In My Wildest Dreams

Aptos Creek State Park--sorry so blurry

 

posted by Sara @ 2:25 PM 0 comments

News from Sta. Cruz

This morning it is pretty cloudy which makes it very conducive to sleeping in, which Dante and I have been doing a lot of these days. We're getting ready to go for a run along the beach. Hopefully it won't rain on us, but the typical pattern seems to be cool and cloudy in the morning, warm and sunny in the afternoon, and pretty chilly at night. Yesterday I had a lot of things to get done online and over the phone, so Dante's activities were postponed and he was not happy about it. He's become quite accustomed to waking up and going for a run on the trails at Pogonip, which is some sort of state park near our sublet. I've been trying to branch out a bit lately so we've been exploring some different areas. Yesterday we went to another state park near Aptos, CA, and Dante practiced walking next to me off-leash. We had a really nice time. I took a picnic lunch. The trails are beautiful and not all that populated save a few mountain bikers who came pretty close to running us over. Dante was fine for most of the walk until something snapped in him and he started acting a little crazy and nervous on the way back. That kid is such a weirdo.

I finally found a boxing gym, I think. It's not the one where I'd originally planned to train. The trainer at that gym and I had been emailing back and forth since February, but when I arrived in CA he got kind of flaky on me and never called back. Plus, I get the feeling that I would be the only boxer over 16 (and well over 16...) at his gym, which is not exactly my idea of fun. The downside is his gym is pretty close to where I will be living, 'bout 10 miles away. I found another gym in San Jose, which is 27 miles (thank you, MapQuest) door to door from my new place in Capitola. It'll probably take me 45 minutes or so to get there, but I would try to train just 3 times a week there and do the rest on my own at the UCSC rec center, so I'm hoping I can manage it. The reason I hadn't even considered this gym is b/c membership appeared to be $100+/month, but I decided to go ahead and email those in charge, anyway, and was pleasantly surprised to discover that for registered boxers dues are only $50/month. Nice. Well, I'm registered in NZ, so I need to transfer my registration...

In the meantime, I've gotten my CA license, voter registration, car registration, etc. The only problem is my motorcycle, which can't be registered in CA 'til it has 7500 miles on it due to some sort of bizarre emissions regulations or something. Now, I'm all for emissions regulations, but I mean, it's a motorcycle. Emissions have got to be relatively insignificant. Whatever, though. Trying to convince the DMV of that was unproductive. So now, I can't ride it, technically, but yet I need to put another 2000 miles on it before I can register it. Problem is that the GA plates are also expired.... Hm....... Dilemma. A friend of mine has tags that I can just throw on it and ride the hell out of it til I get 7500 but that's obviously risky. In the meantime, I've parked it in her garage so that at the very least I know it's safe and sound.

Well, that's all for now. I'm feelin' that my GoLean has digested so I guess I can take Dante out for a run, although he's snoring next to me.

Love,
Me

posted by Sara @ 10:24 AM 0 comments

Dante learns to surf

Hi everyone,

Thought I'd pick this blog back up now that I'm out on the west coast, once again away from my friends and family down south. Drove here from Atlanta a week ago Friday and arrived Monday. My parents came along to help with the drive, which was awesome. Couldn't have done it w/o them. Would've had to transfer to the University of Arkansas or somethin cuz that's about as far as I think I could've driven on my own.

We arrived late Monday night and they stayed Tuesday to help me set up in my temporary sublet, which is way too psychadelic for my taste--the sublet, that is. Not my parents. So I'm here for two weeks, 'til the end of August. I guess I can handle anything for two weeks, although I don't think this place has ever been cleaned. Ever. Anyway, we (me and the dog) just kinda keep to ourselves and that's OK with us. I found a more permanent situation starting September 1. I have a room in a condo with a woman who is an adult ESL teacher. She is older, in her fifties, I think, and very nice, laid back, friendly. The room is a bit small but it will do. The rent is reasonable for the area and it is a ten-minute walk to the beach. It is also right off of the highway for easy access to campus (north) and my boxing gym (south). On the grounds, there are two pools and a hot tub. Not too shabby. One is a lap pool so I think I will teach myself how to swim. (Yes, I know how to swim but not well. I swim froggy style with my head above water.) Time to invest in some goggles. Also, my new housemate has a dog, Chaz, and he and Dante get along famously, so it was actually Dante who convinced me to take the room.

This morning I went to a dog park and dog beach with a girl I met, a friend of a friend. She has a motorcycle as well, so I have someone to go riding with. She is also a surfer and has invited me to go surfing with her anytime. She has extra boards and wet suits. I will definitely take her up on that sometime.

She and her boyfriend have two dogs and Dante also got along very well with them. We met this morning for coffee, then piled the dogs in the back of her truck (she has placed to hook them in), and went to the beach/dog park. It is an off-leash area before 10 a.m. and after 4 p.m. I was a little nervous about lettting Dante off the leash but he had a blast! He almost drowned in the waves a couple of times, but he didn't let that stop him. He played and played in the water, running up and down the beach daring his new doggie friends to join him. He met several other dogs. There were about 20 or 30 dogs total and he didn't have problems with any of them. Needless to say, he will be pretty much passed out for the rest of the day.

I've been keeping him well-exercised since our arrival in Santa Cruz. He was really nervous and anxious at first, buf now he's easing in to his new home and I think he's in love with this town. There are several beautiful trails right near where I currently live, so I've been taking him for runs there in the morning. In the afternoon, we walk around town so he gets used to all the different noises, people, places, etc.

I'm going to Disney land at the end of the month to see my sister and her family. Can't wait! Emily and I are going to have a blast. I'm meeting with my adviser this Wednesday for lunch. Hopefully I'll also be able to go ahead and register for classes so I can figure out what my schedule will be like.

Overall, this area is incredible and I can see why people fork out the big bucks to live here.

Miss y'all,
Sara

posted by Sara @ 9:37 AM 4 comments