Alcatraz Island - The Rock

Today - I FINALLY made it to Alcatraz. My co-worker, Ryan, and I took the boat ride out to the rock, and explored the corridors of the historic prison. The scenery looking back at San Francisco was absolutely beautiful, but the prison has such an ominous feeling. The grounds of the island were beautiful -- but those were probably most enjoyed by the prison guards and their families...and the people who visit now.

After Alacatraz we spent the rest of the day with our other co-workers, Jason and Mary (they got sent back to us in California!), Beth (worked with Beth in Mexico), Nate, and Gaby. We stuffed our faces with food and watched lots of football. Even though Baby Peyton Manning is in the Super Bowl, I am glad my other least favorite quarterback didn't make it to the big game. Maybe it's time to retire Brett Favre.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Since this past Sunday there have been rain storms non-stop here! These storms are not just small storms. but more like torrential downpours! This rain is supposed to take a break for the weekend, but then resume next Monday. The winds have whipped through the refinery and the town -- I had to grip the steering wheel soo tight when driving over the bridge today.

Luckily the refinery has provided us with some sweet rain gear. I was also able to convince the operators to get me a new pair of goggles teal/aqua in color...my favorite color of the moment. The one benefit about being a girl in a refinery is that if you need to hardly bat an eyelash and things will come your way :)

Above is a picture of me in my raingear and googles during a break in the storms. If you look behind me you can see the only good thing about the end of a rainstorm -- rainbows! This was actually a full rainbow with a double rainbow on top of it. The other picture is a closer picture of the rainbow and part of the refinery.

Adventures to the City

Even though I spent 5 weeks here last September/October I really didn't get a chance to explore the city of San Francisco. I have decided that it would be different this time! :)

I started on Monday when Mary convinced me to come to her "last" day in the city (Mary and Jason are coming back to San Fran for the third time - we will be glad to have them!). We took the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) which dropped us off at the Embarcadero stop right in the middle of the Financial District.

We first did some shopping in China town -- I bought some cute Asian things to put on our shelves in Palatine. Here is a picture of the street that we were on :

After Chinatown, we walked through what I believe is called North Beach or something...but it should be called little Italy. There were sooo many Italian restaurants and shops I wanted to stop and eat lunch -- but we kept moving towards the pier!

We spent a lot of time at Pier 39 we shopped and hung out with the goofy Sea Lions. Even though there weren't a ton of them on the piers yet -- they hang out on the platforms Jan - October -- they were so loud! We also stopped by Fisherman's Warf which was very cool to finally see. Here is a picture of me at Pier 39 with Alcatraz in the far background.

Overall it was a successful day -- I can't wait to bring my parents to see the sites and possibly ride up the crazy hills on a trolley!

Back, Back, Back to Cali . . .

Hey all --

After the wonderful holidays I am back to blogging. I hope everyone's holidays were as great as mine :)

So -- I am back to the San Francisco area. It is not warm but its a lot warmer than Chicago. The weather is mid 50s - 70s. I arrived back in the area last night (Sunday) to be greeted by my work friends and crew grilling delicious steaks, chicken, and pineapple.

This assignment has me working at a different refinery in Benicia, California on a new technology. I am looking forward to the new challenge!

Mary and I went to explore the city today but I am too sleepy to load pictures. I promise that I will post them soon!