Thursday, August 24, 2000

first day of high school

So I started my freshman year at Los Altos High School this morning. I was obviously pretty nervous as high school is quite different from middle school. Mom had heard all kinds of horror stories about high school, such as people doing drugs and freshmen being forced to give seniors blowjobs in the restrooms, so she was also a little worried.

Much to our collective relief, the first day went fairly well, and there was no indication that LAHS was an unsafe place. The nice part was that I got back in touch with many of my Egan and Springer classmates. But the bad news is that Alex (the guy who loved to torment me at Egan) is also attending LAHS. I just hope he won't give me grief for another four years. *crosses fingers*

The other thing is that I'm taking a 0th period biology class that is held before regular school hours. The class starts at 7:20 a.m. and meets every day except Thursdays, meaning that I have to get up early in the morning almost every day. I'm definitely not excited about that. Just who the hell came up with the idea of 0th period classes?

On the bright side, I live just one block from school. This means I won't have to deal with the traffic and worry about being late. I could probably even go home for lunch every now and then. :-)

Oh yeah, and there's the back-to-school dance in two weeks. It's a great way to start the school year for sure. Count me in!

Currently playing: Raptor: Call of the Shadows

Sunday, August 6, 2000

back from Willits, CA

The weekend was pretty exciting as my parents and I went on a three-day trip to Willits. It was relatively short compared to our other summer getaways, but we nonetheless had a great time.

Day 1

Willits was relatively close at 180 miles from our house, so our itinerary also included a side trip to Mendocino and Fort Bragg. However, I'm not sure if the detour was worth it. While Mendocino was quite fun when we went there several years ago, the town didn't seem to have as many attractions as we remembered. To be honest, Fort Bragg wasn't that interesting either aside from the view of the ocean.

It was then time to continue on to Willits. The route took us through the scenic Jackson State Forest, making the drive very worthwhile. All of us were somewhat tired from the traveling, so we didn't do much in the evening besides going to a local grocery store for frozen dinners.

Day 2

As my family loves the great outdoors, the three of us went hiking in a nearby nature reserve after breakfast. There weren't many trails in the area, but the redwood groves were absolutely beautiful.

We took the Skunk Train to Northspur and back later in the afternoon. The round trip was just under 40 miles, but the leisurely pace at which the train traveled made the excursion seem like several hours. There was a guy on board that played bluegrass on the banjo, which was a nice touch. On top of that, I chatted with two cute girls on the train. Haha, I'm such a flirt.

Back at the hotel, Dad and I watched Deep Blue Sea before going to bed. It was an awesome movie, even though I had seen it before. This was undoubtedly the best day of the trip.

Day 3

Having had so much fun the day before, it was a little sad to realize that our trip was coming to an end. But there was still plenty of free time, so we spent much of the day checking out the local shops and restaurants, as well as some of the nearby scenic drives. It was well past dinner time when we finally arrived home!

Conclusions

The trip was pretty nice despite being so short. Although many of the places we visited were fairly mediocre, the awesome train ride totally made up for it. That was by far the best part of our vacation. I'm not sure if we'll go on another trip this summer, but at least I still have over two weeks before school starts. :-)

Currently watching: Deep Blue Sea