Wow, what an incredible two first days in California! I showed up in Berkeley pretty early on Friday, around 2pm. Miriam wouldn't be there until 4, so I killed time in a cafe and just tooling around Berkeley.
Before that, and after I left Truckee, I drove to Tahoe to check it out. It was a beautiful 15 minute drive down a winding road lined with tons and tons of trees. The rec area I wanted to walk around was closed for winter (!!!), and there was a looming storm that the local news idiots were freaking out about, so I decided to just get going to Berkeley. The drive was not bad at all. Going through the Sierras was incredible. Long and curvy and lots of people driving way too fast. I just cruised along in the right lane, not taking any risks. I had come to far to mess it up now by being reckless like everyone else.
I can't tell you what an amazing feeling it was to see a sign that said "Berkeley 26 miles". After all the driving, the states I left behind me. To see that Miriam and crew were only 26 miles --- it was a bit overwhelming. I sat on my car on Hilgard waiting for her. Glynnis and I had a really fun conversation and then I sat alone for a while. Just waiting. And I was really nervous. My phone rang and it was her, and I was bummed because I realized she was probably stuck in traffic somewhere. When I answered, she said "is that you sitting up the street?" And there she was at the end of the block. It was just so great to be together again. After all this time. All this planning. All the work and the crying and the worrying and the driving. And there we were. Standing together on Hilgard in Berkeley.
We went in and the whole crew was there to greet us. Everyone so excited and happy, it was wonderful. Michelle had made some signs (pics below) welcoming me to Northern California. So awesome! After hanging out and catching up for a bit, we piled into cars and drove to this delicious Italian restaurant called Rivoli (that's where the I Made It picture came from). Food and fun times. This dinner was also celebrating M & M's parents 40th (!!!!!) wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary, once again!!! Truly remarkable.
On Saturday we woke up and got breakfast at Cheeseboard (the best bread/pastry/cheese shop in the world). Then we all walked down to the farmer's market. Miriam and I did a bit of shopping at Monterey Market and after a really really funny interaction with Anne back at Hilgard (details another time) we headed off for Santa Cruz.
I had to follow Miriam because she had her car and I have to say this last bit of driving was the longest and most stressful of them all. First, because the highways are HUGE, like 8 lanes in both directions and PACKED. There are WAY too many people in California --- and I just added one more. Oy. Anyway, we did finally make it and it was wonderful to be here. To be home. With Miriam.
This morning, Miriam really wanted to see the Orionoid meteor shower, so we set the clock for 4 and were going to head down to the beach. I got out of bed and turned on the coffee and we figured we'd sleep for a few minutes while the coffee brewed. When we woke up we discovered it was 6:20! Ugh. We jumped out of bed, grabbed coffee and headed down to the E. Cliff. The sun was starting to come up, but it was still dark on our side. We sat down on a big rock in front of the ocean and waited. We didn't see any meteors, which was a bummer, but we did see the most beautiful sunrise over the ocean. The waves were huge and awesome and there were lots of surfers. We sat there for a long time and it was just a great way to start the day here. Afterwards, we made breakfast and just headed out to do errands and unpack.
The unpacking will take a while and it'll be a little overwhelming, but it'll get done soon and then we can just settle in and work and live our lives. We're both really excited for that, so that'll be the motivation to get moving with settling in here.
So, that's about it so far. I realize this is long and I want to post some photos too. Tomorrow I start my job at UC Santa Cruz. I'm nervous, but really really excited. I have a good feeling that my email address will be neile@ucsc.edu, which would be AWESOME. OK, here are a few photos and I will talk with you all soon. Please write me, I miss you! And thanks so much for all of your comments. It's been such an incredible experience for me, this drive across the country, and I really felt like you all were there with me through this site and that's just rad.
I love you!
Neile
Just outside the Truckee Diner, where I had my first real breakfast in a week.
Yummy!
Tahoe!
Whooo Hoooo!
The Crew, minus Matt. Matt, how'd I miss you?!??!
Michelle's welcome signs. Just awesome!! Thank you again, eyebrows!!!
Beautiful Miriam!
Whooo Hoooo!
ooppff!
Sunday, October 21, 2007
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3 comments:
So glad you made it. Burnt Toast looks no worse for wear despite the long hours as co-pilot.
Is the sky really that blue? Did you photoshop that? I don't trust you.
Meems: I LOVE the picture of you and your fam. You and your mom and your sister: priceless. I also love how I'm posting like this is your (meems's) blog too!
Nice post and this post helped me alot in my college assignement. Thank you as your information.
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