Woo! Boredom is still an issue on the back burner, and I'm seriously trying to re-shelf and reorganize all the little bubbles in my life so I can decide what to change... its a big project though.
Anyhow, on to the actual subject of this post! Yesterday I went to Angel Island with my sister Kelly and my friend from Southern Virginia College, Erin. (Erin now lives in San Francisco.) Angel island is a small island off the San Francisco coast. It is only accessible by boat or ferry. The Miwok Indians lived on the island for "thousands" of years before the Spaniards arrived. In the 19th century it served as an Ellis Island of sorts for San Francisco. Ships would stop there to be checked for small pox and other epidemics, if sickness was found onboard, the inhabitants would be quarantined in barracks on the island and the ship would be disinfected with steam. Eventually this became unnecessary and the island was used as a military base and later turned into a state park. There are still a handful of the original buildings on the island, but mostly its a great hiking spot!
Kelly and I met Erin on the Island. We left around 9am from Oakland and took the ferry over to SF, hopped on another ferrry and ended up on the island.
We hiked to the interior of the island and up to the to the top of Mt. Livermore, carefully avoiding the crazy annoying troop of pre-adolescent boy scouts. We hiked from 10:30 to about 1:45, and I think it was around 4-5 miles. Not bad.
I have to admit, as much fun as the island was (not to mention an astounding collection of tiny ecosystems!) I think I liked the ferry ride almost more than the island. Being back on a boat gave my soul a momentary sigh of relief. Being on the ocean feels like home, and its not until I'm back on it that I realize how stressful being landlocked is to me! (I live a tiny bit inland and a good hour and a half from a usable beach) Ugh. Anyhoo, yay for the ferry! Seriously! Nothing like the salt breeze and the feel of the boat swaying.
Funny thing - I have really bad balance. Seriously, I walk into walls. I constantly have a new bruise. My Mom always thought it was just one of those akward phases... yah, 16 years later... still going. On ships I'm practically (dare I say?) graceful. Weird huh? I have a theory that my body actually thinks I'm at sea all of the time. So when I'm actually at sea, I move the right way, and when I'm on land - kabam, splat!
Okay, thats it for now.
Pictures:
In the Oakland Harbor. I somehow forgot to take a picture of our boat. (You're really not missing anything. It was pretty much a rust-bucket.)
Me & Kels. Kelly woke up with a mohawk and decided to just go with it.
(Somehow I just turned on "Underline"... no clue how, and I really don't care about turning it off, so you get to deal with it! Woo!
This is one of my favorite spots on ships... the wake is completely relaxing and slightly hypnotic.
Sailing under the Bay Bridge, at the Treasure Island connector.
One of the remaining historic buildings overlooking Ayala cove. This one used to be a barrack for quarrantined ship passengers and crew.
One of the many, many picture pauses on the trail. Erin, Me & Kels. (The fog finally burnt off!)
Part of the incredible panoramic view from the side of the island (near the top).
Naptime after the hike... the empty pier called our names! (I was sleeping in the middle, but obviously had to get up to snap the pix!)
Lookout! The jellies were out in full force! It made for some fun poking action:
Yes, that is Kelly acting like the 8-year-old kids running up and down the beach, poking the dead jellyfish. Yup. Lol.
The Ferry Ride back was perfect! Sailboats all over the bay and the sunshine was in full swing. (Golden Gate in the far, far distance)
