New Year’s Eve in San Francisco

I arrived in San Francisco after some 12 hours of travel (by van to Nashville, flight to Dallas, flight to SFO). Gwen retrieved me from the airport and took me to the current Rhoton West establishment — a spacious apartment located a block from the edge of Golden Gate Park and some 10-12 blocks from the Pacific Ocean.

I saw a seagull fly by the kitchen window earlier today, but I really didn’t realize how close to the edge of the continent I am until I went with King to wait for the bus taking us to downtown SF (meeting Gwen at the Warfield for the Eve’s concert celebration). King pointed back at the other end of the street.

“See that dark line on the horizon?” he said.

“Um, sure, ” I replied.

“That’s the ocean,” he patiently explained.

Wow, I thought. It might have been a hill or a bank of clouds — I hadn’t noticed it. On Saturday I’ll probably get a chance to see the Pacific for the first time (from a closer vantage point than a bus stop).

At the Warfield we saw Hot Tuna (with one of Jefferson Airplane’s founders) and Planet Drum (with Grateful Dead’s drummers). King and I didn’t hang around to see Rat Dog, but the rest of the Grateful Dead fans seemed to be having a groovy time.