Staying in Touch with Friends & Visiting Old Haunts

Last weekend Nathan and I made a quick trip down to the Bay Area. My college roommate and close friend Tya has been working on her master's degree and working at the University of California, Berkeley anthropology museum for the last few years. We have only been together twice since we graduated (once at our wedding and again in 2011), so we decided that we needed to just take the time to go down to see her.

 

It was a great trip even though it was just for the weekend. We played tourist in San Fransisco, met up with another college friend Leah and her partner Andrew for dinner, and spent lots of time catching up with Tya. It was lovely to spend time reconnecting with such a great friend.

Then on the way home we took a little extra time before heading back up to Oregon. I spent my elementary years growing up in Upper Lake, CA. We took a fly-by side trip to visit the town and even treated ourselves to a favorite restaurant at a local Buddihst monistary (complete with numerous peacocks roaming the grounds). It was nice to relive old memories.

We also stopped at the Real Goods Solar Living Center. I have happy childhood memories playing here and it was very cool to come back now that we have begun to take sustainability and self-sufficient living more seriously. It has grown a bit from what I remember (although I suppose I mostly remember playing in their sandbox and catching tadpoles). Small cob houses, yurts, and gardens have popped up on the periphery and there are more dedicated classroom spaces than I remember. It was fun to think about our own vision for our homestead as we drove away.

We then continued up the coast through the Redwoods. It was a beautiful drive... but we ended up getting home after midnight... so we have been a bit wiped this week. That being said, I think that we will have to make sure to make the effort to visit more often while we still live relatively close. It would be sad to lose touch with such great friends.