49ers

I know I haven't blogged recently, but today I got to do something really cool. I had a field pass for the San Francisco 49ers game at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. They were up against the Titans, but sadly in the 4th quarter the game completely fell apart, and the niners completely lost it.

We arrived at the game several hours before the start and were able to take lots of pictures on the field of the players practicing and when the game started we got some great action shots. It was funny watching the hundreds of photographers the NFL has, moving around the field, trying to get the best shots possible. It was just shame, that the niners lost.

http://www.49ers.com/

1st Birthday Party

Sorry, It's been a really long time since I have blogged anything. I have been travelling the world for the last few months. I have been to Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas in the United States of America, Tahiti-Nui and Bora Bora in Tahiti, and were about to be head off to Japan tomorrow. I have thousands of photos so when I get the opportunity then I will upload them.

The above is a picture for Ryleigh's 1st birthday party. She is Maleyna's little sister. I got to see my brother, Mr Hyde at the party. His clothes were a little too big so I gave him my clothes so that they fitted perfectly and shared clothes with Harry. I signed the teddy bear which we got for Ryleigh.

Main Street, Martinez

Whilst we were visiting San Francisco, Teresa painted the window of the White Rabbit on Main Street in Martinez. The owner Anne hadn't been planning to decorate the window, but Teresa with her artistic flair offered to help decorate the windows for the holiday season.

We knew that the San Francisco Chronicle were going to be writing an article about the unique stores on Main St., Martinez, but we didn't know that the photographer would be passing whilst Teresa and Sarah were painting the window. They took this great picture of Teresa finishing the inside window.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=
/chronicle/archive/2006/12/14/NSGB8MSEEO1.DTL

Guard Tower

This is a picture of one of the guard towers at Alcatraz. I can imagine with that many prisoners on the island that they would spend hours in the tower looking over the bay and at the prison which they over looked. The wind was very strong whilst we were visiting which took the temperature down several degrees. It would be very cold in the winter with the breeze through the bay.

Seagulls

I could not believe the number of seagulls that we saw on Alcatraz. I got to the point where I was looking at a pair and thought that they had to be plastic because they weren't blinking and were standing perfectly still, and then without any notice they few off to the water. I suppose with Alcatraz being an island they are surrounded by water which must be plentiful with small fish.

Escaping the island

The Alcatraz prison is high above the water on the island and there is a long winding path down to the water and the ferry. The island is now part of the Angel Island State park which you can see behind us in the distance.

San Francisco

The view from Alcatraz is great. If you look to the southwest from Alcatraz then you see the entire city with the marina district in the foreground, the famous streets and skyline behind.

Lighthouse

It is a necessity for Alcatraz island to have a lighthouse due to the location in the bay. The lighthouse is still functioning. If the island didn't have a lighthouse then any of the large cargo vessels or cruise ships which navigate the bay might veer straight into the island. The lighthouse is also an important part of the skyline of the island. The tshirts all feature the lighthouse in some way.

Gale Force Wind

The wind on Alcatraz was very strong. We were standing directly next to the main prison building and the wind felt like it was gale force. I was having problems standing up straight and thought I was going to fly away. If I had a kite then I would have flown away and would have next been seen in the east bay.