California: Huge.
Tonight's my last night in California and I'm more than a little sad about leaving. Luckily, I'm simultaneously excited about spending some time at home and even looking forward to going back to school. I've had a great summer and my California relatives can now be broken into two groups: the ones who start conversations with, "When North Maple moves to San Diego . . ." and the ones who start them with, "When North Maple moves to Sacramento . . ." I'm not yet 100% convinced that I'll be living here after law school, but it's nice to feel wanted.
Whenever I travel, I think of the part of The Grapes of Wrath (the book, not the movie) when the Joads finally reach the lush orchards of California. Tom Joad comments that the only members of his family who can truly see California are his youngest siblings. The other members of the family are too wrapped up in Oklahoma and can only see California as a comparison to it (well, that's the way I remember the passage, it's actually been a long while since I read the book). I've found that phenomenon to be true for me. I love to travel aand explore, but I always see new places with South Dakota in my thoughts. Somehow though, that hasn't been true this summer. I think California's the first place I've seen for itself, and while that's not necessarily a reason to return, it's something.
Anyway, California's been great and I've seen quite a bit more of it this weekend. My mom and I spent some time at Yosemite yesterday (it's just as spectacular as everyone says) and today we drove south. We're staying in the desert tonight and early tomorrow morning, we'll hit Arizona (Hellooooooo Arizona!). we're headed to the Grand Canyon tomorrow and New Mexico the day after that. So, exciting times ahead. I'll try to post pictures soon.
Whenever I travel, I think of the part of The Grapes of Wrath (the book, not the movie) when the Joads finally reach the lush orchards of California. Tom Joad comments that the only members of his family who can truly see California are his youngest siblings. The other members of the family are too wrapped up in Oklahoma and can only see California as a comparison to it (well, that's the way I remember the passage, it's actually been a long while since I read the book). I've found that phenomenon to be true for me. I love to travel aand explore, but I always see new places with South Dakota in my thoughts. Somehow though, that hasn't been true this summer. I think California's the first place I've seen for itself, and while that's not necessarily a reason to return, it's something.
Anyway, California's been great and I've seen quite a bit more of it this weekend. My mom and I spent some time at Yosemite yesterday (it's just as spectacular as everyone says) and today we drove south. We're staying in the desert tonight and early tomorrow morning, we'll hit Arizona (Hellooooooo Arizona!). we're headed to the Grand Canyon tomorrow and New Mexico the day after that. So, exciting times ahead. I'll try to post pictures soon.
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