Parklife

San Francisco

I took a proper look round Golden Gate park yesterday. Or at least as proper a look as you can manage in a day, it would take far longer to get round every corner of the place. The Columbus Day holiday here meant the park was full of people having picnics and making use of the tennis, golf and other sporting facilities. Most popular activity of all though is jogging. Sitting down with my magazine and book for a few hours I saw the same people go round and round and round, most of them quietly singing along to whatever was on their iPods (other MP3 players are available). Maybe they think that because they can't hear themselves nobody else can hear them either. After years of being content with simply looking ridiculous, joggers now sound it too.

I'm leaving this fine city later and heading north on the overnight bus to Portland. 15 hours struggling to sleep in the company of recently released ex-convicts and screaming children, it really is the only way to travel.