Well, our life as gypsies has ended, and we are finally trying to settle into a more permanent lifestyle. We have officially become California residents as we arrived here at Stanford last week. But, more about that in a moment. First, I have some priceless pictures of Jon before the end of our gypsy lifestyle:
Here Jon is after a trip we took up Ephraim canyon on the four-wheelers (there were several big trucks heading in the opposite directions kicking up lots and lots of dust, giving him a cute white nose and moustache!)
Here he is on a sunny day we spent up at the lake with my mom, Christian, and Kaitlyn. He lost his usual sun screening hat in China, so he borrowed this one (I won't mention that it's my mom's gardening hat!:) Isn't he cute!
And so, after spending some good times with the Averett's and the Felt's, we packed up the car and arrived at good old Stanford, California. Yes, the campus is its own city, so our address is not in Palo Alto, but in Stanford. For those who don't know, Stanford is located in Palo Alto, which is on the southwest side of the San Francisco Bay. We are about 30 minutes from San Francisco and 30 minutes from the coast.
We live on the fifth floor of one of several graduate apartment buildings. Basically, the graduate students here at Stanford have their own neighborhood named Escondido Village, full of apartment buildings and townhouses for all the students and their families. There is even an elementary school just for the village. Our apartment is small, but I will admit, well laid out, so that it doesn't feel too crowded. We spent the first several days moving our things in and making it feel like "home," and though I don't feel entirely "settled" yet, we're getting there.
One of the nice things about arriving is getting into a regular routine. I started my internship this week. I feel so lucky to have gotten an internship with the Palo Alto Unified School District, which is the district right here in Palo Alto/Stanford. Not only is it an excellent school district, but both of the schools I work in are very closeby. Thus, my commute has gone from an hour to school and half hour to work in Colorado, to a two mile drive from our apartment to each of the schools. It's so great, and our gas bill is, I think, the only expenditure that will actually be decreasing here in California. I'm even considering getting really ambitious and getting myself a bike, since we can also look forward to a non-cold, non-snowy winter (not that I won't be missing the cold and snow.)
Stanford doesn't start school until Sept. 22, so while I go to work during the days, Jon is still wandering aimlessly, looking for things to fill his time. Not really, he has been getting to know the campus, doing some prep reading, and then getting all of those errands done that come with moving into a new place. We've also been exploring the campus together, and getting to know what will be our world for the next who-knows-how-many years (I'm trying to not think about it in actual numbers, it's just too overwhelming!) Really, the Stanford campus is absolutely beautiful. There are tons of trees and lots of open spaces with trails, and then the buildings are stunning. Today, we visited the beautiful historic chapel on campus. Our camera has been kind of on the blitz, but at some point I'm going to have to spend some time taking pictures of everything there is to see on campus.
That's all I'll report for now, I'm sure there will be more to tell. I'll just close with an open invitation that visitors are more than welcome. We even have a pull-out couch and an air mattress to offer you, along with many sights to visit, and not to mention the pleasure of our company!
Next is the Stanford Memorial Church. Unlike other universities, Stanford is allowed to talk about religion, and they even hold church meetings in this building (all churches are invited to reserve time). The outside is nice, but the inside is even better.
We now make our way across the main quad through one of the many archways on campus. They love arches here! The large building seen through the arch is the tallest building on campus, the Hoover Tower. (We're not sure what goes on in there, but there's no windows between the main floor and the tower floor... ?)
Our final stop for today is our apartment. This is the evening view from our 5th floor.
And now we meet up with Jon, tired out from the tour, resting in our living room.
That concludes today's Stanford tour. Thank you for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you again soon.
