University of California-Santa Cruz - love love love!

We visited the campus at UCSC today and I love it. It's a bit outside the main part of town and as you approach it looks almost like a high prairie, with the Santa Cruz mountains in the distance on one side and the Pacific in the distance on the other. The campus itself is set into a forest and it feels like a state park with academic buildings tucked deep into the trees.

I'll have more photos to share later but for now this is a quick glimpse. 

I also met and had lunch with an old online friend who I've known since dear son was a wee infant. It was fun to sit and talk with her and catch up on the kids plus get lots of info about the area. 

A good day and more tomorrow. I'm ready to apply to graduate school again myself! Marine biology? That was something I thought of at one point in my young life.

On to Santa Cruz

We spent a quiet day in Palo Alto yesterday, in a terrific little place called Creekside Inn which had very well-appointed rooms and balconies that were both private and lush with trees and bird song. We were there two nights and although minutes away from Stanford and shopping/dining it felt like we were in a little nook of forest somewhere.

Today we checked out at noon and headed to Santa Cruz via a stunning drive from Palo Alto to a few miles north of Pescadero. We passed a huge and gorgeous horse park and a number of horse farms, were behind a truck carrying about 50 bales of nice-looking hay for awhile, and then ended up on a gorgeous curving road that wound through redwoods and eventually opened up to golden, grassy hills.

We finally came to a stop sign at the Pacific Ocean! We turned left onto Highway 1 and for 35 or so miles scenes like the above were to our right. Gorgeous drive and now we're checked in and ready for grad school meetings at UC-Santa Cruz tomorrow and Tuesday. 

I have so many photos to share. I'll get them up at some point in a series of posts. I actually might have time tomorrow with dear son in meetings. Stay tuned.

Meanwhile, very happy to be back in the old stomping ground. I used to come do laundry and buy groceries and books and coffee in Santa Cruz when I lived in Los Gatos years ago! 

On site at Stanford today

They're busy getting ready for graduation tomorrow so the place is bustling but not as much as it would be during a regular semester, obviously.

I'm not as taken with the architecture here but as I spend time walking and now in Green Library (with a panoramic view through huge windows) it's growing on me a little.

There's a chapel with a labyrinth so after lunch I'm going to walk it while dear son meets with physics professors. 

We'll be here tonight and tomorrow and then on to Santa Cruz. 

starry skies at UC-Berkeley

I'm on the Berkeley campus today exploring with my son and will post more photos later, but for now, this has me excited and as usual, pondering things like, hmmmm, maybe I can go back to school in my middle years. :)

The campus is gorgeous, almost park-like with beautiful trees and gardens and the physics and astronomy buildings are very inviting inside. 

The high today is 68 degrees and I am LOVING the very cool weather here and the view across the bay to San Francisco. (not so much loving that drive we took from the airport yesterday and the traffic)

Whenever I walk onto a college campus with old buildings and huge trees and feel the buzz of learning and advanced study I feel rejuvenated. Happy to be here today! 

in the air

I haven't flown in awhile so was not sure what to expect, but the hotel shuttle was on time and efficient and the TSA line in the Charlotte airport was quick and easy with no issues at all. Everyone from Southwest staff to TSA agents were friendly and helpful. 

We arrived early expecting the worst but things went so well we had time to get some food and sit and relax in the boarding area. There was a lovely older woman from the African Congo working as a bathroom attendant and she sang the most beautiful African songs. Several people, including me, thanked her for making our day so much nicer. A French woman spoke French with her and I was able to glean a few phrases but mostly enjoyed the lyrical back and forth.

We're flying with two service dogs and a number of children. There's an occasional loud yell from a toddler but otherwise it's been a quiet flight.

In Dallas we change planes and then have one more stop before landing in San Francisco. There were direct flights but the cost difference was enough that I opted to do it this way. It's good to go through the routine to get familiar with how things work now!

Once we get the rental car we'll head to Berkeley where son has a meeting with a professor. I aim to soak in some Berkeley ambiance and make some notes for my Time trilogy novels.

I'm a long way from November Hill! But touching down in Texas (I went to grad school in Austin) and landing in San Francisco (I lived for a time in nearby Los Gatos) is a bit like going back in time.