Day Two in Sourdough City

An interesting tree on Alcatraz Island

The Indians brought "The Man" to their knees on Alcatraz

The San Francisco Skyline as seen from The cell of the Birdman of Alcatraz...except no bars.

Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge

I thought it was cool that this sign was still up.

On the Hornblower going to Alcatraz

Convict number 1387

Alcatraz was first a bird sanctuary, then a civil war fort and prison, then a federal penitentiary then a gathering place for dissatisfied native Americans and finally a national monument and bird sanctuary.

This is one of the cells that the three prisoners escaped from, never to be seen again.  They dug through the ventilation shaft with spoons

The old Civil war prison bunks

The six painted sisters

Famous Fisherman's Wharf of San Francisco

Ahhh...how cute.

Sarah and Scuba Sam

We spent the day with Sarah's Aunt Lisa and her Uncle Tim

Day 2

We spent the day with Tim and Lisa Cornelius.  They live in San Jose, but decided to spend the night so they could hang with us.  Thanks!  We had a blast.  Sarah arranged a double decker bus tour for the four of us.  It rained this day in the morning, but was beautiful weather the rest of the day and weekend.  We saw a lot of the city on this tour, with stops at the Golden Gate bridge, Presidio, Golden Gate Park, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, etc.  We also went to Alcatraz.  We really had a fun time.  There are so many things to take pictures of in the city, but I only put a few on here to give you a taste.  If you have not been, you need to go.

Whistle While You Work

I have been meaning to write about this for a couple weeks now. You know what they say, "Better late than never".

When Sarah and I were in Puerto Rico we visited Old San Juan. This is, as I described before, a very hilly town with narrow streets and old buildings. It is quite beautiful....until the sun starts to set. The stores start to close up shop around 6:30-7pm and they each place on the sidewalk their bags and bags of trash. LOADS OF STINKY REFUSE!!!! Seriously, this beautiful town turned to a stinky dump in a matter of minutes. The trash was piled up everywhere, there were suddenly rats and cockroaches everywhere and the smell was less than appealing.

Then came the trash truck with the trash men. I loved these guys! They have, quite possibly, the worst job in all of San Juan. Dealing with other peoples garbage in a tight space. This was not anything like picking up garbage in American Fork, Utah. At one point, one of the plastic bags from a restaurant broke open and spilled onto the street below. The trash man scooped it with his hands the best he could and then moved on. Why do I love these guys? Their entire approach to this awful task was admirable. Firstly, their truck was painted with tropical and paradisical flowers. The stereo was blaring reggae music and the workers were dancing and singing along. There is a great lesson we can learn from these people.

Attitude is everything. I manage two teams for PMI, customer service and saves. My team constantly deal with quitters, whiners, excuse makers, liars and the like. Some of the people we deal with are quite rude, profane and real a**holes! It would be very easy for the weak minded to allow these people to dictate our attitudes. Some of my workers may rather have the San Juan trash job on some days! Regardless of the people we have to deal with or the trash we have to shovel, each of us have the ability to determine our own attitudes. While it can be difficult at times, we can not forfeit our control to other people or circumstances. This is not always easy to do, but it can be done. I have this down...generally...but the trash men of San Juan have it mastered!

And the World Tour Continues

A restaurant in China Town

Our Hotel, the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental

Grace Cathedral

Huntington Park

Cable Car Museum

YEAH!!!! Cable Cars!!!!

Day 1

Both Sarah and I have been to San Francisco as children, but not since we have been married. The first day was very relaxing. First, we checked into our room at the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental. This is a very nice and old hotel on Nob Hill. The room was a little small, but it was lavishly decorated and made you feel like a success. I got sick of handing out tips left and right! After resting for a few minutes, we walked around a bit. We went to Grace Cathedral, which our room looked over. What an amazing building, so beautiful with the stained glass. The architecture was awesome! A humongous structure made entirely of stone. I know the tabernacle in SLC is a great feat, but it doesn't hold a candle to the Grace Cathedral. We walked around Huntington Park and then to China town and the Cable Car museum. This museum was not so much a museum as it was a tour of how the cable cars work. We saw the working wheels and got to go underground to see the cables in action. Not a lot of action really, just a cable turning on a wheel. It was neat none the less. We left most of the activities for the final day. We had lunch at the Top of the Mark which had a simple California cuisine menu and breathtaking 360 degree views of San Francisco. We had dinner in our room. Between the two meals it cost $113. Everything is expensive in San Fran.

Pay It Forward

Many of you may remember the Memorial Day race last year that my neighborhood helped to sponsor, The Run For Rudy. For those that don't remember or know about it, here is a recap. A neighbor, Eric Rudy, had leukemia and was in need of a bone marrow transplant that he could not pay for or did not have the insurance to cover. Our neighborhood helped to sponsor the annual Memorial Day 1 mile and 5 K race that is held each year in American Fork. Thanks to the money raised by the race as well as the many generous donations of neighbors, friends, family and friends of friends and family, Eric was able to receive a successful bone marrow transplant and has beaten cancer! Yeah!

This year, Eric still is grateful for the help and support he received and has decided to pay it forward. He and the neighborhood again are helping to sponsor the race on Memorial Day with the proceeds going to Katie Cox and her three little girls who recently lost their father, Ryan Cox. This year it will be called The Run for Ryan. If you have read my blog, you will be familiar with this tragedy. If not, you can read it here. The proceeds will go to Katie and her family to use as they feel necessary. It is great to live in such a great community that takes care of their neighbors as family.

If you would like to donate to the cause, you can send money to me and I will pass it along. Checks should be written to the Ryan Cox Memorial Fund. Thank you all for helping in the past with Eric and his family and thank you in advance for helping with Ryan Cox and his family. It will feel good to give. I promise.

Here is an article with Katie and Eric that was in the Daily Herald here in Utah County. http://www.heraldextra.com/content/view/266154/13/

God Don't Make no Yunque! In this Case He Did!

Today was filled with Kodak moments

Sarah and I resting on the trail back from the waterfall

This is a flower from the Flamboyant Tree

What a coy boy

Sarah in deep thought..."Maybe Marque is right about moving to the Caribbean"

LaMina Falls

WOW!!!  Look at that six pack!

Jim and Sam

I thought the trunk and bark of this tree was sooo coloroful.  The camera can not capture it

El Yunque National Forest

Jim at Coca Falls

A watch tower built by the Forest service to watch the forest.  One of two.  

Brave Sarah

Day 6

Today was a fun day.  We drove to El Yunque National Forest.  It is the only Tropical Rain Forest in the Nations Forest system.  It used to be called the Caribbean National Forest, but George W. just renamed it El Yunque to reflect the heritage of the Taino Indians that inhabited the island and called it by that name.  Yunque means White Lands in their language.  The protected forest is 28,000 acres of thick growth.  It is cooler than the rest of the island, but the humidity still makes it very sticky.  The flora and fauna are amazing.  The ferns grow to be 40 feet tall in some places!  

The highlight of the forest was the hike to La Mina falls.  It is a one mile hike steep and downward to the falls.  It was quite tough on my arthritic knees, but the scenery distracted my thoughts from the pain...for the most part.  When you reached the bottom of the trail you find La Mina falls.  It is very pretty, but people mostly enjoy it for the refreshing dip you can take in the pools below.  You can tell by the video of Sarah that the water was very cold.  I didn't go in the water because I didn't want to hike out wet.  It was fun watching the others though.  

We also visited a cool watch tower built by the US Forest Service.  It was 98 spiraling steps to the top, with several opportunities to enjoy the view on the way up.  We bought a Coqui frog for Elijah as he likes frogs, or at least he used to.  He didn't seem too interested in the frog when we gave it to him.  These Coqui frogs have a unique sound, more of a whistle, that they make all the time.  It drove Sarah crazy, but I thought it was peaceful like crickets.  

We ended the day with a trip to Loquillo beach to have something to eat.  They have along the beach these Kiosks that serve food and play music.  We had some local cuisine and then headed back to the resort.  A good day helped us forget yesterday in Ponce.  By the way, DON'T GO TO PONCE!!!

A Waste of Time

This was the view from our table at the restaurant El Balcon de Capitan in Santa Isabella

The same view the other direction

A church in Ponce

Me and my bros in the Parque de Bombas

We got excited when we saw this Chinese Restaurant, or Restaurant Chino

DAY 5

Sarah's uncle Tim, used to live in Puerto Rico.  Before our trip, he filled her in regarding all the different towns in Puerto Rico and what to do there.  We did not have the opportunity to visit every town, but something Tim said made Sarah want to visit Ponce.  My advice to Tim regarding his advice about Ponce is to simply tell others NOT TO GO THERE!!!!!!  This place sucked!  We would have had more fun and more to do in Tijuana!  The tourist center gave us a map of all the points of interest that Ponce had to offer.  One by one, we walked to each location only to find it either closed, fallen down or boarded up and condemned.  After spending two hours that we will never, ever get back we decided to leave the hole that is Ponce.  Insult to injury....someone hit us in the car!  We spent an hour or so waiting for the police to come as they were all occupied with the Ponce Mayor's speech in town.   

One place that was open was the Museum of the History of Ponce.  The tour guide offered much insight to the political and social beliefs of Puerto Rico.  Unfortunately it was not enough to help us change our mind regarding Ponce.

So, in summary, DON'T GO TO PONCE!!!!!  It has a cool name, but not worth the time, money or energy.

Coastin' to Culebra!

Jim and Scott found this old pier on one end of the beach

Flamenco Beach has been rated the #2 most beautiful beach in the world by the Travel Channel

I think Scotty liked this place

I know we liked it.

I fell asleep on the beach, but it was really windy.  By the time I got up, my ear was FILLED with sand.

I found this tank on the other side of the beach.  Evidently the Navy and Air Force used to use this beach for target practice.

I'm too sexy for this tree.

Day 4

This day started WAY too early.  Our limo van picked us up at 6am and we headed to Fajardo which took us 2 and 1/2 hours.  Once in Fajardo, we caught the ferry to the Isle de Culebra.  This is a small island with not a whole lot on it.  We caught a shuttle to Flamenco beach which the Travel Channel has ranked as the second most beautiful beach in the world.  It lived up to it's billing.  It had the softest sand.  It wasn't really sand, as much as it was ground shells.  It was so light and fine.  At one point, I fell asleep on the beach.  It was a little windy and sand got everywhere.  It took several trips to the ocean, pool and shower to rid my hair and skin of the stuff.  

We did a bit of swimming in the ocean and a little snorkeling.  The water was warm and clear.  Samantha fell asleep on the beach while the rest of us went walking.  She regretted it later as she got soooo burned.  Jim and Scott found this beautiful pier and Sarah and I found a couple of tanks.  When we turned the corner, the first thought that entered my mind was "What the Freak?!"  The tank was painted with colorful island type graffiti as well as the letters "WTF?".  I thought that was funny.  

When we first arrived at Flamenco beach, we had some chicken skewers bar-b-qued by a local vendor.  It was good.  The beach has a way of sapping your energy and making you hungry, so on our way back to the ferry terminal we stopped at some local dive for a burger.  There is something about eating at a local joint by the water.  I believe everything tastes better there.  

By the time we got home, we had enough energy to play a card game and eat...again.  This is when we discovered Martin's BBQ.  They are much like El Pollo Loco only better...if you can imagine!  A beautiful day but a long day.