And miles to go before I sleep, Day 9, JulyAug

August 5, 2020

Today we awoke at 9:00 because breakfast ended at 9:30 according to the Guest Guide in our room.  I arrived only to find no breakfast!  The desk person said that it ended at 9:00.  When I mentioned the Guest Guide, she said that was from "Before Covid".  She offered me one of their snack bags--we had the ones from check-in the day before, so I said no thanks.  They bags contain a bottle of water, a nutrigrain bar, and a red delicious apple wrapped up in plastic wrap.  Nice thought, but not the same as a hot breakfast.  

So we were on the road in Indiana before 10:00.  We stopped for gas and picked up muffins at the gas station (again, not the same as a hot breakfast).  Then on the road.  Randy drove until 3:00 when we stopped for gas and a meal in Illinois.  Taco Bell for lunch (no french fries rule) and I drove until we got home.  Stopped once in Eau Claire for gas, and once at the Minnesota border for a bathroom break.  We stopped at Shelby's around 10 to get Randy's car that she was using while we were gone, talked to her and Adrian for a few minutes, then went home.  The mail had restarted today instead of tomorrow, so there was a pile to go through.  We unpacked, had frozen pizzas for dinner (heated up of course), and relaxed before bed.  It's well after midnight now, so I'm thinking that bed is sounding good after all of that driving!  

I forgot this from our first night in DC:  Do you see Minnesota on the top tier, directly over the door
leading to President Lincoln (Lincoln Memoria)?  That prominence shows the importance of Minnesota!

Mountain Mama, Day 8 July/Aug 2020

August 4, 2020

I forgot to post our "experience" in yesterday's blog.  We checked into our hotel and in our room noticed that the air wasn't on, so the room was a little humid.  We figured that since there were few cars in the parking lot, it just hadn't been used for awhile.  We noticed also that the bedding seemed damp--like on a humid day or near the beach.  So we turned the air on to dry the air in the room (and hopefully the bedding) and went to a Friday's near the hotel.  When we came back, there was water on the floor!  Not near the air conditioner or the refrigerator and the ceiling was dry!  So I went down to tell the desk and they changed our room--not sure how the water got there (there were puddles--though the bedding was drier).  Thankfully they were laminate floors and our stuff was up. So we changed rooms and then in the morning, I found a used washcloth hanging from the shower curtain bar (dry), so housekeeping must have missed that--made me wonder what else they may have missed! 

Well, today we checked out and started driving from Virginia to Indiana.  We drove through pretty land and pretty mountains--Blue Ridge Mountains I believe--in West Virginia and Kentucky.  The Mountain Mama title above is because Joshua kept saying it--one of the few lines he knows from John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads". 

Country roads, take me home

To the place I belong

West Virginia, mountain mama

Take me home, country roads

So now, of course, that song is stuck in my head!  Well, it could be worse, I suppose!  

We stopped at a Bob Evans in West Virginia for lunch, and walked a few blocks to find a place that was still open when we arrived at the hotel.  Found a Chili's about half a mile away.  We were their only customers and the waitstaff informed us that they were planning to close in half an hour.  We promised to eat in that time and did.  Seemed pretty sad.  Today we drove about 9 1/2 hours, probably about 8 1/2 minus the gas/lunch break.  Thankfully we have two drivers so we can trade off--four to four and a half hours each.  Tomorrow will be even longer--probably 10 hours to get home plus stops.

And that makes four! Day 7 July/Aug 2020

August 3, 2020

Today we visited the fourth and final school.  The University of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.  We had a good breakfast at our hotel:  eggs, potatoes, waffles, bagels, breads, etc.  Even juice.  (I didn't actually eat all of that!).  On the way, we needed to take the Chesapeake Bridge Tunnel which is 17.6 miles long.  They created two islands and a tunnel as well as a significantly long bridge to cover the span. 

We drove through Norfolk because Joshua wanted to see the naval ships, but he was sleeping and it started to rain, so we skipped that.  William and Mary was founded in 1693, the second oldest university in the US, after Harvard.  Almost all of the buildings look very old, even the newest.  The newer buildings, outside of the brick wall, are also made of brick and are called the New Campus.  It started raining while we were walking around, so we took shelter in the portico of one of the dorms.  We sat in rocking chairs and talked.  When the thunder boomed loudly and the skies completely opened up, we just moved our rocking chairs further back from the railing.  We could eventually continue.  The self-guided tour was about 20 pages long (it's a huge campus), so Joshua gave up after awhile.  He decided that on aesthetics alone, he likes this campus the best.  It is connected to the too-sweet-for-words village of Williamsburg.  When we get home, we will schedule zoom meetings with admissions counselors at the various schools.  We have one scheduled already for Friday will St. Andrew's in Scotland, which was difficult due to the time difference--we'll have to get up early that day.  Joshua decided to check out William and Mary because it has a partnership program that you can apply for with St. Andrews:  2 years at St. Andrews, then 2 years at William and Mary, which helps with internships in DC for his program.  William and Mary is about three hours from DC by train.  The partnership program, though, only admits 1-2 students per year.  Here are some photos of William and Mary:

  

Covered walkway between two dorms

a dorm--the portico is where we sought refuge from the storm

The "new campus"

"new campus"

The bridge over Crim Dell.  Lore says if you cross it by youself, you
will always be alone, if you kiss someone on the bridge, your love
will last for all time.  And if you break up with that person, you
need to go back on the bridge and the person that was dumped needs to push
the other off the bridge so that they can both form relationships with
others.

Campus coffee shop

Wellness Center

Another building in the Old Campus

The building for Joshua's major

The oldest college building in the United States, built in 1695-99 in the
style of Christopher Wren (who designed St. Paul's Cathedral in London).
It was restored in 1931 by John D Rockefeller.

This is a new walkway they were installing while we were there. 

Life's a Beach! Day 6, July/August 2020

August 2, 2020

This morning, Randy went to get the car (it's over a mile from the hotel), and after we loaded our stuff, we dropped Anneliese off at at cafe near the Supreme Court Building for breakfast and went to Trader Joe's to get muffins and fruit for ours.  Anneliese's train back to NY doesn't leave until 5:30, so she's going to do some sightseeing before she goes (schlepping her bags, unfortunately).  We each had one more ride left on our Metro cards, so we gave her those so she can get around and see things before having to catch her train.  Joshua wanted to walk around Georgetown in the sunshine, so we drove over there and Randy and I ate breakfast in the car while Joshua walked around campus.  We had to drive through Virginia to get to Georgetown--kind of weird.  Back in the car, and we set off to go to one of the beaches in Delaware.  We had to go through DC and Virginia to get to Delaware, but a few hours later we were at Rehoboth Beach. We decided to drive through Dover on the way (the capital of Delaware).  It had a very cute capital building--very simple and New England looking.   The weird thing at the beach:  you are required to wear your mask to walk through the dunes to the beach, but masks are not required on public beaches.  We wore our masks and there were a few others that did as well (but not many).  We just took off our shoes and walked along the beach for about 20 minutes.  Brrrr, that ocean water is cold!  Then we walked back and rinsed our feet before getting back in the car.  There were a lot of people at the beach and almost none were wearing masks, but they did seem to be stationed 6 feet away along the beach--though not in the water. 

Then we went back in the car to drive to Virginia.  We are staying the night at a Hampton Inn in Exmore, VA.  There is no "sit-down" place for dinner in Exmore (it's all fast food).  The desk gave us a menu to order delivery from a pizza place across the highway.  It said "dine in", so we did.  It turned out that you had to go to the gas station and walk through the convenience store to get to the entrance (yeah, I know).  You order at the counter and they bring it to your table.  They had an amazingly large menu for such a small place.  We all ordered pasta, and it included salad and breadsticks (on foam plates).  It was a lot of food for a small amount of money.  It wasn't Olive Garden, but it was okay.  None of us could finish our meal (I had baked ziti with meatballs).  Tomorrow we head for our final college visit a few hours away before heading home. 

One more school . . . and some more Monuments, Day 5, July/Aug 2020

August 1, 2020

Today we got cinnamon rolls and fruit at Whole Foods and ate in a square by the medical school (picnic tables with umbrellas) we did the self-guided tour for George Washington University (GW).  Fewer flowers than American and less pomp than Georgetown.  Of course, all of the buildings were closed due to the pandemic.

Donkey and elephant at the Political Sciences building.

Joshua with the Hippopotamus--a fun unofficial mascot

Chili Pepper plants

near campus

Naked Lady flowers

Kogan Plaza

Joshua and the "mascot", George Washington himself

Anneliese and GW

Tempietto in Kogan Plaza

Campus pic--different than both Georgetown and American

After the tour, we were worn out.  It was sunny, hot, and humid so we decided to go back to the hotel for a rest.  We took turns napping and snacking, Anneliese did some grant work online.  Then in the evening, when it had cooled off a little, we went to Circa, the restaurant that we went to the first night without Anneliese (this time with her).  Then we walked to the mall, went to the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial, the Korean War Memorial, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.  I had previously only been to the first one.  

Vietnam War Memorial (notice the reflection?)

Korean War Memorial (kind of creepy)

You just imagine this poor, scared kid off fighting this war

The faces on the wall surrounding the field

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

MLK memorial--it's huge!

After we walked back and after showers played hearts.  We're hoping the neighbors are quieter.  At 1:00 am this morning I had to walk over and ask them to turn their TV down so that we could sleep  There was also a horrible odor of weed in our room--not sure if that was the loud people next door or someone outside, near our outside air intake, but it was awful.  Hoping tonight is more peaceful.  Tomorrow we continue our trip, slowly meandering our way home and Anneliese will have until early evening when her train takes her back to New York.  It's been nice having a few days with her and nice for her to have a few day of vacation out of her apartment and New York.