California Roadtrip 2014

I'm baaaaaaack!

There is so much to tell about this past month there is no way I can cover all of it in the space of one blog post. But I can cover most of it. Here goes...

First off, California — WOW. Can I just repeat that? W-O-W!

That was the first time I'd driven farther than four hours from my house without my Dad in the car, and my destination, San Jose, was more like ten. The trip down was notable for two reasons. 1: I discovered that there is such a place as Yolo County. 2: These babies cropped up every two miles or so on the highway. Any British Sci-fi fan who understands why I found these entertaining will have extra friendship points. Everyone else — stop judging me. Ha ha.

I'm also pleased to announce that I didn't get lost once. This is largely due to my co-pilot, Ashley, whose main job (besides reading directions) was to make sure I didn't have a nervous breakdown while driving in California big city traffic for the first time...during the 5 o'clock rush hour.  Thankfully, the other drivers were polite to me (probably because they saw my Oregon license plate and decided they didn't want an accident to clog traffic even more), and we arrived at our destination in one piece.

Wish I could say the rest of our driving experiences went as smoothly. But at least our misadventures were relegated to getting lost and taking the scenic route through San Jose (different trip), Santa Cruz, and San Francisco,  with a brief  stop in Oakland. My friends are still speaking to me, so all's well that ends well.

Other than that, every day was a whirlwind of excitement. Most of the trip was spent counseling at a girl's camp, so hiking, swimming, and hogging shady spaces took up a great deal of my time. But I do have a few beautiful pictures from the special events.

The first event was the local Norweigian Folk Dance group coming to camp in order to perform for the girls.  As most of my readers are probably well-aware by now, Scandinavian folk dancing is something I absolutely love, so it made me incredibly happy to see the girls being introduced to this. To make matters even better, the girls seemed to love it too. The Nordahl Grieg Leikarring og Spelemannslag not only performed for the kids, they also took extra time to teach everyone at camp how to dance, including the counselors and interested camp staff. I could tell it made a huge impact on the girls, and their enthusiasm stayed with them for the rest of the week until they could perform their own dance for their parents.

Later that week, we went to visit the California missions of San Juan Bautista (left) and San Carlos (right), the latter being the burial place of Father Junipero Serra. (above)

                    



 For some weird reason, this made me laugh.

After camp, Ashley and I, along with two other counselors, went to do some sight-seeing along the California coast. Our adventures took us through the Santa Cruz boardwalk, where I rode my first roller coaster, The Big Dipper.





Then we went to San Francisco, where I got the daylights scared out of me by the San Francisco Bushman. I would describe that adventure in more detail, but I've noticed that he grows bigger and louder every time I reiterate that story. Pretty soon he'll be ten feet tall with fangs and claws if I'm not careful. 

 





Then we drove across the Golden Gate Bridge, and I took pictures of Alcatraz Prison from a distance. To be honest, San Francisco was my favorite part of the trip, and someday I want to visit again.

 



This seagull was totally posing for all the tourists. He just sat there giving everyone with a camera his
best side. The lens wasn't zoomed in at all.

  (left) A front row seat on the Golden Gate Bridge, complete with overcast weather. (right) Jordan The One Man Band performing on Fisherman's Wharf.
Photos courtesy of Ashley.





 (left) A Candyland Palace. (right) My favorite scenic picture of San Francisco.






  It was such a fun trip that I had trouble adjusting to being home again. For any of the other counselors, campers, and people who could have been mentioned here but weren't: thank you for making it memorable. God bless you, and I hope we can meet again.