Banana Slugs Rule

My daughter is going to be a banana slug, and I could not be happier. Mel and I went to visit her future home at UC Santa Cruz, and spectacular does not begin to describe the campus, and the emotion of seeing your daughter successful and happy and excited. In what can best be described as a whirlwind tour, we drove the 7 hours it takes to get to Santa Cruz on Sunday, and turned around less than 24 hours later and drove back on Monday. It was an exhausting trip, but very satisfying.

The drive to Santa Cruz was beautiful this time of year, the hills are green and there are still splotches of wildflowers on the hills surrounding highway 46 to Paso Robles. It was so much fun taking a road trip with my daughter, except when she starts picking fights with truckers at the rest stops. Crazy teenagers. Two road trips with my kids in as many months, I am one happy dad.

We took the guided tour of the campus on Monday, and got a taste of all the walking Mel will be doing as a UCSC student. The campus is very hilly, and made up of nine colleges spread through out the green hills and 200 foot redwoods. The place is really enchanting; you half expect to see Hobbits as you’re walking over bridges that cut through deep dark forests. Mel’s first choice for on campus residence is Merrill College, which is on top of what they call cardiac hill. She will not only come out of SC with a bachelor’s degree, but will probably be able to try out for the Olympics with all the cardio work she will get. Most of the students we saw had single digit body fat percentages, washboard abs and where doing one arm push ups.

We all know just how difficult it is to be a parent, the back breaking work, the exhaustion, the worrying and the sacrifices that we make for our children. But there really is some magic thrown into the mix. As Mel and I where sitting in one of the halls, listening to a presentation by a UCSC student on what her life was like at Santa Cruz, and talking about the various academic programs, I felt so much happiness and joy. I felt so much pride for Melanie and all the hard work she put into getting to this moment, how much she deserves this, and how much she is going to learn and enjoy the whole college experience. I had to struggle hard to keep myself from jumping up and shouting hallelujah! Mel loves it when I do that. For me it was magical, and one of those special moments that as a parent I tuck away in a special place, never to be forgotten.

Here is the link to the whole photo shoot: http://sberringer.shutterfly.com/

p.s. Although not nearly as magical, but high on the cool factor, when we got back to Orange, my car had hundreds of dead bugs splattered across the front. Here is a picture for your enjoyment. If you don't think this is cool, your a girl.