Wednesday, June 27 - Alcatraz

Finally we got online tickets for the shuttle and tour of Alcatraz island. We didnt want to drive all the way back to San Francisco, so we drove to Fremont and took the BART to the Embarcadero - PIER 33.

First view of the rock.....

Alcatraz has so much history - after a federal prison it was taken over by American Indians for a period of time before The Government took control

Walking is the mode of transportation on Alcatraz

Back when it was prison, the families that lived on the island were able to plant flower and vegetable gardens - some of those garden still remain

If you go to Alcatraz - you must take the audio walking tour - very informative and it walks you thru all the key places in the prison

Austere accomodations - there would be a bed attached to the wall opposite the shelves

the view from the exercise yard - thru barbwire the Golden Gate stands

Hard to live on the rock and be able to view one of the most vibrant cities in the world -               San Francisco

June 15, 16 and 17th - US OPEN

The golf tournament was exciting and we hope everyone watched the dramatics unfold as Jim Furyk fell apart as Webb Simpson held off Graeme McDowell and Michael Thompson to win the 2012 U.S. Open, his first major title.

Unfortunately we can't take cameras onto the course during Tournament days.
We were able, this year, to carry our smart phones with us as volunteers.

Here are a couple of pics along Market Street during those last days in the city.

Lock Love - A collection of locks on a chain link fence

On our way to the BART, we ran into this avid GOLFER and Volunteer

On Sunday – we all went to the course to watch the action. The fog started to roll in and Debbie and I rolled out (wuss’ed-out) and caught the BART back to the apartment and still caught the last 4 hours of the tournament.  Ed and Kathy tuffed it out and stayed for the entire tournament.

We had a great time - everyone should try and volunteer at the Professional tournaments....



Thursday, June 14 -Half-Moon Bay- Goof-Off Day 2

We were all off today, so we packed up the car and headed to Half Moon Bay.  It was a bit nippy on the coast this morning.   We found a golf course Eddie played 12 years ago on the coast –    Half Moon Bay - The Ocean Course

I know i could lose balls here....

Ed, really wanted to come back and play....



Check out that Club House...



And found a local brewery for lunch -    Half Moon Bay Brewery Co

And we drove up and down the coast looking for an old lighthouse Point Montara Lighthouse           Point Montara Lighthouse

Although less than 100 miles from San Francisco the shore line looked much like BIG SUR



DEB & ED



Looks like a family picture taken from the rocks :>)



O yea, the LIGHTHOUSE



Wednesday, June 13 - PIER 39 - Goof-Off Day 1

Today, Eddie had to work at the course leaving Kathy, Debbie and I to our own plans. We decided to go down to Fisherman’s wharf and check out the ALCATRAZ tour for Debbie and I. We decided to take the MUNI to the beginning of trolley lines that runs the closest to the wharf…..Here’s a video of the ride…..it was a another beautiful day.. . 

WE had no luck finding an ALCATRAZ ticket for this week…..but did get to go later in the month.

Tuesday, June 12 - US OPEN Practice Day 2

Tuesday, was a workday for Eddie and I , so we were up early and gone by 6-ish to catch the BART.  Ed worked with spotters around the course to record golfer’s locations and I worked one of the 18thgreen grandstands. The weather again was fantastic, beautiful sunny day. 

Tiger toooo close to the sand trap

Jim Furyk would be in the running for the championship

Definitely needed a map on the course

Eddie working hard



A look up the 8th fairway



While we were at the golf course, Debbie and Kathy hung out at the apartment and scoured the neighborhood for the best lunch and dinner places….

Monday, June 11 - US OPEN Practice day 1

The first day of Practice Rounds for the US OPEN. Practice for the golfers and practice for the volunteers as well. We all had work assignments today.

Debbie and Kathy were assigned to one of the Corporate Hospitality Tent cities on the course – Eddie’s assignment was to work a scoreboard and for the practice rounds, which meant,  keeping track of what hole the golfers were on while on the course – I think it was more like a poor-man’s golfers GPS system – but helped notify guests of where their favorite golfer was. And myself, I was assigned to the 7^th green grandstands.  

The Course – is a huge challenge for golfer and spectator alike. Many elevation changes . The weather was great – in the sun you were warm and ready to break a sweat – in the shade you were looking for an exra sweater or jacket.

 Volunteer Tent....

 Driving range with Padraig

As I mentioned earlier, we chose to live in the city close to a BART station. So every day we went to the course we would walk down Market Street.  Market street is home to many homeless, a staggering sight to see fellow humans sleeping and living on the sidewalk..

Sunday, June 10

Once up and moving and after a fruitful breakfast, we bid a fond farewell to Marilynn, and headed towards MUIR WOODS NATIONAL MONUMENT.

 The walking tour was just excellent. And Thank YOU to JOHN MUIR for being the conservationist he was, preserving forests like this for generations to see and experience.  More info on JOHN MUIR


We stopped in Sausalito for a picnic lunch before heading back over to San Francisco.  Where we had lunch was very picturesque.

2 years ago, based on available information from the USGA we all decided we would try and find an apartment in San Francisco and take the BART to the COLMA Station for pickup/shuttle to the golf course.  It all worked out great !!

Living in the city brought back a lot of memories…and constant noise at night. 
We found our apartment in the HAYES VALLEY district of San Francisco, along with some great restaurants and unique dessert choices…..A very eclectic area.

 We had the left hand side of this apartment building.

Saturday, June 9

The US OPEN week started off with picking up Ed and Kathy at the San Francisco Airport and heading towards San Rafael. We had made arrangements thru PEO for a B&B in San Rafael, so we planned to spend the day/evening on that side of the bay.   But, my word, there are many many many motorists making their way over the Golden Gate Bridge.

After crossing the GG Bridge we turned to the coast and drove to Stinson Beach for lunch. WOW – Highway 1 at this point is the curviest, roller coaster ride you would ever want to take.

After lunch we found our way back to San Rafael and met our PEO hostess Marilynn. Marilynn has a fabulous house- a sprawling ranch with many gardens and a pool in the back yard. And at 90 years of age is still very active in her gardens and church and obviously PEO. Unfortunately we don’t have picture of Marilynn, we will just have to go back…..

For dinner we went over to TIBURON and found a very nice area on the bay for a wedding anniversary celebration for Debbie and I. Can you beleive we didn't take one picture...da

Monday June 4 - Moving Day

Yes, it is moving day again...... we are packing up to take a relatively short trip  to Gilroy California - GARLIC Capital of the World ....


We took the 101 North - by far one of the most beautiful road trips anyone could take. The mountains, the vinyards, the farmland all picture perfect. Before we arrived in Gilroy we ran into a hellacious thunderstorm. The clouds came over the mountains and started to blanket the farm land....very cool.  

We finally made it to Gilroy. We are staying at the GILROY GARLIC USA RV PARK .
Nice growing town. Becoming a bedroom community to San Jose...... It will work well for a home base while we are in San Francisco.