Ithaca Is Gorges

I have to admit, I had forgotten how "gorges" Ithaca really is. I am finally back! Lookout everyone... I have been here since late Saturday afternoon - so about 5 days now - and it's just been incredible. There's been a few boring moments, mostly because I was alone until Tuesday night, but I have definitely been keeping myself busy.

Having Ange (my roommate) around is definitely going to kick my ass into shape. She is on a car boycott because gas prices are so high. This makes sense, in theory, and if you are going anywhere downtown and don't need to carry things that are tooooo heavy (like groceries), then okay. BUT. Anyone heard of 96b? Anyone who has been to Ithaca remember how steep and long that hill is up to school? It's going to take a good several months of riding for me to be able to tackle that hill on a bike. And by then it will be snowing (oh darn)! So it's safe to say I'm probably going to continue to drive up to campus.

Other than that, though, I'm game for the biking thing. One of the first purchases I made were toe clips for the pedals, and boy was that a good idea. Yesterday Ange suggested that we ride out to Taughannock Falls State Park and toss a ball around for a bit. I was all for it, but I failed to realize how far away this place is. In the end it's only about 8 miles out from the center of Ithaca, but it's pretty much entirely uphill. It took us around an hour to get there, and though I lived through it, I definitely won't be making the trip again anytime soon. I'm just not in that kind of shape right now.

Anyway, I am up on campus now for the first time since being back, and it's not even as surreal as I thought it would be. This is probably a good thing. I'm happy to report that Ithaca is as beautiful as ever, and if anyone wants to come down and visit me, I highly suggest doing so before it turns bitter-cold (which could be as early as next week, you never know around here). For now, I'm gonna go out and enjoy some of that beauty while I can....