California
Last week, I visited California for the first time. My brother, Brian, moved to the Bay Area just over a year ago. I used the last bit of summer vacation before moving back to Dayton to visit him. San Leandro is just outside of Oakland, and Brian works for a software company there. He just bought a house, where he lives with his two dogs. I traveled out there with my parents on a 5-hour flight from Atlanta. We had a great time walking around San Francisco and enjoying the temperate climate. It was surprisingly cool; I wore pants and a jacket most of the time. The fog rolling in through the bay was amazing, especially when it draped the Golden Gate Bridge. We drove across the Golden Gate to get to Muir Woods where we stared in amazement at the towing redwood forest. We then drove east through the Central Valley to the Sierra Nevadas where we visited Yosemite National Park. Yosemite is truly majestic with towering, sheer cliffs of granite and breathtaking views from high atop ridges. Unfortunately, the snow melt was long gone and many of the large waterfalls were dry. It was definitely one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and I can't wait to go back to spend more time hiking and camping.
The weather in the Bay Area is absolutely perfect, but you certainly have to pay for it. In fact, you have to pay a lot for everything there, especially real estate. The only good thing about it is that if you move somewhere else from the Bay Area, it will seem very affordable.
I also visited UC Berkeley while I was in the area, since I am interested in applying there for graduate school. The campus is huge and beautiful. Beside Notre Dame, I have never seen a bookstore so big! It's a very difficult school to get into, but there's no harm in applying!
Aug 20, 2008 1:58 PM
Print this page
E-mail this page