San Francisco

Today we went to the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked halfway across, but Papa chickened out, so we had to go back. He was nervous that we would fall down into the cold, shark-infested water. Though we didn't see any sharks, it was the same water body as Alcatraz. Alcatraz was notoriously unescapable because it was a jail on an island surrounded by cold water with sharks in it. We found out that to cross the bridge, you had to pay a toll. If you did not have any money, you could leave one of your things behind as a IOU. Some of the weirdest things were, a guitar, a pair of false teeth, a pearl, a toupee, and 4 cans of lima beans. There were also lots of animal encounters on the bridge, like an ostrich, a pelican, some monkeys, and a whale called Humphrey who took a wrong turn. His story is as follows. A whale called Humphrey took a wrong turn. He went up a river in 1985, and got stuck. Some people had to come save him. They used lots of different ideas but nothing worked. Then a marine scientist gave the idea that they could play whale feeding sounds. And it worked! Humphrey followed the sounds back out to the sea. His 3 week mistake was over! 5 Years later he did it again, this time getting stuck on some mud flaps 200 feet from the beach. His human helpers saved him again. Silly Humphrey! The bridge is international orange because that was the colour of the primer, which is an undercoat paint that protects the metal. We then went on a scenic drive to the Muir Woods where there were lots of Red Wood trees. Red Woods are only found in California, Oregon and New Zealand. They are the biggest trees in the world. I did some activities and earned a Junior Ranger Badge. Before I got the badge I had to take an oath. It was stuff like "I will keep learning, helping nature and stay curious." We then went back to the Hotel California and went to sleep.

See you tomorrow

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