gosh! (alex and diana's adventures to santa barbara)
it was a sad day when graham dropped out of vassar. i said that we would meet again, but he thought that i was just saying that. well we showed him!
it started with a terrible journey to santa barbara. it was only supposed to take an hour and a half, but there was some sort of gas leak at around 11 am (which is when we set out) and they fucking shut down the 101. there was a bitchload of traffic b4 they kicked us all off the freeway, and it ended up taking four hours to get to graham's. not to mention the getting lost. it was very creepy to see the freeway completely empty, especially when we didn't know what was wrong or what kind of accident had happened (graham had texted me, but i didn't see it until hours later).
while we were driving, we noticed a copper behind us.
"oh no," alex said. "that cop's making me nervous. it keeps following me!"
me: "aye....have you ever been pulled over?"
alex: "no, let's keep it that way."
cop on speakers: "please get off the next exit and pull over"
apparently someone thought that alex was a drunk driver and called the cops on us. on a fucking freeway! who does that?!!?!? it took us a long time to get back on the stupid freeway, taking even longer to graham's. this has been the 6th time that i've been a passenger in a car taht's been pulled over in less than 12 months. the first two times were w/in a week and the next 3 were also w/in the same week. terrible!
once we got there, though, things were grand! we ate at a delicious italian place and packed some bruchetta (pronounced BRUCE-KETT-TAH, apparently) for a trip up a mountain! we drove for about half an hour, stopping by to see some caves and pretty sites. graham kept climbing things and he broke off some fennel for us to chew on. it tasted like licorice. we were trying to catch the sunset at the top of the mountain, so we had to go fast in order to beat the clock. however, we couldn't drive too fast, lest we fall off a cliff and die (and missing the sunset!). the sunset was absolutely spectacular and the view of santa barbara was very beautiful. i found the whole mountain experience to be very wonderful and peaceful.
we tried to see some sort of green explosion (or some other such nonsense) that graham was talking about, but i don't think that it actually exists. i liked having a nature-y good time. i don't do it too often, and usually i'm too sweaty and out of breath the enjoy it. for the first time, i appreciated an suv.
then we went to a mission and downtown santa barbara. i found the downtown to be pleasant and very walkable (good urban planning!). it was cute. some creepy statues, though. good marzipan and lattes, however.
we then went to the wharf, which was also enjoyable. everything was very calm because it was a monday night, which was nice. it sort of felt like they had closed a theme park for us to enjoy by ourselves. the whole time, it felt like we were on an island.
it only took a little over an hour to get back, which was insane. stupid gas leak. but all in all, i would call this one of my favorite days of winter break. definately top three. it is always fun to see vassar kids, and it was so good to see graham (knowing that i wouldn't be able to again for a long time). pictures to come!
and tomorrow i fly out to phoenix!
it started with a terrible journey to santa barbara. it was only supposed to take an hour and a half, but there was some sort of gas leak at around 11 am (which is when we set out) and they fucking shut down the 101. there was a bitchload of traffic b4 they kicked us all off the freeway, and it ended up taking four hours to get to graham's. not to mention the getting lost. it was very creepy to see the freeway completely empty, especially when we didn't know what was wrong or what kind of accident had happened (graham had texted me, but i didn't see it until hours later).
while we were driving, we noticed a copper behind us.
"oh no," alex said. "that cop's making me nervous. it keeps following me!"
me: "aye....have you ever been pulled over?"
alex: "no, let's keep it that way."
cop on speakers: "please get off the next exit and pull over"
apparently someone thought that alex was a drunk driver and called the cops on us. on a fucking freeway! who does that?!!?!? it took us a long time to get back on the stupid freeway, taking even longer to graham's. this has been the 6th time that i've been a passenger in a car taht's been pulled over in less than 12 months. the first two times were w/in a week and the next 3 were also w/in the same week. terrible!
once we got there, though, things were grand! we ate at a delicious italian place and packed some bruchetta (pronounced BRUCE-KETT-TAH, apparently) for a trip up a mountain! we drove for about half an hour, stopping by to see some caves and pretty sites. graham kept climbing things and he broke off some fennel for us to chew on. it tasted like licorice. we were trying to catch the sunset at the top of the mountain, so we had to go fast in order to beat the clock. however, we couldn't drive too fast, lest we fall off a cliff and die (and missing the sunset!). the sunset was absolutely spectacular and the view of santa barbara was very beautiful. i found the whole mountain experience to be very wonderful and peaceful.
we tried to see some sort of green explosion (or some other such nonsense) that graham was talking about, but i don't think that it actually exists. i liked having a nature-y good time. i don't do it too often, and usually i'm too sweaty and out of breath the enjoy it. for the first time, i appreciated an suv.
then we went to a mission and downtown santa barbara. i found the downtown to be pleasant and very walkable (good urban planning!). it was cute. some creepy statues, though. good marzipan and lattes, however.
we then went to the wharf, which was also enjoyable. everything was very calm because it was a monday night, which was nice. it sort of felt like they had closed a theme park for us to enjoy by ourselves. the whole time, it felt like we were on an island.
it only took a little over an hour to get back, which was insane. stupid gas leak. but all in all, i would call this one of my favorite days of winter break. definately top three. it is always fun to see vassar kids, and it was so good to see graham (knowing that i wouldn't be able to again for a long time). pictures to come!
and tomorrow i fly out to phoenix!