Bright and early Sara and her friend Annie took us out for a hike on the hills behind the house. It was a really gorgeous walk, from the top you could see most of the LA skyline on one side, the ocean on another side, and some pretty baler houses off to the left…it was incredible. We hiked through what used to be old Nazi camps (strange) and then got to climb a 712 stair staircase which was used as an escape route when the camp was active…made the Exorcist stairs we left back in DC seem like a step ladder.
We got back and Bruce picked us up, great to finally meet him. He was more than nice enough to invite us to his house to hang out by the pool for the afternoon and use his gym. We nixed the pool idea, mainly because the Pacific Ocean was about 30 seconds away. We ate lunch at Back on the Beach Café and then ran into the waves, which proceeded to beat us up for the next hour or so. Reminded me of Senior Week down in Hilton Head this past spring and how great of a week that was…even though it represented the end of something that was to come soon.
After and afternoon of screwing around we got reading for our send-off event at Susan Zolla’s house. First, much thanks to Susan and her family for being overwhelmingly nice and opening up their incredible home to all of us. We met a lot of new people at the event, some funny stories came out of it and new friendships were beginning to build. I tried my first ever mini cheeseburger, which left something to be desired, but at least I can tell Sakofs and Ravi that I ate a bacon cheeseburger. We got to start knowing Jake and Jess a bit more, who are an awesome combo and a lot of fun to hang out with. Nir also enlightened us on the fact that water “isn’t a drink”, which might be a funny concept to bring back to all our friends at Bucknell.
After the event we finished up packing and hit the hay, even though I couldn’t sleep and had multiple dreams of waking up and getting ready for the next day. Weird how dreams work, something that will give me things to think about while I’m cruising on my bike in the next 19 days.
