Cloudy California

 My plan was to go to the Flower Conservatory today, but alas they are closed on Mondays. So here is the outside of the building. *sigh*

I've been up since 4 am, so I'm fading fast, but wanted to post these. I waffled a bit, but pushed myself a little to go down to Golden Gate Park. I wish I had more time to do it, but I had a good time. It was a three leg trip each way: ride the shuttle from the hotel back to the airport, pick up a train from there to a bus stop and then transfer to a bus the rest of the way. Going over to the airport, I rode with a couple of ladies who were going down to the wharf (The Wharf?) downtown. I imagine if the security camera footage in the train station was ever reviewed, they'd get a good laugh out of the three of us trying to negotiate the ticket vending machines.

The bus didn't follow the same route coming back, so I thought I had missed my stop and had to ask a knowledgable high schooler whether this was the case. That would have been a bummer, but all was fine. It was a little exhausting, all that paying attention, but I'm glad I went. 

Since the Flower Conservatory was closed, I wandered around a bit. I only had about an hour, so didn't feel purchasing admission to the CA Academy of Sciences was justified. I did ask if they had a reciprocity agreement such that I could use my Denver science museum membership, but no dice. I went to the Japanese Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park and that was very nice. Despite being winter here, things were pretty darn green. There is some cool detail on the roof of this building. One of the ponds had several of the largest koi I've ever seen. Fat and happy. 

I had dinner with my collaborators, and we talked a bit about the work I'm doing as it relates to the research questions they have. So far so good. My talk is at 8:30 instead of 8, so that's good news. And now, I must go to bed. So tired!