Wert - day 13

Wednesday, June 15, 2022

Waiting in line for a short ferry ride to Alcatraz Island.  Masks are required.  It's the only place on the trip that has strictly enforced masks.  Good thing we brought some.

My preconceived notion was that Alcatraz would be a barren, dismal rock. I was pleasantly surprised.  There's beauty everywhere; you just have to look for it.  Lovely flowers were growing all over the island, and several kinds of birds were nesting there. Check out this adorable baby seagull. Who knew they were spotted?

Beauty and new life blossoming in a place of desolation.

Gorgeous flowers growing out of a concrete wall on Alcatraz.  The symbolism really spoke to me. 

We took a tour of the main prison building. It was way more interesting (and sad) than I had anticipated. One prisoner talked about how he used his imagination to picture himself in the Swiss Alps.  Another prisoner in isolation would throw a button from his jacket and search for it until he found it in the darkness of his tiny cell and repeat this activity all day long to distract himself from his situation.  I go on imaginary trips and make up mental games for myself to escape the boredom of my job on slow days, and these poor guys were doing similar things to escape their horrible reality.  The human spirit is indomitable. Except when it's not.  I stood in front of a picture of a former prisoner, looked into his eyes, read his story, and cried.  He was sent to Alcatraz for stealing $16.38, slipped into a depression at Alcatraz, received no help for his mental health, and was shot at age 40 while trying to scale a wall. He just needed a little help. Heartbreaking. I had to go back outside and look at the flowers and birds. Alcatraz turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the whole trip.  

Seagull flying over Alcatraz. Freedom and hope.

We were planning to catch the 2:35 ferry off the island and go to our 4:00 paragliding appointment, but the pilot called and said we should come as soon as possible because strong winds were forecast for later.  This was our last chance to do this, and we didn't want to miss it, so we put a rush on it.  While Mike drove, I scurried around in the backseat of the rental car, trying to switch gears on the fly to get ready for what was coming.  I folded down the back of the seat and crawled into the trunk to access the suitcase with the long underwear and gloves.  I changed my clothes in the cramped backseat, licked peanut butter out of a tiny container since we weren't going to have time to eat, and packed a bag.  Stuff was strewn all over, which we would have to deal with later.  

We parked at Mussel Rock and climbed a steep cliff to get to the launch point.  Mike's pilot was Kabib.  He was friendly and talked with Mike during the flight and pointed out whales.  My pilot was Hernan, who barely spoke English.  I thought at one point he may have said "many whale" but I wasn't sure, and I didn't see any whales.  I did see lots of pelicans that I had noticed flying above us when we were still on the ground, and now they were flying below us.  We were way up there high in the sky.  Hernan started doing some crazy maneuvers, dipping and tossing in the wind. My stomach dropped onto the beach and I thought I might hurl.  Hernan said, "You like?" and I smiled apologetically and felt like a wuss as I said, "Not really".  Meanwhile Kabib saw us doing it, so he did it too.  Mike's reaction was the same as mine, which made me feel less wussy.  

When we were on the cliff, about to take off, Hernan strapped himself to me and said, "Run to ocean."  I ran until the ground disappeared and my feet were just kicking in the air, and Hernan laughed and said, "Stop running."  We floated high over the ocean and it was peaceful.  I wanted to lean back against Hernan so I could relax, but I didn't think we had that kind of relationship, so I supported my own body like a big girl.  After about 30 minutes, he said, "Legs up to land" so I shot my legs out. He laughed and said, "Not yet."  A couple minutes later, he said, "Legs up now" and I did and then all the sudden he yelled, "Stand up now!" and I stood up in the air and landed on my feet on the ground. 

Mike's takeoff was not as smooth and his landing was a little harder.  

It was an amazing experience, and I'm glad we did it, but I don't need to do it again.  We were both nauseated for a long time even after we landed.  We checked into the Vagabond Inn and ate a strange mix of leftovers for dinner. Oatmeal, stir fry, banana.  Our only requirements for tonight's hotel were: cheap, close to the airport, and free parking.  It met all those requirements and was actually pretty great!  We had a good view of the planes taking off and landing.  We went to bed and set the alarm for 2:51 a.m.  We didn't sleep much.