As many of you may know, I've spent the last few months contemplating which grad school I will attend in August. Until last month, I was left sitting at the edge of my seat, waiting for emails from 6 different schools. I just missed being accepted into the top Geography program in the country, UCSB, so in the end, it became a three-horse race between U of Utah, South Carolina, and San Diego State. In the last 2 weeks, it has been between Utah and South Carolina, both powerhouses in hazards-based GIS, which will most likely be my focus. I have wanted to live in South Carolina since I vacationed there with my parents when I was 12 (had my one and only hitchhiking experience there, too, but that's a whole other story), spending a few days in both Columbia and Charleston. I fell in love with Charleston's deep history, beautifully colorful and elegant row houses and its relation to the ocean, of course. As I've grown older, the prospect of moving "out west" has become very attractive. Why? I'm not exactly sure, honestly, but I think the quality of life has something to do with it. The mindset of people is laid back and the lifestyle is very active, both of which describe the person I have become. If U of South Carolina was in Charleston, this would have been a no-brainer. Columbia just isn't as attractive of a city, although being within 2 hours of both mountains and the ocean would, no doubt, be awesome. Within the last two weeks, I feel like my heart had already chosen Utah. My visit in March and email conversations with faculty at Utah have already built a good rapport with the department and I absolutely love that the campus literally sits on the edge of the Wasatch Mountains.
Excuse the parking lot and dreary weather
As I neared my self-inflicted decision deadline, my mother reminded me of something I said a few years ago on a drive home together. She recalled me peering across the flat terrain of central Indiana at the clouds. It was dusk, and I was pretending the contrast the clouds created with the sky were, instead, mountains. (Sometimes I wonder where my imagination has gone; I used to do this on my frequent drives from Muncie to Elkhart) I took this recollection as a sign. A foreshadow in the plot of my life. I'm thrilled to say, in August, I will be calling Salt Lake City my home!
I'm excited to be living in a large city, as I've always enjoyed being in New York City and Chicago. The true beauty of Salt Lake City, to me at least, is that there are endless possibilities for recreational activities surrounding the city. Any day I choose, I can go hiking in the mountains or kayaking on the Great Salt Lake. The amount of national parks and vast scenery within 4 hours of SLC is incredible. Seriously, take a look at a map. I will no doubt be investing in a mountain bike and a set of skis. Hell, I dare to say I may even look forward to winter for the first time in my life.
My next step is, of course, looking for housing. I know I've been spoiled with my massive apartment here in Muncie for the last year, but I'm going into this search fully willing to sacrifice square footage for location. The most important criteria in my housing search is walkability. I want to be able to easily walk to a grocery store and a form of public transportation that will take me to campus. Ultimately, I would like to live somewhere near Trolley Square, which has a Whole Foods and is very close to the trolley that runs straight to campus.
Thankfully, I've still got a few months to decide. I'll keep you posted.
I woke up very anxious today. I was only 2 hours away from a meeting that could determine where I will spend the next 2+ years of my life. On most days, I make sure to eat a solid breakfast to help me get through the day. Not today. Part of the blame goes to nerves, the other part goes to pure focus.
The drive to campus was exciting, as it was mostly uphill to the foot of the mountains. I got a little turned around the building on campus that houses the geography department, but managed to find the offices right at 10am, just as the faculty exited their meeting. Five minutes into my first meeting, all the nerves were gone. It helped that the professor was laid back and very talkative. We spent the first 20 minutes looking on Google Maps (yeah, total geography nerds) at all the different recreation activities within 4 hours of Salt Lake City. If anyone that lives here gets bored, it's their own fault. We spent the rest of the hour discussing his work (definitely impressed him that I had read some of it already), the future of the department and labs, and how I fit in. It was fantastic news to hear that the department's funding would be increasing for the fall semester.. even better chance that I see some of it.
My second meeting was with another lab director, who was also very talkative and easy to get along with. Helped that she was younger, as well. We discussed my previous course work (once again, clearly impressed), research experience, and joked about how annoying it was to work in a lab with no windows. After a brief tour, I was introduced to a few current graduate students. During a brief talk with one in particular, he asked if I had made my final decision yet. I responded with "No, I still have other programs I am interested in.." to which the professor immediately chimed in with, "Well, hopefully we can get him here." Yeah, talk about a good feeling. I left my meeting feeling confident that I had just done enough to secure some funding for myself. I concluded the campus visit by walking around and taking a few pictures, as well as sharing the news with a few people.. which reminds me, my dad never called me back. Hey dad, call me back! Haha.
View from east side of campus
The football stadium
The remainder of the day was spent eating great food and relaxing, for the most part. We had an amazing lunch at an authentic Napoli-style brick oven pizza place. The pizza was light and so delicious!
Espresso. Desperately need some caffeine.
The brick oven.
Diavolo pizza.. perfectly balanced and light. You could taste all the fresh and imported ingredients. Indescribably delicious.
After relaxing back at the room for a bit, we headed out for some sightseeing, only to step outside to nasty, cold rain. Our attempt to see the Great Salt Lake was foiled by the weather, of course. We made the 20 minute drive there, only to see the shore. You couldn't see anything else behind the low clouds and rain. We headed to Squatter's Pub to grab a beer and wait for the rain to potentially pass, which we knew was slim. Naturally, we were only there for 20 minutes before we looked outside to this:
Biggest snow flakes I've ever seen
A little while later, we grabbed dinner at a place called Pat's BBQ. Honestly, the best BBQ I've ever had.. not to mention $14.00 is a good deal for this plate of food:
And no, there was no way I ate all of that. Not even half of it. The pulled pork and brisket were perfectly smoky. Didn't even really need a sauce. The coleslaw was the best I've ever had. Definitely eating well on this trip. A little treat to myself because God knows I will be right back to my healthy ways when we get back to Indy.
That's it for tonight, we've gotta get up in approximately 4 hours to tackle our outrageous 12 hour drive to San Francisco. Can't wait for the drive through all sorts of terrain and to finally see San Fran, a city that has been at the top of my list for quite a while.
The only way to land in Vegas is at night.. it is so exciting when the plane enters the valley and the lights flood the ground like, "a bunch er Christmas lights" to quote the redneck in row 33 of our flight (what we get for flying to Vegas the weekend of the NASCAR race). Your first sight of The Strip is a whole other feeling; you are just ready to grab a huge drink and hit Las Vegas Blvd! We land smoothly and everyone clearly becomes anxious to get off the plane, Dan and I included. Of course, we were sitting in the 30th row, so it took forever. The next part is my least favorite part of traveling: waiting to see if your checked luggage actually made it to your final destination. Thank the Lord, it made it! (gave me a scare for a bit)
After an informative, but drug out cab ride (he at least acknowledged the fact that he went way out of the way and cut us a deal) we checked into the hotel, dropped the luggage off, and immediately hit The Strip. We thought we'd cut through MGM Grand on our way to Hard Rock Cafe, which turned out to be a bit more difficult than intended. Low and behold, we ended up walking head-on with a never-ending mass of middle aged couples leaving the Eric Clapton concert. Eventually we made it to Hard Rock Cafe, where we had a much needed Long Island and Pulled Pork. Despite the awful playlist while we were there, we did manage to learn a new drink trick/mix created by our bartender. Totally stealing that. With some grub finally in our stomachs, we started exploring the rest of The Strip. After losing some spare cash some slot machines at New York, New York and showing Dan the ropes of Let It Ride and Blackjack, we still weren't satisfied with calling it a night. The drinks so far had been weak, so we stepped it up a notch.
Favorite view of The Strip, looking north
The drink: Category 5 Hurricane (surprise, it has a weather name!); the liqour in it: Bacardi 151; the size: 32 ounces. Oh shit. I usually don't indulge in sugary drinks (been avoiding them for many reasons, mainly health.. and I'd much rather have a beer), but screw it, it's vacation.
We walked all the way down to Caesar's Palace from New York, New York, mainly people watching as we consumed our rather large drinks along the way. At least we walked off some of what we were consuming, I guess. Probably not. By the time we made it back to our hotel we were exhausted, a bit drunk, and our feet were blistered to hell.
We woke up, checked out, and were at the airport shortly after noon to pick up our rental car. The process went smoothly, and we managed to upgrade from a little Toyota Yaris to a VW Jetta for only $16. Unfortunately, I totally underestimated the price of renting a car. After fees for being under 25 (outrageous rule most rental companies have), taxes, and a security deposit we were looking at double what I was expecting. At least we will be getting that security deposit back. At this point, I decided to ignore the usual discomfort I get from spending large amounts of money. I'm not going to truly enjoy this trip if I'm constantly worried about funds.. I will be fine, it's just money. This trip will be unforgettable and hopefully, productive.
Our drive through the desert was enjoyable; windows down and tunes cranking. There was literally NOTHING around us, yet I couldn't stop looking around. Just as it the surroundings started to get repetitive, we crossed into Arizona (woohoo, new state!) and entered the Virgin River Gorge. I knew pictures wouldn't quite do it justice, so I recorded the first, and most fascinating, part of the drive.
The scenery once we entered Utah (another new state) didn't disappoint, either. My favorite picture of the trip so far captured the red hills just inside the state line, with the snow-capped mountains in the background.
Amazing contrast
Love landscape pictures in black & white
As we continued into Utah, the clouds rolled in and the temperature steadily dropped from 70 to 39, shortly followed by rain for the last 2 hours of the drive. My initial thought when we could finally see downtown Salt Lake City was, "This is a much bigger city than I expected!" Can't wait to see it in the daylight. After an exhausting drive, we just needed some dinner and the comfort of a bed. We grabbed dinner at the Red Rock Brewery, which was hit and miss for us. I had an awesome entree of Chicken Schnitzel and their delicious Elephant Double IPA.
Perfectly cooked chicken. Loved the Horseradish Mashed Potatoes, too.
Dan, on the other hand, had one of the worst Amber Ales ever and a "hoagie" that was served on a pita..?? The inner beer nerd in us came out when we left, as we bought a a big bottle of their new Belgian style ale to take back to the room. Nothing beats a good beer while relaxing in the hotel room. Once again, it's vacation, so I'm splurging a bit. I've really cut back on my boozin', which I can attribute to some of my recent weight loss. Anyways, that's for another blog post.
Now, with the beer consumed and lights out, I'm ready to get some sleep.. yeah, an infomercial for the Ab Rocket Twister just came on, it's time I called it a night. Tomorrow is a BIG day. I have two interviews with faculty at the U of Utah. My recent acceptance letter has given me more confidence, not to mention peace of mind. I did manage to get some reading done in preparation throughout the ride today, so hopefully that helps me wow them tomorrow. Fingers crossed and prayers for some funding!
Good night and thanks for following. I will leave you with this:
Dan the Sexy Sax Man
If you don't know what I'm referring to, watch this:
