San Diego

Morning, everyone

I'm writing to you poolside at the moment from the cozy and luxurious Casa de Hartman in Santee, California.  It's my sister's place, in truth, but there is a very lovely pool to my right and separate guest quarters and all, so I think the luxurious label fits.

For those of you interested in all things Rachel, I can't really help you.  We have had only one communication from her after dropping her off at Biola.  This is all according to plan, however, as we knew she would be crazy-busy this week with Torrey orientation and Diane and I welcomed the chance to get off the road for a while.  Her one communication was very upbeat.  She loves her Torrey group, and is exhausted but happy.

As for Diane and I, we got to see some of the sights of San Diego yesterday with my sister, Melinda

The Coronado from the beach.

and her kids Kyle and Allison.  The highlight was a visit to the Hotel de Coronado on a peninsula named Coronado directly across the bay from downtown San Diego.  It's a grand hotel in the Spanish style that has quite a bit of history.  The film 'Some like it Hot' with Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon was filmed there back in the 50's.  We looked around at the elegant building, then wandered down to their private beach to dip our toes in the blue Pacific (it'd be a shame to come all this way and not do that).



 Then it was back to Melinda's house in Santee, just east of the city.  The big entertainment of the week, other than the backyard pool, has been a new dog in the house.  The Hartman's already had a lovely, lanky greyhound-sheppard mix named Lacee, and just added a little Chihuahua called Dolorous (Dee Dee for short).  It's been fun watching the dogs play and frolic as they figure out who is alpha. 

Dee Dee & Lacee around the pool.

Tomorrow, Diane and I head back to LA for the general university orientation at Biola.  This will be our chance to see the Cinema and Media Arts department where Rachel will be doing most of her non-Torrey work, and to spend a couple more hours with her before heading back to the hotel.  On Saturday, there will be a number of parent orientation programs on campus followed by a worship service on Saturday evening.  Bright and early Sunday morning, Diane and I will head out for real and start back to Minnesota.  More on that as it comes up.  See everyone soon.
-J

Halftime

It's halftime of our journey west, and unfortunately I won't be able to bring you any of the interesting news of the trip, that is - Rachel related news.  Diane and I have re-located 60 miles south of her to the San Diego suburb of Santee and the home of my sister, Melinda, for some well-earned rest off-road.  Rachel has begun 'Torrieantation', the orientation into the Torrey Honors institute at Biola.  This is an intensive program that will largely replace her general education requirements with a classical curriculum based on texts such as the Odyssey and the Iliad, including a lot of time spent in discussion.  She has been assigned a 'house' (just like Harry Potter!) and a small group within that house of 10-12 students.  These students will be tied together their entire 4 years, learning how to challenge and support each other as they move through the curriculum.  She'll still study film, and have a few general classes to take, but most of her academic life at Biola will be tied to Torrey.

Yesterday, after move-in (I was nearly 'done in') we all gathered at the school chapel for a discussion between three of the Torrey faculty to give us parents a taste of what it'll be like.  They were very smart and funny people, and they spent 90 minutes giving us an example of the type of discussion Rachel might expect over the next 4 years. What excited Diane and I most about the program is it's focus on developing people who can not only think, but discern truth from falsehood.  One professor (the funniest theology prof I've ever heard) described it as learning a core value such as, in his case, the Trinity.  Then, allowing your mind to expand around that core value in ever widening spirals until you find yourself miles away from the core, but still tied too it.  This really resinated with me.  Begin with truth, then move away without fear.  So much of Christian life has become about identifying falsehood so we can disapprove of it, making sure everyone within earshot knows we disapprove.  The best statement to sum up our introduction to Torrey yesterday was, "Learn to love all things appropriately."

Enough of that.  Back to travelog!  After Torrey intro, we took Rachel and a new friend named Miranda out to the Chinese place just down the street from campus.  Miranda is from Albuquerque and, like Rachel, is a very motivated, smart kid.  We had a chance to meet her Dad and Grandma, but they had to head back to New Mexico early, hence our dinner invite.  After that, it was a strictly non-tearful goodbye (we'll see Rachel in three days) then another blessedly uneventful trip on the California freeways to Santee.  Since we'll be here for a couple of days, I'll write more about that later. 

Rachel, Miranda and Diane head to dinner.

California Snoozin'

We made it!

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

The Bells of Biola

Finding our way.

Sigma Hall -- home

Through the doors for the first time

Rachel's room.

Lovecraft's Desert

The Desert

Hi folks!

I'm writing this, once again, from the road.  We've descended from the heights of Colorado into the desert of Southern Utah/Arizona.  Today's route takes us from St. George Utah, through a tiny corner of Arizona before moving into Nevada and eventually, California. This is our last day of driving this leg of the journey, and I think everyone is ready to be done.  The hotels have been fine, the breakfasts maybe a little too big (at least for me) so we have no complaints.

Yesterday, we traveled through the barren wastes of Eastern Utah.  I was reminded that this territory was once a giant lake, and looking at the mountains all around us in that country, I could really see it.  They look like the drawings you see of the bottom of the ocean.  I even got inspired for a Lovecraftian tale.  Maybe its never been done before.  For forest dwellers, that landscape was an intimidating sight.  The sky is huge, devoid of trees as it is.  And every climb of the road feels significant because it seems like something should be over the other side.  Of course, there's mostly more of the same.  As we descended, a bit more green began to come into the landscape until we arrived at St George where there was plenty of low green growth and a few trees. 

Last night, we stepped out of the car into real desert heat for the first time.  No one was terribly hungry, so we walked a couple of blocks down to a frozen custard stand and called our berry sundaes 'dinner'.  Given that our last two meals were huge, it was a good thing.

As I write this, we have just come down out of the mountains and were greeted with the sight of the desert plane.  The next landmark is Sin City, followed by our destination.  More later as we stop traveling for a few days. 

Rockie Mountain High

Evening all,

We're all sitting at the Academy Hotel in Colorado Springs at the moment, zoning in front of screens.  It was, methinks, a good day.  First off, there were no travel issues which is the biggest blessing.  Weather has been good throughout the trip and the roads have been pretty open.  Diane had to deal with a few twists and turns and hills as we crossed the Missouri River into Nebraska this morning (not many hills in Nebraska, but we found them!) but other than that, smooth sailing.  The day ended in Colorado Springs, the town where Diane's folks grew up and she still has a lot of family.  We had dinner with Opa Lissenbee (her father's father) and Uncle Hans and Aunt Julie.  It was catfish night at the Cracker Barrel, so we ate well, staggered back to our very nice hotel, and are getting ready to hit the sack.  Rachel is chipper and excited.  Her mother and I are tired, but hey, we're getting up there and this was the second 10-plus hour day. 

Tomorrow, the climb over the Rockies and back down again to the very Southwest corner of Utah and the town of St. George.  Apparently, it's 100 degrees there this week so that will make a nice change.  Then, on Monday, the final push across the desert and into the City of Angels. 

The photo for today is one you on Facebook have already seen.  I call it: Nebraska - A Portrait.  Take care, all.  And I'll connect tomorrow. 

And...We're Off!

Greetings All!

I'm coming to you through the miracle of wireless internet on I-90 just outside Mitchell South Dakota.  We have completed the first day of our journey to California, and have begun the 'Plains to Mountains' portion which will dump us out on Colorado Springs by 7pm tonight.  Day one was wonderful.  We started with a bit of rain on familiar roads, then drove into 70 degrees and sunshine by day's end. 

The trip, in case you didn't know, is to take Rachel to college at Biola University in Los Angles.  Yes, we're driving.  We've rented a Jeep Liberty for the purpose (picture attached) and it's a very comfortable car.  It's a little short and boxy compared to our Sable wagon, but the only real challenge with that was learning to pack all of Rachel's stuff vertically instead of horizontally. 

I'll be checking in frequently (plenty of time to write on the road) so check back soon. 

Prom 2012

I had really wanted to post regularly this year, as it was Rachel's senior year, but alas it hasn't happened. We have lived and loved the special moments of living life to the fullest, but that meant there hasn't been much time for reflection and posting about what is happening. But I wanted to share her senior prom night with you. In January, Rachel and a friend went looking for prom dresses. Rachel had her heart set on a green dress. She was unable to find a green dress so came home and asked if I would make one for her. We worked together to design and make her prom dress. Here are a few pictures from getting ready and pictures followed by Grand March.

Thank you for sharing a small bit of this evening with us. Diane