A Decision Has Been Made

The University of California at Santa Cruz was added to the youngest child's UC Common Application as an afterthought, with UC San Diego being first on the list and UC Santa Barbara a very close second. The more I read about UCSC, however, the more I thought that the Linguistics and Language Studies programs, combined with an available Computer Science minor, might suit said child perfectly.

Ben was accepted to UCSC as well as UCSB (UCSD, the boy's first choice, wasn't interested), making a road trip a necessity.  UCSB had been visited and fallen in love with, but UCSC was an unknown entity.  Ben and I set out for Santa Cruz and the trip was a piece of cake in comparison to those SLO jaunts.

Our amazement started with the tree canopied streets leading up to the campus entrance and never waned. What a fabulous place. It's like the entire campus was magically conjured in the middle of a fairyland forest.

Craig responded to an email from the Chair of the Linguistics Department, who invited Ben to stop by during his office hours on Friday morning. After checking in for Preview Day, we headed over to the Linguistics Department and Ben spent about 45 minutes with the professor, who answered questions and was engaging and delightful.  I think that conversation convinced Ben that UCSC was the place for him, but if he had a lingering doubt, a tour of the campus cinched the deal.

Redwood forests, blue skies, shady footpaths, dappled sunlight, fields of wildflowers framing a 180 degree vista of the Pacific Ocean ... pure perfection. The pizza was great, too. All you can eat. Cupcakes were just OK.

 

 

Preview Day activities wrapped up around 3 pm and we continued on to SLO for a quick visit with Peter. Still trusting the GPS, we took the recommended Hwy 1, a very beautiful but very slow route with many curves and one lane construction zones. I was not only annoyed with our slow progress, but also with myself for not embracing the moment and enjoying the ride. After arriving in SLO three hours later, Shayna, the native Southern Californian roommate, confirmed that Hwy 101 was the efficient route. Pizza Solo was as great as I had remembered, too great as it turned out and I was unable to join the boys in sampling the ice cream sandwiches at Batch. Next time. Definitely.

After a cajun breakfast at Bon Temps (we ate a lot this trip), Ben and I headed for Portland. Having learned to avoid San Francisco and Bay Area traffic at all costs, we headed for I-5 via Kettleman City. I must have gained confidence in Ben's driving skills because I dozed for a bit.  Oops.  Remaining on I-5 gets somewhat confusing around the exchange with I-580 and when I woke we were just a few miles from Oakland. A bit panicked and not thinking straight, I navigated with the GPS back to Sacramento when I really should have taken I-505 north to Redding. Following our progress via AT&T Family Map, Craig revoked my Road Warrior status. With both boys in California, I suspect I will have ample opportunity to regain that status.