We headed for Fort Mason in San Francisco, which is the site of an old military base and hospital. They have a hostel there now in one of the old barracksy type buildings. It is at the bay end of the city and we'd decided to base ourselves there for a couple of days, so that we could go and visit Alcatraz, see the Golden Gate Bridge and all that malarky. That evening we ate at an Italian place on Pier 39 (where you could still hear the sea lions honking...they never shut up!)

The following day we wandered down to Pier 43 and a half where a company called Blazing Saddles rents out bikes. Clearly neither of us are cyclists, but we decided it was the best way to see the outskirts of the city and the place is full of cycle lanes and so there wasn't too much danger of us killing ourselves (or others!) We took plenty of photos and it was the warmest day we'd had in SF so we had a nice (if slightly strenuous) time. We cycled over the Golden Gate Bridge, which is beautiful, and were pleased to find that the road on the other side was all downhill. We freewheeled down to Sausalito which is a really sweet little place with a ferry terminal. Whilst sat patiently waiting with our bikes, we got talking to one of the local crazies. He told us he was running for senator of the area and that his dog could play the guitar and sing. Sounds like the perfect candidate! He talked and talked, and told us how his wife left him after he admitted to visiting a lady of the night (not that he called her that) for oral pleasures (not that he called it that), and that the biggest mistake he'd made in his life was not visiting her, but was telling his wife! At least he was honest I guess...When a coach load of French people arrived, he obviously decided it was time to perform properly and tried to wake the dog from his coma like state so that he could sing to us. He picked the dog up off the floor - the dog looked like rigamortis had set in - and sat him on his lap, dressing him as he did so in hat, sun glasses and (I think) socks. The people around us in the queue started questioning whether a) the dog was drugged or b) the dog was dead, as the guy sat playing the guitar and 'singing' and the dog seemed absolutely oblivious. Emily and I were chosen as the lucky 2 who were given their CD - bet you guys can't wait to hear it when I get back...it truly is worth the wait! The ferry ride back was uneventful. After returning the bikes, we had organised to meet our new friend Carol. We'd met her in the hostel in San Diego. She had been housesitting for a friend in San Diego and lived in SF - at the top of wonky Lombard Street, as it goes (I think I mentioned her in the San Diego entry?) She took us to the Buena Vista cafe, which was a really nice local place away from the touristy stuff, but we weren't able to hang around long as we were booked on the evening ferry to Alcatraz. We made arrangements with Carol that we'd go to her apartment the following mornig for breakfast and set off.

The ferry to Alcatraz was cold and surrounded by horrible little buzzy flies. The company that runs the trips has recently changed...and my suggestion to the new one is that they get the pest control people in. There's been uproar as they have sacked all the people who worked for the previous company and replaced them, but the protesters obviously didn't do an evening shift as all was quiet on the western front. Anyways, we got to the island quite quickly and were led up to the prison. It's pretty atmospheric at night as you might imagine. It started out as a military base and then a military prison. The military prisoners built the actual prison and while they did so were housed in 3ft by 5ft cells. When they eventually finished the mammoth task of building the prison they were moved and became its first inmates. Not much of a reward, is it?! We took the audio tour which was fascinating, wandered randomly and spoke to a construction worker (see, I'll talk to anyone!) who had been working there at night for the past year. He didn't seem convinced when we tried to tell him that the island is doubtless haunted, but rather him than me - it was pretty spooky after dark!

The following morning we headed to Carol's apartment for breakfast (or frankly more like brunch by the time we got there.) She must be about 70 I guess, and she lives in a kind of warden controlled place. It was lovely and from her window she had an uninterrupted view of Alcatraz Island - although she said that on days when the famous San Franciscan fog is about, you can't see a thing! She had decided that we should go to AAA (like the British AA) as she was a member and could get us free maps and guidebooks for all the areas we hadn't yet reached. So off we trotted. We stocked up on maps for Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana and Florida. For free! It was great.

Carol had an optician's appointment to go to, so we dropped her off and headed to sunny Merced...x