A weekend with John and Wendy

This weekend has been full of adventures and lots of fun.

A couple of weeks ago John and myself planned to catch up in Santa Barbara on the weekend after his birthday, take some photos and explore California. I met John and Wendy in an unlikely manner, as the only three people under the age of 60 partaking in the CSU Summer Arts Photography Program that I attended in 2012. We haven't seen each other in just under two years and therefore my trip to the US has been the perfect time to get together. As this week progressed everything fit together perfectly, Wendy had the weekend off, parties were being planned throughout IV and we all were excited to get our creative juices flowing.

After a failed attempt to complete my International Politics assignment on Thursday and John getting very lost in the UCSB campus, he finally arrived at Manzanita. It was great to see each other and share some stories from the last few weeks, including some major success with John's startup company in San Jose. We trooped off to get some drinks for a celebration at Viv's and get some sleep before a big day ahead in Goleta.

Resting our weary heads from a night out with the gang we went off to get some Vietnamese food and explore downtown Goleta on Friday. It was then time to get some provisions for potluck and wait for Wendy to arrive.

The potluck itself went off without a hitch and our vegan vegetable skewers (and not so vegan, brussel sprout and bacon skewers) were a favourite! Everyone brought amazing vegan and non vegan dishes to suit everyones taste and all the exchange students were able to compare tales from the week prior. Wendy arrived just as we cracked open the wine and after lots of conversing and reminiscing she was able to meet our motley crew of EAP friends.

(Potluck dessert deliciousness)

The catching up hit high gear on Saturday as we drove up to San Luis Obispo and Pismo Beach to explore. The drive was beautiful and the town even nicer! SLO is another quintessential college town with lots of cute shops and suburbia. We got into town just in time for lunch at McLintock's and then ventured through the streets doing some window shopping before heading to Pismo. On our way out of the town we also saw a group of Cal Poly students staging a quasi-superhero-wartime-reenactment battle in the park haha.
Only in California.

(The infamous Gum Wall in SLO) 

Pismo was the perfect pitstop on the way back to campus and we finally got the chance to take some photos.

Our final night together was then surprisingly relaxed. We had planned to head over and party at the excursion clubhouse however the party was shutdown while we were heading over to join the festivities! Plan B was a couple of drinks and snacks while watching a movie and hanging out. It was a wonderful way to finish the trip together and while I'm tired and sore today it was a fantastic opportunity to meet again.

Lets hope the next two years are just as wonderful as the last.

Nina