Happy Early Independence Day

My alarm was set for 6 AM today and I actually managed to get out of bed. A good number of students were going to Taughannock Falls State Park today and I was one of them. I got breakfast at 7  AM because roll call was at 7:30 AM. The RPCC cafeteria was almost completely empty since no one really wakes up before 8 AM on Sundays. We left Cornell at around 8 AM and were at Taughannock rather quickly. Once we had arrived, we were given the choice to either take a 3 mile hike or a shorter one that just went to the falls. My friends and I chose the longer one, because we were told we'd still go to the falls and have time to swim in the lake.

View of the Falls from the trail

The hike wasn't extremely intense, being from the Bay Area we've got many places to hike. There were a lot of stairs though. There were various overlook points and we got to see the gorge, and it looked very deep and menacing. We walked all over the rim of the gorge and got to see the falls from high up. The hike was probably only about 1 and a half to 2 hours, bearable. Luckily, most of the hike was under trees so I didn't feel myself burning, yet it was still very warm out. When we got the bottom we were given the option to go to the trail to the bottom of the falls or swim. I really wanted to see the falls close up, but since it was so warm out I chose to swim instead. The water was cold, but nothing like the Pacific Ocean. I honestly wish the trip would've been longer, but there was a second Summer College group going so we had to leave by 12 PM. 

Really lovely day out at Cayuga Lake

The lasagna had so much cheese it was great

We got back to Cornell just in time for lunch, and after that I went back up to my dorm and showed Paula a "magic" trick Diana had shown me while we were in Chicago. She was very frustrated and it was hilarious to see the awe in her face. I almost fell asleep on her floor so I decided to take a nap before going to Collegetown with the cohort and Mike. Unfortunately, I fell in very deep sleep and overslept so I had to go to Collegetown after the rest of the cohort had already left. Also, turns out the place I suggested, because it was neighborhood recommended, was closer to the commons than Collegetown so the trip was longer. It was Gateway Kitchen, and I had suggested it because it was a BBQ place. I ended up not even eating there, unlike the rest of the cohort. I had a lasagna from the place next door and it was really delicious but too big to finish. Mike asked us about how things were going and it was a good time because I usually don't see much of the girls due to the fact we're in different courses.

The cohort made an attempt to take the bus back to campus, but we couldn't find a spot. The shuttle from Mike's hotel was nice enough to drive us back to campus. Once there, I yet again went to my dorm and just hung out until the sun was setting and we started walking to Libe Slope to see the fireworks. The fireworks actually happen at Stewart Park, and a few of the guys I know were there but they decided to leave because no one there was there age. I think they should've stayed because they would've gotten a way better view and the sunset on the lake was magnificent. Libe Slope was crowded with people from Ithaca, but my friends and I found a good spot to lay down our blankets. We played music on a speaker while we waited for the fireworks, and it took a while. I tried to take a good picture of the fireworks, but I always missed the best ones. The show only lasted about 20 minutes and was done a little after 10 PM. Even though we don't have class tomorrow, check-in is still at 11 PM, which feels like a drag because we've got all this energy. Oh well. 

Low quality photo of the view from Libe Slope

We get to have a field day tomorrow, but I really want to get some end of the weekend studying for my class because I have a test on Thursday. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm also not stressing a lot about it because it's only 10 percent of my final grade and we're all attentive during the lectures.