The rest of the summer in California

I was horrible about updating over the summer.

The NASA Exchange Lodge promised some things that made me chose that as housing: low price, access to the base pool, free laundry facilities, and free wireless internet. Only the low price existed. OK, so the internet worked after 1 a.m. and when all of the interns were at work. I didn't think it would be appropriate to update the blog while at work, so I just kept putting it off. Then I went back home and promptly packed almost all of my belongings to move to Michigan. The next thing I know, here I am with unpacked boxes in my apartment still and I'm already into the semester.

So a little bit of a summary of my summer seems necessary.

In my one and only post, I commented that Mountain View was a far walk. After I did it about a million times, I no longer thought it was a long walk. The only part of it that was long was the stretch with no shade. That was miserable. The weather was gorgeous almost every day, but when in the direct sunlight it was hot. I got a lot of sunburn. As a direct result, I got a lot of freckles (many of which are now fading to my excessive dismay).

What did I do for the summer? I spent a lot of time working. I worked exceptionally long days and frequently left work to have dinner and work remotely from my room. I found it incredibly rewarding. I am still working remotely on the project. I will be presenting the results at a meeting in Austin, TX in January (unless I get the paper out, then I will be presenting something else).

I also went to San Francisco several times. I rode cable cars, went to Fisherman's Wharf, took a ferry to Alcatraz, and saw the Golden Gate Bridge. I quite enjoyed San Francisco. I saw some small redwood trees. I also went to Half Moon Bay for the beach, where I realized that northern California has cold ocean water because the water comes from Alaska...not the south. That was silly.

I ate a lot of food. I spent some weekends exploring Mountain View. I spent a lot of time with the people I worked with.

That's the general overview of the summer. I will be returning next summer. The highlight was the day that my advisor first indicated I am to be welcomed back next year. It's a requirement of my fellowship that I do work for NASA, but knowing that they are anticipating my return is very rewarding.