Last post from California before I move to Vancouver, WA! I’d never been to Alcatraz before (for some reason it now has nearly a 1mo waiting list to get a ride out there, no more spur of the moment visits!) and wanted to see it before leaving. The weather was nice, although slightly breezy, boat ride was smooth. I always learn something new, this time, I learned that Alcatraz was used as a fort during the Civil War, then as a military prison before finally being turned over to the Federal Prison System (I was only aware of the last of those three). The second thing I was reminded of was that the prison doors are all mechanical (levers, gears, and rods). Very impressive, I may try to model it with legos once things have calmed down from the move. D Block cells were nice and roomy, slightly smaller than my office, although the lighting wasn’t very good, and the internet connection was sketchy at best.
It was the right time of year to see baby birds. There were a number of seagull chicks that were quite adorable, black and white spotted puff balls. There were several types of Cormorant which live around the edges of the island, although we only saw the grey ones.
