in the next one, coming soon. And then I will wrap everything up in Part 5 with the finale. Does that sound good to everyone?
-Loki
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