Saturday 18th August So as per usual we were awake by about 6am. I’d been woken a few times in the night by much yelling and car screeching in the streets. We’d pre-booked Alcatraz and were damn grateful as it turned out that the next available tickets were on 27th August. As we’d driven for so long the day before, we decided to walk to Pier 33 as Google maps claimed it was a 40 minute walk. But Google map makers must be über fit! It certainly woke me up scaling Lombard St at 8.30 am! But at least it was fairly clear for taking photos. We were on the first trip of the day and the journey across the water was windy and cold. Alcatraz was interesting (I’ve been once before in 2009 and it’s ... read more

Saturday 11 August After a 7 hour flight to Philadelphia and a 6 hour flight to Seattle, we finally arrived. Tim and Stacey were waiting at baggage claim and got there long before our luggage did! I still find it weird that baggage claim is next to the exit in American airports if you’d already landed somewhere else within the States. Glyn and I were relieved to get our baggage through after telling customs we had no alcohol or food when our luggage contained M&S Jubilee beer and chocolates that barely kept us within the weight limit. So concerned I’d been about the weight and had left clothes behind, that I clean forgot to check how much alcohol I was actually allowed to bring in - if any! We’d landed at around 7pm local time and ... read more