Flying east

I got up at 4:30 this morning and drove from Pasadena to the Burbank airport, using Google Maps on my phone, avoiding highways, and had the most leisurely, interesting drive through the neighborhoods of Pasadena, Glendale, and then into Burbank.

The sun rose behind me as the full summer solstice moon (called a strawberry moon) began to descend ahead, looking white and then golden as it nestled into the tops of the mountains.

Just as I crested a mountain on a tiny residential street I noticed a black cat trotting down the sidewalk to my left. I had the thought this cat had been out all night and was heading home for breakfast.

My speed limit was slow, usually 35 mph, and there were stop signs and lights along the way, but I enjoyed the hour-long drive and the pleasure of being pretty much the only person on the streets.

Burbank's airport is small and quaint compared to the large ones, and I appreciate that about it. It's easy to navigate and even the TSA line was cheerful. I was cleared to go through without removing my shoes or getting a scan, but the forgotten unopened water bottle slowed me down a little. But a fellow traveler got trays for my things and didn't get grumpy when I held the line up to say they could take the water bottle.

I had plenty of time to get coffee and a blueberry scone and to sit and enjoy them before boarding. My favorite thing about Burbank's airport is that they still use open-air ramps so I walked out onto the tarmac and boarded the plane in the full morning sunshine.

The contour of the earth out here is fascinating to me. I have a window seat and am enjoying seeing the mountains and the desert and solar farms from above. Even the freeways seem inconsequential up here in the sky. Right now we're above the clouds and all I see is a vast white plateau with blue skies above.

I'll change planes in Denver and then I'll be on the way to RDU and then November Hill. Home! 

There's a long fine thread with a little piece of my heart back in UCLA but as we moms know that thread is strong and holds up across distance, time, and everything else.

Next blog post from November Hill! It's been a wonderful trip and it's going to be good to get home again.

Last night in Pasadena

Today I dropped my son at his summer research gig at UCLA. It was hard! I'll be all the way across the country from him and although he is independent and very mature I feel like a piece of me is going to be sitting here in California on a very long thread.

It was a crazy hot day here. The iPad in our hotel room looked like this when I got home from UCLA:

I am intrigued with all those 1's but not with regards to the temperature!

Once back at the hotel I felt what Virginia Woolf called being able to see to the bottom of the vessel. There is an emptiness about leaving a child somewhere, even when it's a good and wonderful thing he's doing. The room felt sad without him. I retreated down to the hotel bar for a burger and a gin/tonic.

Sitting here I kept thinking about how it feels to fly back home and leave him here. I glanced out and saw this:

A big sunbeam. Okay. That made me feel better.

It's been an honor and a privilege to share this time with him. And now I have a night to myself before flying home to November Hill and my amazing daughter, the menagerie, and a husband who has taken care of everything while I've been gone.

Life is good. November Hill, I'll see you tomorrow!

More Caltech and meetings with friends

A little more time at Caltech today and lunch and dinner with friends. Best way to wind down this trip!

Love this outside the elevators in the physics building:

And love the walkway underneath laden citrus trees between physics buildings:

The skies are so much clearer today and it feels more like the Southern California I remember. 

Butterfly Beach, Santa Barbara yesterday and Caltech today

I'll write more about the beach later but this was a nice shot from our time there yesterday evening in Santa Barbara.

Today we drove to Caltech in Pasadena. The campus looked deceptively plain on the edges but once you walk into the campus proper it gets very magestic and yet friendly and navigable. Definitely in my top three campuses with Berkeley and UC-Santa Cruz.

My big excitement of the day was getting to meet Sean Carroll after my son's meeting with him. I've been reading his books about physics for the past couple of years and just started his newest, The Big Picture, which I'm loving. He's a terrific writer and a nice person. 

Meanwhile, the heat is rising in this part of the state. It's 93 today, 97 tomorrow, 101 on Sunday, and a whopping 105 on Monday, which will make it very easy to get up at 5 a.m. and head to the airport to fly home to November Hill. (Husband tells me it will be 95 there by Tuesday, but the air will be clean and I will have horses to hose!!) Temps are a bit milder in LA where son will be so hopefully he will start his summer research with ease.

Santa Barbara - a quick stop

We rolled into Santa Barbara last night after a beautiful drive down the Pacific coast highway through Monterey, Big Sur, Cambria, and then inland via 154, which was spectacular too. Horse farms, many huge fields of hay being baled, and mountains dotted with green trees which made me feel like I was driving in a novel. Not sure which one! But it was lovely.

Today we went to UC-Santa Barbara campus and I spent some time in the library. One side looks to the mountains, the other to the Pacific. It's quite a place. 

We went to the beach this evening and are now spending our last night here before heading out early tomorrow for Pasadena and Caltech.

The days are winding down for me - one more campus to go before I leave dear son at UCLA for the summer. I have enough photos and material to write weeks of blog posts when I get home! It's been a wonderful trip.