Yes, we finally made it. We're on the road.
Literally. We're on 101 right now as I type (don't worry, Vivi's driving :-), about 45 minutes north of Santa Barbara. We were back in Venice a day to really get our stuff together, leave the apartment in a good state, and pare down some of the piles of crap we had originally loaded into the car. Today we head to Santa Cruz, where my sister Gabrielle just moved back a few days ago. It'll be nice to have her in the neighborhood again (much closer than Gainesville, Florida), and to celebrate, we're going to crash at her place in the middle of moving-in chaos!
Sadly, we still won't get to use our new tent, though the oh-so-comfy sleeping bags will get their inaugural unfurling (hopefully these bags won't get stolen like the last ones did). But don't worry, Herr Tent, we'll have you up soon enough, as we head to Seattle.
Santa Cruz was the first place I visited in California, back in 1990, right after I graduated high school and still lived in, yes, Springfield, Missouri. What a mind-blowing experience it was then. Now, California is just a part of who I am, and it's occurred to me that there are fewer and fewer other places that I'll be willing to live in. I'm too used to its crazy melange of cultures and ideas. Alas that the country is moving toward Texas (not even Austin, but Midland) and not California.
Gabrielle grew up in Midland, by the way. She can tell you all about it. It's lovely.
Well, it's my turn to drive soon, so I'd better finish up. To keep you busy, we took lots of pictures of old Indian petroglyphs that we saw Friday out near Elaine's place.
Miles: 445
Posted by yozhik at June 29, 2003 04:46 PM