"Just" a Hike

       

(At the edge of the lagoon)

I'm officially in Santa Barbara for school now! Technically, move-in is tomorrow, so I'm just chilling in a hotel typing up a blog post on some pretty sweet free wifi, but well, Santa Barbara is going to be home for the next (at least) 4 years. I'm pretty lucky I chose the most beautiful UC campus.

There is so much flora surrounding the school. Paths meander along the edges of campus, wandering along the edges of the sea cliffs. Gorgeous blooms of pink, yellow, and purple dot the landscape, and bright greens occasionally appear amidst the drab brown landscape. Although the cliffs aren't necessarily high, I still felt tendrils of apprehension wrapping around my stomach when I looked over the edge, because it seemed like it would be so easy to fall. But the water, lapping at the shore some ten feet below, seemed calm and serene.

I walked a few of the paths today, wandering along the edges of the lagoon, and then following the edge of the cliffs.  As I hiked, I kept snapping photo after photo of the ocean, of interesting trees and of beautiful flowers, none of which I know the names of. Of course, I enjoyed the weather, sunny with a few scattered clouds. It was only in the mid 70's, which was a welcome respite from the weeks of 100+ degree weather from San Marino! Santa Barbara being 30 degrees is reason enough to stay here, because, well... summers in the LA county are just B-R-U-T-A-L.

Also, I was pretty surprised at the amount of "fauna" in SB. I saw flocks of birds, five or six lizards, and bugs of all types... as well as 68 pokemon today (ugh I know, I caught on to the craze...). Hahaha okay, but in all seriousness, it was cool to see people out on the beaches, playing in the ocean with their dogs and what not. It makes me so excited to come to school here.

(I'm just posting a few photos I took today on my hike...)

Something I thought was super cool was the stone labyrinth. There was a little informational sign near it, saying that there was no wrong way to walk the labyrinth, and that the entire distance of the maze was 0.6 miles.  I walked it (took me around 10 minutes) and once I was done, I had to take a moment to appreciate how much work went into the labyrinth... people had to bring the stones up, line them up in a maze, and then walk and measure how long it took to walk. And I was tired from just walking the maze... it definitely made me think. And I think this will be one of my favorite places to spend time this summer, and for the next few years.

(The labyrinth!)

I know I said I didn't feel ready to move on, and I still stand by that. But the beauty of the campus definitely quells the homesickness, and I guess I feel a little more ready.