travel – Page 7 – The Empty Nest Projects

This December, with the school break, I decided to embark on an inspirational trip with my youngest. Just mother and daughter, driving through California, checking out the colleges she may attend. She has had anxiety about the important life decision of going to college and pretty much did her applications at the last second. None of her friends are planning to go away to college. They are all planning to attend the local junior college. I was hoping seeing the campuses would help her imagine herself there.

First stop was my oldest apartment. She was under the weather so we brought her soup. I checked out her refrigerator and it wasn’t as unhealthy as I thought.

After visiting with my sick kid, we headed to the central coast to see CSUMB. All of the schools she applied for have great mascots like banana slugs, sea otters and anteaters. My husband and I want sweatshirts from one of these schools. The tours were stressful for her. Partly because we were the only ones on them. Apparently no one tours schools right before the holidays. That makes my daughter uncomfortable because the focus is completely on her. But in the end I think was a good thing because she got to ask anything she wanted.

Dorm rooms with a en suite bathroom???? Bonus!

Banana Slug territory.

Morning coffee/hot chocolate in Santa Cruz. I had my daughter play navigator a lot to help us find what she wanted (like In N Out).

Walking around Capitola. This colorful houses can be rented.

Katie chose for us to drive back along the 101, through Morro Bay. We watched the sunset over the ocean. I think in the end, the trip was a success. I think she got a taste of a life that she can picture herself in. And I think she knows which school she would rather attend. That’s one of the reasons I love travel. It lets you imagine yourself in a different life than the one you live now. You literally see yourself in a new place with new possibilities.

2016 will bring new things to all of us. I will send my youngest to college. I will finish my Masters. My husband and I will visit an island we have never been to before. Our stepson will do an internship with a congressman. My oldest will apply for a program in the UK. Who knows where we will end up. Whatever 2016 brings you, I hope it is more of the life you want for yourself.

HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Every day, I wake up and go to work. No really. Every day, I wake up, and I go to work. Except when I schedule a day off of call in sick or am lucky enough to be cancelled. But that costs me because I still need to get paid, only after being cancelled I will have less paid vacation hours. That’s for the weekend job (Friday, Saturday, Sunday). But M-Th, I just work. I took this teaching job knowing it meant working every day, but also knowing it would be temporary. And this week I am half way through the first semester. 5 more weeks of my grad school semester. 7 more weeks of teaching. And then I have 5 weeks off (just not from the weekend job). Is it confusing yet?

Basically what it means is I can go some more places. And there is nothing like teaching international students from Brazil, Italy, Korea, China, Japan, Taiwan, and more, to make you want to get out and see the world. So I am already planning a trip AND my husband and I already have a trip to Hawaii booked.

But before the monsoon of crazy work/school schedules began, we went to a bucket list destination.

This summer we drove to the Grand Canyon.

From LA, the drive is fairly long, which is why we did that stop in Vegas. But after Vegas, we hit the road to somewhere I had been wanting to go for a while. And the Grand Canyon was really fantastic. On the way from Nevada to Northern Arizona, we stopped at Hoover Dam for a short tour. It was HOT in July. But the dam is impressive nonetheless.

We also stopped in WIlliams for lunch, wine, and a little Route 66 kitsch.

But Grand Canyon National Park…well, it really was worth the placement on the bucket list. It’s just hard to imagine how big it is until you walk along the rim, and then look back at places you were standing.

When you try to spot the Colorado river and it looks like a small creek, but the park rangers tell you it’s around 300 ft across.

Our short time in park was more than we expected. For example, lodging and dining options in the park are numerous, but we never felt especially crowded like some people describe. Also, we imagined the Grand Canyon to be rocky and dry. At 7000 ft up, it can be dry, but it is also surrounded by a forest. Which means trees. That was something we did not imagine in Arizona. Getting up at sunrise and watching the light change on the south rim was awesome. And then we ate breakfast by the window facing the rim at the Hotel Tovar. If you have ever asked yourself if the Gran Canyon would be worth the visit, the answer is yes.

Category: travel

College Road Trippin

It’s Really Grand