As a kid, I spent a lot of time at the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. The Academy offered free (or maybe it was just discounted) admission in the evenings which made it a frequent destination during the two years my sister spent going through chemotherapy at the nearby UCSF children's hospital.

Thinking back to that still chokes me up, a children's cancer ward is just not a happy place (at some point I think I realized not to ask what happened to my sister's friends in the hospital) no matter how much the staff and families try to make it fun. The Academy provided an escape from that and a peak into just how amazing the natural world could be.

Four years ago, I went back to visit the Academy one last time before the old building was closed and construction of the new Academy began, I still knew my way around 20 years later. Now construction is over and the new Acadamy is a month away from opening.

KQED's program Quest gave a preview this week. I'm looking forward to taking my brother and his kids for a visit.