Alcatraz Island | San Francisco, California

If you know me, you know that I'm a fan of Unsolved Mysteries and shows like it. I especially like shows where dudes go to haunted places and taunt ghosts. They always feel a chill, but never see a ghost. I can't stand horror movies, but when it comes to the real stuff, I'm all in. My high school best friend Heather is also a fan of these kinds of shows. Her husband, who is also named Mark, booked a tour of Alcatraz Island for Valentine's Day one year. I spazzed over her pics and she promised that we would go one day. Cut to April of 2015, when she heard that we were coming to San Francisco, she immediately booked a tour for us. She's incredible and so thoughtful!

Alcatraz always seemed like one of those places that might be overrated or a tourist trap, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was my first prison tour, so it was really interesting see what it's like. It was really depressing at times and also thought provoking. I loved the inside look into the famous escape by Frank Morris and the Anglin Brothers. I still remember the episode of Unsolved Mysteries about it and wondered if the three survived or not. I guess we'll never know! Either way, it was a fantastic afternoon touring a famous landmark and getting an inside scoop on the infamous island.

Tour of Pixar | Emeryville, California

Visiting Pixar was one of the coolest things Markus and I did when we were in the Bay area. After my meeting in San Francisco, Markus and I stayed with our dear friends Wendy and Jon in Albany, a city on the other side of the Bay. Jon works for Pixar and was gracious enough to take us on a tour of the property and have lunch in the cafeteria. While we walked the grounds, I was just floored with how amazing everything was. Pixar is definitely an amazing company that values their employees. Everyone looked so happy and loved where they worked, which makes sense because it's Pixar! Our entire experience was lovely and the Pixar studio grounds were every bit as wonderful as their movies. 

Golden Gate Bridge | San Francisco, CA

Back in April, Markus and I were able to tag on a vacation to one of my work trips. Thankfully, my cousin Brandy and her husband, Brian flew up from Los Angeles to spend some time with us. We had a great time and one of the coolest things we did was walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Originally, we were just going to take pictures, but somehow we ended up walking across the whole bridge. I think the boys enjoyed it so much that they would've walked all the way to wine country, but Brandy and I were not having any of that. After we made it to the other side, we grabbed a taxi and headed on to the beautiful town of Sausalito.

Muir Woods | San Francisco, California

Earlier this year, Markus and I were lucky enough to group a work trip with a mini vacation in San Francisco. Markus never visited California and this was something that need to be remedied quickly. Thankfully our friends Wendy and John lived in the Bay Area and were nice enough to let us stay with them.

We spent most of our time exploring the Bay Area and the surrounding cities. When we tired of the hustle and bustle of city life, we escaped for a few hours to visit Muir Woods. The park was absolutely stunning and the Sequoias were incredible. I've never seen anything like it and was grateful for the little interlude into the woods.