My Trip to Csumb With My Daughter

[naekelsey]

Thought some of you would enjoy hearing about my trip with my daughter to visit her college, CSUMB.... Enjoy Janae Excuse the LENGTH!!


Taunya and I went on our first trip together Sun to Tues. We went to Monterey Bay to visit CSUMB, the college she is wanting to go to. It was real nerve racking since this would be the 1st trip I had ever driven by myself, 1st trip with just Taunya (would both of us come back alive???? LOL!!) & the 1st trip I would actually have to pay attention to where we go, where we went and where we were going!!

We left Sun morning at 9am, the start of our 7 hr trip. When we hit Pasoe Robles we filled the gas tank up & filled up with food at Denny's. Neither one of us said 2 words on the 1st part of the trip but we had plenty to say while we ate. At this point we only had 1/4 of the way left to go. The trip from her one was beautiful. Only 2 lane highways with lots of scenery of green & was very clean...

We finally ended up at the MB Navy Lodge at 4pm on Sun. We cked in, cleaned up then headed off to look for the college. Our thinking was if we found it now we wouldn't have much trouble tomorrow morning. We passed the college on the way to the lodge so when Taunya told me to go one way (what the directions said) I told her no. We would go back the way we just came. Little did I know that "my way" would be the back way!!! The wrong way to go when your daughter is making the decision to go to this college by looks!!!

(please keep in mind when reading this that I hadn't read anything about Monterey Bay, so I knew NOTHING about it before we got there)
Didn't realize that CSUMB was on the old Fort Ord, an old army base. (A base my g-pa went to at one time) It was a sad scene of seeing all of these buildings that were now old shacks. Windows were boarded up, weeds were as tall as the buildings, squadrons were still painted on the outside of the buildings. It was so awesome to be looking at some history but so sad to see it so trashed! After driving around for about 30 minutes we finally found the actual college buildings and the actuall building we needed to be at on Mon.

While driving around for that 30 minutes we did find the old military housing, the new military housing, the Tricare for the community (that would be military dependent doctors office), the Commisary (military grocery store) and the PX (the military 7-11) plus a military gas station. Taunya will be able to get grocies and gas at cheaper prices and only 2 minutes away from the college. We drove around this area for awhile just to see what was around.

The nearest town is Seaside with a population of 34,000, only 3 minutes away. Much SMALLER that San Diego!!! The town is beautiful. The Bay is so pretty and clean. Everyone is very nice. We walked around there mall. Then drove around the town seeing what else they had. NO WALMART. Found out we would have to drive to the next town of Marina, 5 minutes away, if we wanted to visit a wal-mart.

About now it was 8pm, just starting to get dark, so we went to Safeway to get some food to take back to the lodge. After eating and settling down we both crashed a little after 11pm. (we are both still alive, we hadn't killed each other yet!!!)

The next morning we had to be out of the lodge by 9:15am. Even though we knew were to go I didn't want to take any chances. It is amazing how much Taunya and I are so much alike!!!! Neither one of us are morning persons so we spent the first 1hr and a half not talking!! It was so nice not having someone making small talk when you first wake up!!!

We got to the college and Taunya's first words to me were "They have a lot to impress me with because what I have seen so far, I will NOT be going here!!!" I just told her to keep an open mind. We started the tour with 3 other families. Didn't realize it but CSUMB is a new school. It was just opened up in 1994. The school size is only 3, 000. The classes are only around 23 students per class. This is so interesting, the dorms are the old Fort Ord barracks!! Isn't that cool!! You know me, I see ghosts, spirits and love talking to my Spirit Guide...(Yes, I am weird-but who didn't know that??) So I couldn't wait to walk through the property just to see if I "saw" anything!! (nothing so far but I am sure I will one of the times I go back!! Can't wait!! Also took pics to see what we "caught")

The campus has 4 forms of security, the police, campus security, the military police and some other form I can't remember!! The campus has 4 different places to eat and one of them is a sit down restaurant that students work at. There are several working options on campus for students to take advantage of. Out of the whole tour only one thing urked me to no end!!! The parents had the nerve to ask what kind of military activity "their" kids would be around while on campus. Pissed me off! It is certainly okay for OUR family members to be in the military and to fight for "their" rights but heaven forbid should "their" kids be around any of it!!!!!!!!!!!!! We all know how tacktful I am with words so I very politely asked a question regarding the military. Making sure that the parents there KNEW that my daughter and I were involved in the miltary & to go ahead a make another snotty remark or question!!! We will just say that no other military remarks were made!!!

From the very beginning Taunya had already made the decisison she was going there! The more the tour went on the more excited she got. So after the tour we went so mom could write 2 checks, a deposit for her spot to be held open for her to go to this campus and then a deposit for a dorm room for her. $225 later we then had to head off to the campus store so she could get her CSUMB sweatshirt. Also got some items for Logyn and Korbyn. They were also excited there big sis was going to college.

Now let me tell another way Taunya is like me. I said one thing wrong to her, and I spent the next hour trying to make up for it!! Knowing she is just like me, I knew anything I said would just piss her off any more but I tried. So after about an hour we were finally friends again!! We are both still alive!! This is good..

After I got something to eat on campus we met up with Ricky, somone Taunya knew who went to college there. This was his 2nd year of college there. He was going to take us around and answer lots of questions!! (A 12 yr old moment!!) Right before we left the college we had a girl ask T and I to fill out a survey. She needed girls...When she found out T was just a Senior in HS she was bummned! Then she looked at me and said "You can't be a mother, you are a student, right?" She just about flipped when she found out I was T's mother! She made the commint of how "young" I look. Told her thanks but I hated it. It is not so great when everyone thinks you are 12. Adults judge way to quickly by looks and I get the brunt of it!!

Real quick, also found out about the weather in Monterey Bay. It is usually around 65 degrees, getting down to 30 to 40 degrees at night, even in the summer. When it hits 70 degrees, the kids call it HOT!! They walk around in flip flops, shorts and tank tops. Had to laugh. Sounds like the perfect weather to me, since I can't stand the heat!!!!

After all that, we spent the next 3 hrs going all over the place, looking at housese, all different parts of the bay, going through Cannery Row, and etc. We asked Ricky lots of questions. I asked him if T needed a little tape recorder for her classes? To tape the lectures instead of taking notes. His comment was "Yeah, my dad told me you guys used to use those things!! We now use the laptops to take notes" Boy did I feel old after that little statement! So I went from being real young to being real old in a matter of a few hours!! Being a mom, I had to thank Ricky for his hospitality and make sure his belly was full. So we went out to eat. Had some more conversation then dropped him off before his next class at 6pm. (had a lengthy conversation on the "ghost stories" they have on the campus/old base!!)

 

[naekelsey]

2ND PART OF THE STORY, TO LONG TO SUBMIT ALL AT ONCE

Taunya and I decided we were going to go back to the lodge to get our jackets then head off back to Cannery Row. This is the pier on the bay with lots of little shops. Great place to find snow globes that both the little ones are collecting. We found the globes plus several little restaurants but we were to full to try them out. Also saw and heard several seals.

After we were done there we took a little drive to find the Limited Too Taunya can be transferred to. She was hellbent on going to work there until we drove there. It was about a 40 minute drive, mostly on a 2 lane highway with NO Lights. Taunya was the first one to say that she didn't need to be a young girl by herself at night with no lights driving....So that problem was quickly taken care of, without mom having to say a word!!

It was now after 9pm when we got back to the lodge. We were both exhausted. I do have to say this. The first night we slept in the same bed, Taunya stayed on her own side of the bed. (she is known to take up ALL the bed and to spoon you while she is sleeping) I didn't have to worry about any of that, the first night. Now the 2nd night was a different story. She must have gotten comfortable with me!!! Because shortly after she fell asleep, the snoring started and then her taking over the bed started!! It was kind of funny!! Just had to rearrange myself every so often to allow for her movements.

The next morning we left about 11am, after we went back to Cannery Row to get Mario a sweatshirt. We stopped at Lost Hills to eat at Denny's again. The two of us spent the whole time making fun of everyone who was there or who came in. Such a bonding moment!! It was an easy drive and a pretty drive until we got past the Grapevine and into Los Angeles territory. Then it turned to trash!! It is unbelievable how different 2 parts of one state can be!! Seeing the smog, traffic and trash made me want to just turn the van around and go back to Monterey Bay.. But we didn't, we kept on track to get home. With all the traffic we hit it took us 8 hrs to get home. Next time I need to time leaving a little bit better. But I sure didn't want to leave real early!! Not having to sit in hrs of traffic will be worth it next time. I can now say the van does NOT have a "govenor"(spell???) on it!! It is quite funny looking at faces when they see a mini van fly by them!!! LOL!!!

We finally made it home around 7pm..The first Logyn and Korbyn said to me was "where is our snowglobes???". It is so nice to be missed and loved!!! LOL!! And Taunya and I made it home alive!!

Should I post the pics?

 

[Admin Greg]

T and I then went to the mall to go to the movies. We saw "The Game Plan" It was so cute and funny. A must see if you haven't seen it yet.

We then went to the motel, got some sleep. Got up the next morning had breakfast and hit the road. We left at 9:30am and got back at 4pm. We made a stop at Casa De Fruita to get some fruit and veggies. (Ricky's idea) We took the 101 home. This is a longer way to go but so much prettier. We had a great time. We talked a lot about a lot of things. We laughed and we were serious. I think we both learned a lot about each other and about ourselves. It was a great trip.

Wow, it sounds like you and your daughter had such a fun and eventful trip! I can imagine how nerve-wracking it must have been to drive by yourself for the first time and to be responsible for finding your way around. But it seems like you both handled it well and had a great time exploring together. And how cool that the campus is on an old army base - it must have been interesting to see the history there. It's also great that your daughter found a college she's excited about and that you were able to make some new memories and bond with each other. Thanks for sharing your experience with us!