Nelson

Today was a really cool day.

As planned, we went over to Alcatraz this afternoon. Wow, was that interesting, creepy, and cool all rolled into one. The self-guided audio tour around the former federal penetentiary had more than just details of what was what, but also stories of things that happened within the walls of the cellblock and sound effects that made you feel a little bit like you were really "there". Since I'm such a trivia geek, I thought I'd share a few things with you that we learned today. Did you know that the main corridor of the cellblock is known as "Broadway", and another is known as "Michigan Ave."? How about this...Al Capone served four years on "The Rock" because of tax evasion. We also learned that many of the prisoners who did time at Alcatraz were guys who did bad things in other prisons and were sent to Alcatraz as punishment. Did you know that the Birdman of Alcatraz didn't actually take his birds along with him...but it was said that he did have a number of very annoying behaviors? How about that there was a riot in the cafeteria that was caused by the fact that the cooks served spaghetti AGAIN. There is, of course, mor to the story than that...but theoretically, that's what caused the riot, particularly as the quality of the spaghetti continually dropped off.

Tonight, we went out to dinner with my Aunt Lois, Uncle Steve, and my cousin Denise, her husband Todd and their son Jack. It was so fun to visit with them and catch up again. We saw them back in July at a family reunion, but it's always nice to see all of them. We had great conversation for a couple of hours, and enjoyed Jack's company. He's only 11 months (in a few days), but he's communicating pretty well...especially when he noticed the helium baloons.

Tomorrow, it's back on the road after our two-day stop in San Francisco. Molly will be bummed. She has really enjoyed the hours without travel. But we're expecting to make it to LA in time for Thanksgiving by Tuesday night.

By the way...I did think it was very cool, and very thoughtful, that my friend Mick called me from Husky Stadium on Saturday afternoon during the final seconds of the Apple Cup, he let me hear the crowd and the celebration. Thanks Mick...it did make me feel like a part of it all.