The Rock

Ahhh. Finally got some down time and started to see the city. This afternoon two of my colleagues and I went to Alcatraz. That was pretty cool. Did the audio tour thing. Learned quite a bit about it. It was first built as a military fort. It was a federal penitentiary from 1934-1963. Then in 1969 several Native American tribes occupied the island. I'm not totally sure of the whole history behind that, nor how long they stayed there. At any rate, today it's designated as a National Park. We learned about the couple of different prison escape attempts. I guess there were a few that actually did escape at one time and to this day nobody knows what happened - if they drowned or really got away. I took a bunch of photos and will post some when I get home.

It's really warm here - quite above normal. When we went out to the Rock today I hadn't thought to put sunscreen on, so guess who's a bit sunburned? It's so silly - I've got a pretty decent base with the cycling over the past 2 months, and yet, a few hours without sunscreen and my fair skin turns red. Geez! I did bring the stuff, so tomorrow when I go out on the bike I will most certainly be lathering myself in it. Well, trying my best to stay on EST, so I gotta hit the hay! More touring tomorrow. Can't wait to do it on two wheels. This body doesn't like walking so much - it hurts (feet, hip, knee - ouch!).