{alcatraz, pt II}

Here are the rest of the photos I took of Alcatraz! {I posted some yesterday.}

^^this photo & the one above it are from @Large: Ai WeiWei, a fantastic exhibit

the psych ward & hospital:

^^another from @Large

For more info on Alcatraz, visit this website.

{alcatraz}

Easter was a little different this year. While I spent it, like always, with family, we swapped the usual family lunch/dinner for sight-seeing. My step-brother & his girlfriend were in town, so we decided to go to Alcatraz!

Thankfully the rain stopped the moment we got on board, so I could take lots of pictures. I haven't taken HDR photos since December & the clouds were perfect for it yesterday.

You'll notice the weather change throughout the photos, too. About halfway through the afternoon the skies totally cleared up!

There are so many photos I want to share, so I'm splitting this up over two or three posts.

Welcome to Alcatraz...

This place was totally fascinating. Although it's tourist-y, it's definitely worth seeing if you're ever in SF!

Tomorrow I'll share photos of the psych ward & hospital.

{the bridge}

I don't think I've mentioned it on here yet, but my step-sister moved to San Francisco! It's been so much fun having her here in the city.  We were both feeling ready to get out of our cramped quarters for a while, so on Saturday we decided to rent a car & drive to Mt. Tam.  The fresh air felt amazing & just what we needed, although we underestimated how hard the hike would be after all the rain we've had! We were sliding all over the place. 

Saturday was also Madison's first time driving over the GG bridge, so on the way back we stopped at two different lookout points to get some photos. I love any photo with the bridge in the background :) 

^^the skies were perfect for some HDR action

{labor day}

at baker beach

{hiking mt. tam}

I've hiked this mountain a few times now...& it's one of my favorite things to do here. San Francisco is a great city for many reasons, but one of the best things about it is the fact that you can drive 25 minutes outside it & be in the mountains.

My friend Sam & I packed a small picnic, my camera, & our trusty backpacks & headed up there a few weeks ago. We expected clouds & wind, but ended up getting sun & warm weather! It rose up to the high eighties! As a east coaster & midwesterner, we were soaking it up.

There are a ton of trails & parking lots, but we decided to drive as close to the top as we could. We ended up above the clouds. It was so beautiful...it looked like you could just walk across them. We also had a pretty spectacular view of the city. It was the perfect spot.

^^rock theatre

^^road to the clouds