- CA: 4/17-18
o SLO- The trip started out cool. We packed up the night before and headed out really early in the morning. We headed all the way out to SLO, where Toby, Pino, and I got to check out the campus. It was kinda nice. The main stuff was all agricultural and engineering buildings. While we saw some cool stuff, like the prosthetic hand with tendons, and the uber-nerd fighting club (Icarus, we need a test dummy!), I don’t think I’d go there, however. Elissa loaded us up with a ton of free food though, which was really nice of her.
o Berkeley- Cal had such an amazing college feel. I really, really loved it. I can’t remember wanting to go to a college that much in a long, long time. I love the idea of a college town. I love the idea of having a bunch of people that I know being able to hang out literally anywhere because of an entire town geared to college teenagers. And we got to see Iana again, which was awesome.
- Oregon 4/18-4/20
o It took us awhile to finally cross the border, which was just an anticlimactic sign. When we finally did, it was amazing. There’s no smog there. I could see father than perhaps ever before. There was a stretch where I could see what I’m sure was over thirty miles of fields and mountains. I literally thought for a moment that the entire earth was encompassed in my line of sight. It was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen. I loved England and its scenery, but there was something so much more full in the view I had there. An everyday scene in which all the beautiful features of land were vaguely grouped together so that all one saw was one heavenly patch of green. It was fantastic. We reached Sam’s cousin’s house in the evening. Michelle, her husband George, and her brother Nick and his wife ate dinner with us. Nick was cool- talked about accents and Python and Black Adder. We explored Portland the next day. Another city with a river through it- thought of London. Went down Hawthorne Street and did a bit of shopping. Got a nice shirt and a CD. There’s no sales tax in Portland, so it set me back a little less than I thought. Jackpot. I doubt I’ll be able to get any Whitworth stuff though, which is just as well, because I am not certain I'm going there. Later, we went down to the river- Sam and Jordan smoked their pipes, and I got a nice view of part of metropolis Portland. It was actually really cool. I really like Portland, even though it’s kind of a hipster-stoner town. I still really feel like I could live there and love it. Then again, I’m both easily pleased and fickle, so I would probably be very happy for about a year, then find stuff to complain about. We later went out on Michelle’s roof. Jordan made a very profound comment: “Do you think we’ll ever be doing this again in our lives? Sitting on a Portland rooftop smoking our pipes?” The comment’s profundity came from the fantastic nature of our settings. We were on a beautiful house, looking over a wonderful neighborhood after a fantastic day, and we were having an experience in beauty and happiness in the peak years of our youth that will be so anchored in nostalgia for the rest of our lives that we can only idealize the moment; we can only see ourselves, sitting on that roof, smoking pipes (in the case of Jordan and Sam), enjoying a trip with our closest friends. It must have been even more so for Jordan; today was his birthday. Even if we did do that again, I don’t think it would be the same as today. I don’t think it will be as idealized. But it was a reality worth idealizing; it was that good an experience, as simple as it was. Overall, today was awesome.
Washington- 4/20-4/23
o This morning, Tuesday, we left Portland early. We were on the road for about three hours, and we crossed to Washington. Much more of an event than the crossing to Oregon. The border was an actual river, not just a sign. My longing for a grand change of scenery came. Washington is pretty different from Oregon. Oregon had lots of green, but not nearly as many trees as Washington. I could almost immediately start seeing the change. Giant trees started appearing everywhere. We got to Seattle around noon. We visited Seattle Pacific University, and it was fantastic. After that and Berkeley, I’m very determined to go to non-community college. We all got a tour of the campus, then Jordan, Pino, and I got an appointment with a transfer counselor.
o Seattle Part 2: Today we explored Seattle a bit. Got to eat lunch at SPU dining hall. All you can eat. If I ever get a meal plan, I’ll have to be incredibly careful not to overeat- it’s so incredibly tempting. Went to downtown Seattle- saw the original Starbucks and Pike’s Place Market, which had lots of cool stuff, but was very overpriced. Got to go to a park at night which had an incredible view of the city. It’s really a lovely town.
- Spokane
o Whitworth Day 1: The drive was a bit different than we expected. The first hour or so took us through that part of the Washington landscape that everyone wants to see. We went through a mountain range that was filled with snow, trees, and even a couple lakes. After a while though, there was a large stretch of desert that resembled California very depressingly. We finally got to Spokane; it was really nice, unlike what we were told back in Seattle. Whitworth, at this point, seems fantastic. The campus is large, but enclosed; it’s bigger than SPU, I think, but it feels like a very communal setting. The dorm host Jordan and I got was cool. He resembles Paul Rudd a lot. The other guys in the dorm are cool; Jeff is definitely the Jordan of the group, which is funny. I really like the dorm atmosphere at Whitworth, if that makes sense. I know it’s only one lucky sampling I got, but still, it seems nice. Like Sam, I’m very certain that I will be attending college in one of two places. Unlike Sam, I have the blessing of a little more time to figure it out. Anyway, I really like Whitworth so far. The memo to me would be to fly here though; the drive was amazing for a road trip; but it would be such a pain in the butt to go back and forth to school via a car. The other thing; the theology program really appeals to me. I remember being incredibly certain that if I ever had the fortune to go to a Christian school, I would have at least one of my studies be theology. There is no shortage of opportunity for that here. My dorm host is minoring in three different types of Biblical studies; he’s a linguist (heck yes!). Heck, if you can (as Brian has) study for multiple minors, then I think my choice at Whitworth is clear; major: economics, minor: theology, history. Maybe linguistics or biblical languages as a third minor. Again, lofty, but if possible, just try and stop me. Anyway, that’s something to explore; number of possible minors.
o Day 2: We got the tour of Whitworth. It’s a really beautiful campus, and it has a bunch of really cool buildings. I got to sit in on two classes; the first was a theology class in which we heard a really interesting talk on sanctification. The main premise was that the modern apparent understanding of the word sanctification- the transferring of holiness to oneself from Christ as one grows in Christianity- is wrong. We cannot actually, in this life, really gain holiness-theoretically, if we could, we could reach perfection, I suppose. What we can do is gain a deeper understanding of our unholiness, the contrast to God’s holiness, and the grace that suspends us from ourselves. This, according to the professor, is sanctification. I’m still not entirely sure what I thought of the class- it gave me a lot to think about and it really excited me as to the possibilities of attending a school with a theology program. The other class was an economics class, which was very interesting. The professor struck me as very helpful and very concerned about the welfare of his students, which I love. We ended up leaving Whitworth at around 5 pm. The journey home was long and somewhat uncomfortable, though we did pass through Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Nevada on our way home. It is really nice to be home, though now we have to go back to school- ah, well. Now there’s something for all of us to look forward to.
Afterword: Sam will be attending Whitworth University in Fall of 2010.
