Alcatraz

Our next stop was Alcatraz. We took the ferry out to the island and took the audio tour which was really interesting. It's such a somber place. I couldn't help but feel so sad for those who spent time here...it wasn't an issue of whether they deserved to be there or not but just the thought of what kind of a life it would be in this place. It makes me wonder if locking up criminals in a cold and uninviting environment is really a way to rehabilatate them? Just a thought.

Brandon and Dave out in the prison yard

One of the isolation cells

Oh, and I have a picture of a ghost here. No, not really. Hmm...but, really? I swear there was nobody around me. What is it??

...and I digress...

And now a small intermission from the other photos for a quick photo montage of HATS. Yes, that's right.....hats.

Heeeehuuuuum.

Mwuah?

Meh?


Yo.

Eeeeeek.


Taaaaadaaaaaaaa.
Sup.

No comment.
Ya mon.

San Francisco

Crossing over the Golden Gate Bridge...
We got a spectacular view of the city from Telegraph Hill...
Yeah, you wish this was a real vending machine. It wasn't by the way.These sea lions were so loud! It was so entertaining to watch the dominant males push each other off of the platform and bark at each other. All of the females were just laying around like, "shut up already!"
A cool sculpture by Fisherman's Wharf.

Eating grapes...

An Olive tree...the olives didn't taste good though :)

...and the wine is bottled poetry...

(quote by Robert Louis Stevenson)

And we're back! We had such a blast in California. The weather was absolutely perfect. I have so many pictures to post, so I'll do a little at at time :)

Our first stop was Napa Valley. The landscape there is unbelievable. Endless hills of vineyards. The air smelled like wine in the entire valley because it is harvest season and the fermenting of the grapes just fills the air. Time seemed to move so slowly and everything was so laid back and peaceful! We spent our time there in a beautiful little historic town called St. Helena where we window shopped for a while, then we went to a few vineyards to go wine tasting.

The second day, we ended up at probably the best winery ever! We stopped to do a little wine tasting, and we decided to split it so that we didn't get too much to drink :) Our server was so much fun though and she gave us about 12 samplings although we only paid for 6. Oh well, she did her job well because we ended up buying a few bottles to take home. Mmmmmm.

V. Sattui vineyards are so beautiful and they have their own cheese/deli store on site, so we did some wine tasting, bought some yummy wine, fresh bread, cheese and salami, and took it onto the grass for a picnic.

Here's the picnic...doesn't it all look so yummy? Mmmm. It was so delicious.

Isn't this just the cutest picture ever? I think we sat in the grass for about five hours. It was so relaxing sitting under the trees, laughing and having a great time doing absolutely nothing.

Remember that beautiful "before" picture of the food? This is what it looked like after. Definitely one of my favorite memories of the trip.

Oktoberfest + Fall Break

A few weekends ago, Tamara, Dave, Brandon and I all headed up to Snowbird for the annual Oktoberfest. We love it there! Let me tell you, they have delicious food like sauerkraut, brats, potato cakes with applesauce and sourcream, and of course, delicious locally-brewed beer. We listened to polka until we could not take it any longer and soaked in the beautiful scenery.

Tamara and Dave - Dave is an adventurer...we just can't keep his eyes off of the peaks that he wants to go climb.

So...tomorrow is the beginning of Fall Break from school, so to celebrate, Tamara, Dave, Brandon and I are off to explore Napa Valley and San Francisco for the entire week! Yay! Now, you may be wondering how in such tough economic times we can afford a week long trip to Califiornia. Well, let me tell you...we can't. This is what happens when you plan a trip 6 months ahead of time and book hotels and plane tickets and then realize six months later that there's no way that this trip fits into your budget. That's when you laugh with nervous laughter and say, um...oh well! Let's go to Napa Valley and San Francisco! Wooowooo! So, we are off on a heroic journey to pump money into the failing economy. Okay, but seriously, we are super excited and all really need a vacation. I'll be back in one week's time to post pictures of our trip! Peace out!

Too soon for another quote? Too bad.

I visited the Salt Lake Public Library on Sunday for an assignment in my favorite class right now, Visual Communications. It's such an inspiring class focused on "experiencing architecture". I did a quick sketch of the "urban room" as it's been named by library-goers and wandered around for about half a day. It was so relaxing and I absolutely loved a quote that I read on one of the check-out desks, so here it is...

"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. "
-Douglas Adams

Celebration Time...

Last weekend, we went out to celebrate Tamara's birthday at, of course, our favorite place, Keys on Main. Seriously? Yes, seriously. We sometimes go there a lot and then have to take a few months off because we're all piano-barred out. But not yet. We still love singing along to our favorite songs until our voices are gone. It's so so much fun.

We paid 14 sacajaweas for the piano people to play Tamara a birthday song and bring her on stage. I guess they really liked our tip because they even put a massive hat on her head and made her dance. Mwuah ha ha ha ha. Of course, she was the best birthday dancer ever.

Um...so....sometimes I get jealous because Brandon is prettier than me. Seriously, how did it work out that his eyelashes are longer and curlier than mine? And he has naturally rosy cheeks. It's not fair. It's just not fair. Hmph.

Quoty Quote Quote

"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forward."

-Soren Kierkegaard

Photo: "The Box" canyon, Southern Utah.