For those of you who read my last blog, I never got my opportunity to rest over Thanksgiving weekend.  Instead, I woke up Saturday morning, still nursing the very painful blisters that I wore with honor after my time in the backcountry of Lassen the day before.  I started my day slow, decided to start giving my home a late-fall cleaning before winter set in, made myself a cup of tea, and it was at that time that I received a frantic phone call from my mother.  You see, my sister Lilly goes to my old alma mater of UCSB, which is a good 7.5 to 8 hour drive from Red Bluff when traffic is nice.  She was home for Thanksgiving, but alas, her ride back down to Santa Barbara flaked on her, she could not find alternative transportation last-minute on a holiday weekend, and my dad was on call and operating up in Redding (like he always is these days).  So, Lilly was stranded unless someone stepped up to the plate to drive her back to school.  Thus started my impromptu weekend journey down to Santa Barbara.

I mean, let’s be honest, does a Gaucho ever turn down an opportunity to go back home?

We left Red Bluff around noon, and made shockingly good time, arriving in Santa Barbara by 7:30.  And now we get to the part that’s kind of tough to write.  You see, I’ve heard some murmurs on this subject, but really learned on the drive down that my sister’s struggling with her college experience.  She went through a big breakup before starting school, and frankly, she’s seemed kind of lost ever since and has had trouble making new friends.  Also, the friends she’s making don’t really match her personality, and seem to be partying a lot harder than she’s comfortable with or used to.  She doesn’t want to be a part of their lifestyle, but at the same time feels kind of cloistered off and isn’t sure how to meet new people.

I struggle with giving her advice, because my college experience was so different.  I instantly fell in love with UCSB, and by the time of Thanksgiving that first year I had already made several great friends, many of whom I still talk to and love to this very day.  Also, while I totally respect her decision to not party (especially now that I’m older and realize just how freaking young a person is as a freshman in college), I can’t really offer her words of encouragement there and say “don’t worry, I was the same way,” because frankly, I wasn’t.  I definitely did my fair share of partying during my freshman year of college.  But, Lilly’s her own person, and I wouldn’t want her diving into a lifestyle she’s not comfortable with…she’s just kind of in a lonely, introspective funk right now.

Not unlike this seagull.

Be my friend, seagull!

Apparently seagulls don’t care for forced social interaction.

So, for the little time I was in Santa Barbara, I tried my best to think really hard of the types of things I used to do with my friend Anton during my freshman year.  Anton was a lot like Lilly in that he didn’t care much for partying, but still knew how to live life to the fullest.  So, when I spent time with him rather than some of my other friends, the experience would always be fairly unique, but at the same time “clean.”  I can honestly say I learned quite a bit from him about adventuring, and some of my best college stories come from the random ideas he would come up with just to pass the time.  In that spirit, I took Lilly to In ‘n Out for some burgers, we went to Coldstone for ice cream, walked around State Street, had crepes in the morning, tried our hand at photography on the beach, and just kicked it for the evening/Sunday morning.  I think she had a good time, and when I left she seemed ready to dive back into her studies, but I’m just worried about her.  I really hope things turn around for her down there, because a person’s time at UCSB should absolutely be a good one.  That campus has had enough tragedy in its recent history.

As for me, the drive back up here from UCSB today was very difficult.  It took me close to 10 hours due to the holiday traffic, and I’m absolutely exhausted.  In fact, I was hoping to dig a bit deeper into this bittersweet trip, and to go into the intricate details of my route home and all the backroads I traveled in an effort to avoid the bay area traffic, but it’s already well past 11 p.m. and I have to be up tomorrow at 5:30 a.m. for yet another week of work.  I think I’ll cut it short here, but not without leaving this awesome picture of this creeper van I saw down in SB, and a totally nostalgic photo of my old freshman dorms from college (the same dorms where my sister is now living).

Cheers,

Rob

P.S. – If you have any advice for my sister, please let me know.  It takes a village.