Day 40 - Biking the Golden Gate and Escape from Alcatraz

Today was our last day in San Francisco and tomorrow it's back to work, doing private training in Lakeport, California. We began the day by biking across the Golden Gate, however there was a bit of preparation in order to do that. The day began with bicycle repair. I set up shop on the picnic table outside the RV and began removing broken pieces for the bikes that survived the ordeal on the LA freeway. If you didn't read that, little episode read it here. Two of the bikes were not repairable so last night we were at Wally World buying two more kid bikes. So, with freshly repaired bikes and two new ones, we hit the Golden Gate parking lot at about 10:00 am. The ride was gorgeous but a little frightening with three kids. There was an incident with another biker on the bridge but we will leave out the details here.

Following our ride over the bridge, we caught a ferry to Alcatraz and spent the afternoon touring the former Federal Prison. What a cool place steeped in history. Everyone recognizes it as the place where "Machine Gun" Keely and AL Capone did hard time but I also learned it was the scene of a 19 month occupation by American Indians in the seventies that ended with the US Government forceably removing them from the island, but more importantly changes US policy toward native Americans.

The graffitti in this photo was done during that occupation. Alcatraz also served as a military establishment in its early days.

Tomorrow its off to Lakeport after a quick stop at the Apple Company Store one more time, seems I really needed that jacket I didn't buy last time.