Local Tourists - Angel Island

Mum has wanted to go to Angel Island for an age. I had gone awhile back with Rachael and had since offered to go with Mum, but she wanted to go with Dad or someone who was just as enthusiastic as her. When Connor hear this he told her, "I don't know of anyone more enthusiastic than me!" We hit the tipping point and Dad decided to come along too. So one Saturday, we got up earlier than anyone cared to and drove to San Francisco. It was a misty morning and we enjoyed walking in the ferry building, getting some tea, and waiting for our ferry. The ride out was quite fun and Connor was especially happy. He usually is whenever he's on a boat.

We passed Alcatraz, circled around the back of Angel Island before creeping up, just behind the Tiburon ferry. 

After docking, we searched for a patch. Angel Island is in the middle of a rebranding, so they don't have their own patch just yet. A very helpful lady did let us into the gift shop (that was closed that day) so I could get this patch and took my info for when the Angel Island one becomes available.

The thing Dad had wanted to do the most was visit the detention center. Angel Island was the Ellis Island of the West. This center is where everyone came through when entering the bay. The majority of the immigrants coming through were Chinese. They were not treated well.

Many Chinese carved into the walls. Workers at the detention center assumed it was graffiti and would putty over the words and repaint the walls. As it turned out, the writing was poetry and almost every single wall is covered. I loved how the center had a section where different layers have been lifted so you can see the various states the poems had been in. Most of the walls have the slight dimples of puttied over characters. The museum did a beautiful job explaining the poems and had English translations, although I'm sure they are much more vivid in their original language.

The poems are suppose to be read out in Cantonese for the best effect

After we toured the museum, we headed out and had a look at the bell and memorial walls around the site. Mum had a look inside the bell. I thought she looked silly.

Although we were hungry, we collectively decided to walk to the top of Angel Island before having our picnic lunch. It is quite a climb, but the view is worth it. You can see 360 degrees around you. Dad pointed out that 180 of those degrees were fog. I managed to snap a picture in between the swaths of fog floating by.

As we hiked back down, Mum commented on how she was just about out of water. We ended up passing by some sort of work party in the lower picnic area and they offered us not only water, but cookies as well. Mum was quite pleased on how we seemed to get rewarded for hiking.

We caught our ferry and enjoyed the views as we headed back. Of course that isn't the end of the story...

We didn't know that it was only the last ferry of the day that goes back to the ferry building. The one we were on would go to Pier 39, then Angel Island, then back to Pier 39 before going to the ferry building. We opted to walk the nearly 1.5 miles (2k) back. Needless to say, by the end of the day we were all tired and ready for dinner. But it was a good kind of tired where you feel you earned extra chips and guac.

Knitworthy

Dad's birthday has come and gone, so he now has the sweater. I asked for a quick photo shoot today and we took only two pictures... total. One of the front.

And one of the back. I'm glad to have such an awesome Dad to knit for. (For the record, he is completely knit-worthy. Every knitted gift has been well used.)
The only mod I made to this pattern was to tack down the collar rather than install toggles. To help keep the tension off of one point in the collar, I tacked down both sides and across the top of where I wanted it to attach. The yarn is Naturally Mainlander Aran in color 862 and the pattern is Brownstone.

Meanwhile on the Canon Hand Dyes KAL front, I think I have finally nailed down a stockinette sock that fits. Usually my gauge is really loose. (Like a 56 stitch sock with size 0 needles loose.) I had noticed that my gauge has been tightening up recently (not sure why) so I cast on 60 stitches for the sock. I figured that would be enough ease. I knit the whole leg and turned the heel, started the gusset when I finally decided that it really was too tight, so rip, rip, rip. Then I cast on 64 stitches (much better), turned the heel, started the gusset, and decided that the stripes could match up a bit better, so rip, rip, rip. Then I put in the full gusset, and realized that I had reversed my preferred placement of the decreases. Rather than rip (because it was getting really old at this point) I dropped down and made all the k2togs into ssks and vice versa. I think I have finally got a sock that looks and fits great. Hopefully when i get to the second one, it goes a bit more smoothly. (Again, this is why I don't do two at a time socks.)

Has anyone else been ripping more than they've been knitting recently?

Chess For The Win

I know I have mentioned this before, but Chess is my favorite game to play. I love the strategy. The concentration. And the winning. Especially the winning.

There are different levels of gloating one can do depending on how glorious the win was. If almost all the pieces are off the board, the win isn't nearly as good as a win where hardly any pieces were taken. (In a recent game, I surprised myself when I won. I didn't realize that my "check" was really a "checkmate". I only lost a bishop in the game.)

I only have one opponent: my Dad. There are rules in place to prevent cheating. Neither of us is allowed to read a strategy book. It would take all the fun out of it. I love the board too. The box is beaten up. One of the rooks was eaten by Scooter and later repaired by my brother (as a Christmas gift to me.) If I were to only receive one item as an inheritance, it would be this board.

Does anyone else have a favorite game, or a favorite memory regarding a game? I'd love to hear it!

Old Man Of The Mountain

The rain had been pretty heavy for awhile, but it cleared up for just long enough that I was able to go on a hike with my parents the other day.

We went to a place that was once an old orchard. It has long since been abandoned.

I didn't even know the trees still produced fruit until this hike. Mum picked up a couple apples and brought them home.

Mum and Dad were quite patient while I was taking pictures. (Dad is wearing one of my bear hats)

The hike has lots of downhill near the beginning, which means there is lots of uphill later on. I hardly noticed it. I just kept running from mushroom to mushroom all the way up.

Mum said it was the easiest hike she had done in awhile because there were so many stops on the way up.

The rain made several beautiful waterfalls.

And the old man of the mountain appeared.