That's right, we have successfully navigated half a continent and approximately 2.200 miles to arrive in the City of Angles, or at least a very nice corner of the City of the Angles called La Mirada. At the moment, we are all taking a very well earned morning off. The traditional 'Moving of the Stuff into the Dorm' happens at 1pm at which time Rachel has about a few hours to start setting up. Not quite sure what Diane and I will be doing, but I imagine we'll be helping some. Then, at 5pm, we all get together at the college's chapel for a Torrey orientation session. Rachel is part of the Torrey Honors program at Biola, which is the reason we drove out this week instead of next. For the next few days, she'll be going through orientation for Torrey while Diane and I head down to Santee (near San Diego) for some time with my sister, Melinda and her family.
Yesterday, everyone felt great about finally getting here, and the city itself was a welcome change, too. We started the day in the desert and had had just about enough of that experience by noon. It is very beautiful to look at, but a little warm and dry for our tastes.
We were greeted with a fine day in LA. No smog that you'd notice, brilliant sunshine and around 85 degrees. Our hotel has a very nice, private pool surrounded by palms, and we spent a pleasant afternoon lounging. It's strange, but pools just seem more 'pooley' in Southern California.
After that, we thought we'd go check out campus not half expecting to get in (it's gated) but arrived to discover open gates and empty parking lots. We walked through campus, found her dorm which was also wide open because a few people, RA's mostly, we already moving in and getting set up for the year. Rachel found her room which appears to be at the very outer edge of campus. It is literally as far away from the film school as you can get. Ah well, at least she won't have to worry about working out.
After that, it was a quick dinner at a Mexican place, then an adventure on the freeways to visit friends from Minnesota who live in LA proper. We got lost once, but actually found our way again without GPS! It was good getting off the beaten track and getting a feel for the real city, the packed in homes, the diversity, and winding hilly roads were all pretty exotic for us Northland folk.
I've attached a few pictures of looking around campus. More of that to come, of course. Talk to you soon.
-Jeff
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| The Bells of Biola |
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| Finding our way. |
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| Sigma Hall -- home |
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| Through the doors for the first time |
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| Rachel's room. |
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