From Lofty Heights

I am overjoyed that my traveling buddies Lou and Davey have met up with me again. Last time I saw them was in New Mexico when we spent a few weeks together. Now they are camped right next door to me. I think we are going to caravan together for a while at least until they get sick of me. Besides the fact that I'm happy to hang out with them, they have a fancy little car and they have been driving me into the city for which I am very grateful for. Little San Francisco streets are not made for big pickup trucks.

We decided that one of the premier things we need to do is visit the Golden Gate Park. This park is smack dab in the middle of the city, and it is larger than Central Park in NYC. The park is three miles long and ½ mile wide. There are polo fields, bison herds, lakes, museums and the park supports 19 distinct ecosystems.

The Golden Gate Bridge even has a Ferris wheel, although they call it the SkyStar and not a ferris wheel. Evidently the difference is that on the SkyStar there are enclosed gondolas whereas ferris wheels are open. They still both go up and around just the same.  The SkyStar is 150 feet tall and yes, we did ride. The SkyStar was finished in March of 2020 and immediately shut down because of Covid. It just recently started up again so I guess we can call it brand new.

California is full of Dr. Suess trees

There she is - the SkyStar!

The view from 150 feet in the air

The de Young Museum is a fine arts museum that is right next to the SkyStar. We spent quite a few hours there, a mighty fine museum it was.

Dalisu, New York by Zanele Muholi
I was quite taken by this

From One Night To Another by Yves Tanguy
I've always love Yves Tanguy's work ever since I saw my first one at MIA in Minneapolis.

The de Young had a nine story observation tower that overlooked the plaza.

Situated in front of the SkyStar is a monument dedicated to Francis Scott Key.  One year after the statue was toppled by racial injustice protesters, Key was a slaveholder and the Star Spangled Banner's third stanza contains a defense of bondage, an art exhibit opened called 'Reckoning'.  There are 350 black steel sculptures that represent Africans kidnapped and forced onto a slave ship headed across the sea in 1619.  Those who survived the journey became the first of America's 10 million African slaves.