We left Yosemite at 6am and arrived back in San Francisco in time to do a tour of Alcatraz, the famous high security prison. Alcatraz is built on a rock island about a mile from San Francisco Bay. It was originally built as a permanent fort, to protect the Bay during the Gold Rush in the late 1800's. After it became too expensive to run by the War Department it was sold to the Prison's Bureau and made into a high security prison to house the most notorious criminals during the gangster years! It housed the likes of Al Capone and Robert Stroud the 'Birdman'! The 'Rock' also housed around 70 families of the prison workers, the school children being shipped to the mainland each day to attend school. After it was shut down as a prison in the early 60's the Native American Indians claimed the land as their own, in a protest against the government who had taken their land. They lived on the island for about 18 months before being removed. They never did make Alcatraz Indian land, but the movement helped change goverment policy. The Island is now protected as a national park and has around 1 million visitors a year!

We took the audio tour, which was really interesting. We heard interviews with guards and inmates and saw the cell house, kitchen, dining area and solitary confinement cells. There was even a former inmate at the museum to answer questions (a bank robber)!

That night we settled for traditional American food, McDonalds, and an early night in a proper bed with duvets and a room with solid walls!..... But before we could sleep there was an earthquake!! Woo hoo! The room shook for about 5 seconds, not enough to make things fall off shelves, but enough to slop our tea around! Apparently it was 4.7 on the Richtar Scale!