Moving to Riverside, California
June, 1997


Following my graduation at Mines, I accepted a graduate student researcher position at the University of California, Riverside. My intent at the time was to get a Ph.D. in Plasma Physics; however, it didn't work out that way in the end...the end being three months later... and that's a story for another day.

Mike's parents helped us pack up a truck and we drove from Colorado to California. Jarl flew out to help us unload the truck. Here are some pictures taken during our first few days in Riverside.

Mike and I, with the truck
Mike and Kari in Riverside
Mike and Kari in Riverside

Mike, Jarl, and Opie on the balcony
Mike and Jarl with Opie
You may ask, "Who's Opie?" Opie is the African headdress sitting in front of Jarl. I bought Opie in a store on the 16th Street Mall in Denver, for Mike's 25th birthday. Upon bringing it home, I realized there was no way I was going to be able to hide a 3-foot tall African headdress during an inter-state move. So, I decided to give it to Mike early.

Mike was at his grandmother's house, working on his car with his Dad. So, I put the headdress in the passenger seat, seat-belted it in (safety first!), and drove over there. As I pulled into the driveway, Mike's Dad saw me, and I could tell he didn't really know what to make of the headdress. I presented it to Mike (who was thrilled with it), and the first question his Dad asked was "So, what's it's name?" Mike immediately answered "Opie".

Opie travelled with us around California and back to Colorado. He's had one or two bad spills, and Mike's Dad has kindly repaired him for us. The headdress is actually estimated to be about 60 years old, and it represents the god of cultivation, who taught people how to farm.