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Santa Barbara

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Submitted By pttran4
Words 1054
Pages 5
Phung Tran
October 27, 2014
WAC 101
Evaluating Essay
Santa Barbara
A week before Labor Day, one of my friends asked me if I wanted to visit Santa Barbara, and I said yes. I had been looking forward to this two day weekend trip because it would be the first time I had traveled to a place that is far away from Arizona without my family. Early Saturday morning, I packed up my clothes in a huge black backpack that looked much more like a hiking backpack. Then I was ready to go to the bus station. It was still dark when I reached the bus station to go to Santa Barbara, and very few people lined up behind me in the station. I was nervous looking around but I was also very excited to begin my first independent adventure to a gorgeous place called Santa Barbara that known for its beautiful mountain landscape and its exquisite beach.

After fifteen hours in the bus, I finally reached my destination and settled down in my hotel. My first view of Santa Barbara’s landscape, the place was wrapped around by a long range of mountains that were covered by a thick green layer of grass and trees. Alongside the hill, there were a lot flowers showing off their beautiful petals in the rays of the sunset. I could see a chunk of yellow dandelion that mixed with the green carpet of grass on the ground as my friend drove me around the mountain. The scattering of sunlight across the sky at this point painted an image of pinkish-orange color clouds that mingle with the blue sky.

Opposite to the mountain side was a long coastline that stretched along the white sand while the waves gently washed over the sand. I could see from faraway that there were so many people walking back and forth in their bikinis and swimsuits. Some people were laying on the sand under a big umbrella to enjoy the gorgeous view of the deep blue color of the ocean’s surface that connected to the afternoon sunlight of the sky. Many boats and canoes were venturing out off in the distance. The landscape of the beach and the mountains were perfectly intermingling creating a sense of peace for me after my stressful days at ASU.

At night time, I was able to walk with my friend from the hotel to the beach in about fifteen minutes. Walking across the beach at night, the wind blew by and it felt cold compared to Arizona. Around August time, Arizona’s weather most of the time was really hot and the sun tended to project an intense heat in between noon to afternoon time. It was so surprised to me that in Santa Barbara, the heat was much cooler. At night, it was a bit cold from the moist air and the ocean. I looked up at the sky that is full of constellations. The stars were competing with each other to display each twinkling light across the night. There were no clouds intervene the competition at all. As I reached the beach, I took off my old shoes and held them in my right hand. I wanted to feel the sand under my feet for a long time. The sand in Santa Barbara was so soft and smooth. It created a very comfortable feeling as I was walking barefoot toward the midnight waves. I sat down with my friend and enjoyed the night scene.

At this time, the beach was no longer crowded with people. The night was falling into a silent sentinel. Though the moon was 384,400 km away from earth, that night it looked so close to me (Sharp 1). It had an orb shape that filled with a yellow-flame color like a Chinese lantern at mid night. At this point, my friend had lain down on the sand with his head in my lap. Both of us watched the wonderful moon glowing in the dark and glistening on top of the ocean waves. It was creating a squiggling yellowish path that connected the ocean to the sky like a path to heaven like in the fable stories that I had heard when I was younger. The waves were singing their beautiful endless lullaby as the wind was blowing across the beach. It made me shiver a little bit. I stroked my friend’s hair and watched the moon slowly sink down to the ocean as the path slowly grew dimmer and disappeared. . This beautiful landscape remains the most exquisite place I have ever been.

Nevertheless, there were some negative aspects about Santa Barbara as well. When the first day arrived, the freeway traffic was so bad and horrible. Based on the map, I only needed to go about 9 more miles to reach my destination. However, the long line of cars made it hard to pass through. At a result, I had to wait another extra hour to get the place I needed to be. Though California was certainly a beautiful place, just to wait that long to drive nine miles of freeway was too much and it was not even rush hour. In addition, the lanes in the freeway were very confused to me. When I took an exit to the right, it took me straight to the street. Nevertheless, when I wanted to go out to the freeway, it took me awhile to find out another route that would connect to the freeway. Though California was certainly a beautiful place, just to wait that long to drive nine miles of freeway was too much and it was not even rush hour.

Time flied so fast. Though I cannot visit the entire Santa Barbara, the place made me want to stay longer. Its landscapes never failed to make me feel so peaceful and relax-able. The night scene was lingering in my heart as I memorized it so clearly. As a result of this wonderful experience, I would leave with a beautiful impression of this remarkable place. If anyone has a chance to visit a sparkling water and white sandy beaches, they should grab the opportunity to visit Santa Barbara.

Work Cited
Sharp, Tim. "How Far Is the Moon?" Space.com. Purch, 21 June 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2014.

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