All of this set the stage for a journey to park the car at the train station even though the machine didn't seem to want to take our token for parking until we found the right machine. Then we got on the train and took the subway to Columbus Circle where we caught our first glimpse of the Gates at a distance but first we decided to eat our lunch at Whole Foods there where we watched as they made various drinks and once Ben finished eating and I tried a self portrait and recorded the bill and labels we were ready to venture out and catch our first glimpses before crossing the street and entering the park. We saw Gates from the side and then walked through before I took a picture of Ben and he took one of me and then we looked in various directions before running into Charles Kalmbach and his wife who took this picture of us as we climbed up to get this background for a picture of Ben as the gates led the way to another picture and the crowd seemed to be moving though Ben decided to climb up until he got to the top and turned around and then we marched on to the next rock he could climb but there were more gates to pass through and more pictures of Ben and the tree and the sign as we made our way to this structure where Ben took this picture of me and with some more marching and a wait in the line we got into the castle which looked impressive and had quite a view that served as a backdrop for pictures I took before a stranger took pictures of both of us and we recorded more background before marching on watching the wind get stronger and stopped for a few more pictures before heading to the subway where Ben posed and then showed off his new hat on the train home.

The trip was partly inspired by these pictures Sandy J had sent me of their trip to The Gates before the snows came.