Early July in San Luis Obispo

Some time has passed since we took this trip in early July to San Luis Obispo. Part of the motivation for the trip was to get some pictures for our anniversary, while another was to get out of Dodge for a weekend.

Corrie hadn't been up to campus in years, and hadn't spent any time just frolicking around San Luis in, maybe, ever? 

Then things got all sorts of busy, and I lagged in posts. That's nothing new.

So, here are a few pictures from campus. The first is the new Math and Science hall, or center, taking up the job of the outdated and sprawling Spider Building:

I had many a class in the Spider Building, since I started as a Biochem major. I remember the long hallways open 24 hours a day, and how one of the equipment windows, even while closed and locked, had books of matches available constantly. Funny what you remember, eh?

This next building is Fisher Science, and it hasn't changed at all. I had an anecdote about this building that I was thinking of when I picked this picture from my list while compiling the ideas for this post, but now, typing it, I've decided against retelling it. So...here's an out of context picture:

Ryan and Corrie and I drove up to the top of Highland Drive, a quick drive I probably hadn't made since 2002. We got out and walked around for a while, and I tried taking some perspective shots of Bishop's peak, with limited success:

That same day we made it out to the Rock for sunset, and I played with the settings on my little camera and got this darkened picture:

I think my original idea for this post was to be a reflection on returning for the first time together to SLO for Corrie and I, but too much time passed, and as other things have entered my brain, the weak feelings I had for this exact weekend were drummed out, like so many other faulty and foggy memories from San Luis. This wasn't originally a picture-only post.

Like the town of Bishop in my novel, the flow of time is haltingly foggy while spent in SLO County...

We stayed with Jimmy and Christina, as Ryan is living in a tiny bungalow originally erected for railroad builders. "Cramped" is a nice euphemism for it. Corrie and I were amazed with how easy it was to jump in the car, drive over to campus, then to the top of Perfumo Canyon, then drive out to Morro Bay and take some pictures of the Rock and give Corrie a moment for her and Grandma June's sendoff, and have that all only take one afternoon. In LA that's like a full week's worth of getting around and seeing stuff.

San Luis...some things about it will never change, while other things will never be the same, not the same as the first time I was there in 1997, not the same as when we were regulars at the OG McCarthy's, and not the same as this last trip we just took.