"Want some green bud?" seems to be the big question in the famous Haight-Ashbury area, where the grooviest part of the 60's is still alive and kicking and stoned out of its mind, duuuuude.

Haight-Ashbury has one of the most colorful mixes of people I've ever seen. Passing two girls on the sidewalk, one of which had black, ragged clothes, a pierced nose and lips, and multi-colored hair, while the other had a bone going through her nose with even more piercings and several tattoos, I couldn't help but bite my lip to keep from giggling and stare. Yet, as extreme as it was, it seems to be about the norm here.

Store after store of drug-related paraphernalia fills the sidewalks. Pipes made to look like everything from lipstick containers to car cigarette lighters to Hi-Lite magic markers are all lined up in rows under glass cases, among hundreds of blacklight posters, candles, stickers, patches and curtain beads.

I walked further down Haight Street into the east end of Golden Gate Park, finding my way past tennis courts, baseball fields, joggers and bicyclists to the California Academy of Sciences. A wonderful science museum for kids of all ages, the Academy of Science is filled with exhibits on space exploration, dinosaurs, underwater life, and much more. One gallery is devoted to Gary Larsen's The Far Side and his comical view on science. You can also visit Earthquake, a ten minute presentation where you can see and feel the effect that quakes have had on this region, including footage of the famous San Francisco quake of 1906.

Tomorrow I leave for a (possibly) three day trip to Yellowstone National Park. It's really begun to sink in that my trip is almost over, and that depresses me a bit. This is such a wonderful country with so much to offer, I'd hate to go back home and be stuck there again for however long. Don't get me wrong. Washington, DC is a great place with a lot to offer, but when you've lived in generally one area for most of your life... well, it can get a bit boring. However, I have to admit I miss my own bed, and my family, and the familiar view outside my bedroom window, and especially my best lil' bud, Rusty (my cat). It's been too long since I've woken up with him gently pawing at my nose.

It's still a long way back. It's almost like I have a whole other country to cross, and I guess in some ways, I do. But like I've said before, all I can do is put my foot on the gas, and see where the road takes me. Eventually, it will take me to the best place on earth. Home.

See you on the road...

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