Home Sweet Home

One more post before ending this roadtrip blog. Today we returned home around 8:00pm, and everyone was so excited to be home. Here is the final mapquest of our College Roadtrip around the US. We drove almost 6000 miles, and over 100 hours.

We loved the landscape driving through Texas, New Mexico and Arizona today. Rick and I think it is important for the kids to see what America has to offer for them in terms of college, and places to live. Considering California's current economy, I'm not sure the kids will be able to begin their adult lives here and be able to make ends meet, and plan for their futures. There are so many wonderful places that offer a lower cost of living, but with the same lifestyle and culture we enjoy here in the San Diego area (although the kids all LOVE the beach). We are encouraging them to look for the best fit for them, and we will enjoy visiting them if they do choose to move away from California.

Roadtrip Day 13

Our first college tour today was at 9am at TCU in Ft Worth, Texas. We got little sleep since we finished the 11.5 hour drive from Nashville late last night. There were more California students visiting for this presentation than any of the colleges we have toured. There wasn't a video, just a power point with details.The photo below is the sports complex and football stadium.

Honestly, the presentation was not as impressive as we have seen at other schools, but our tour guide was awesome. She is a rising junior with a business marketing major. She has already studied abroad, cheers for the Frogs and is in the Honors program. We asked her a ton of questions and we really loved this campus. One downside is that it is hot and has fewer trees than Vanderbilt has to keep you cool. Something we liked better was the nearby area with a small town feel and lots of popular places in walking distance of the campus.
 

 

I forgot what this fountain is called, but it should be the "Lily Pads" since their mascot is a Horned Frog. It represents all four years of college and it is a meeting place and hangout.

   

The above photo is the HUGE recreation center on campus. I think it is an excellent selling point. This center rivals any full-service gym I have seen. It offers racquetball, basketball, a full fitness center, two pools, workout classes, a jogging track, and much more.

 

...and here he is, the campus mascot, and the only one of its kind in the entire college system. The Horned Frog is only about 3 inches in length, but it is FIERCE, we were told : )

  

 

I talked to a campus police officer at "Potbelly" the local sandwich shop and he said all campus police are retired local police. He himself is a former Ft. Worth Sargeant with more than 30 years experience. He looked fairly young and has a high school student who is working on the campus grounds crew this summer. We chatted a while about campus safety, and one of my favorite features is that females are not to walk after dark. So, male students will taxi them to their dorms in golf carts. This is just one of the many safety practices we learned about. 

 

After eating a super yummy lunch at this TCU decorated restaurant, we headed to Waco for our 3pm tour of Baylor. See the Darth Vader collectible case on the wall between the TCU and Texas state flags? 

 

 

Do you notice something different about this gas pump? Weird right? We have seen both 4 and 5 grade choices, including an "85" which seems odd.

Sooooo, on to Baylor, our last stop on the crazy college tour of 2013. The first thing we noticed was Baylor is currently constructing a GIANT, rad stadium right next to the freeway. The two younger kids and I decided to hang out at the hotel for this last tour. It was so hot at TCU, and we were tired. I am bummed though because both Rick and Jamie LOVED Baylor. They had a tour bus to take them around the campus, and this was the only college to give Jamie a t-shirt on her visit. 

Another cool detail about school spirit is that freshman students get to run out on the football field before every game. They cheer on the players and sit behind the visitors' bench and shout out "Christian words of encouragement" to the other team ; ) I did not know this was a Methodist University. Clearly, there is a Christian theme on our summer college roadtrip <3 We are so blessed that the opportunity for a Christian-centered experience is top 3 on our daughter's list of requirements for finding her college home.

Rick said there is a large sports center for all athletes at this school, and school spirit is big here. They have a campus recreation center similar to the one at TCU.

They do have live bears on campus, but they weren't out today. Well, Jamie doesn't feel well, and Rick is at the gym, so they will have to add more details later.

This is not a great picture, but it looks like a beautiful building at Baylor. Jamie and I are going to take a trip to some top California schools asap. We will blog more then....

 

Roadtrip Day 12

We woke up at the Embassy Suites hotel near Nashville, Tennessee. They offer complimentary breakfast including made-to-order omelettes (no line here) and everything else under the sun. We packed up and drove to Vanderbilt University for our 10am appointment and checked in. They didn't have a movie for this one, but the admissions person gave a power point presentation with all the familiar prospective student information.

 

After the info session, we headed out with our tour guide Anna. Mikey ran up to help lead again, of course, and we were glad we got a female tour guide, since Mikey has no interest in hanging out with the male guides ; ) She has a complicated sounding major that has to do with human development. She was articulate and thorough, and Jamie and I fell in love with Vanderbilt on this tour. 

Fun fact about these southern universities: They plant little peppers in their landscaping. It is cute.

I wish I had a better camera on this trip. This bridge is really cool and it says Vanderbilt University across the top with the V in the middle (in case you can't see it).

Although the campus is in the city of Nashville, it is not crazy and frantic like Georgetown in DC felt. It has a cozy feel, but with access to the music and culture of the city. Walking through the campus is serene and beautiful. It is classified as an Arboretum since every tree in the state grows here. That is probably why this is part of the admissions presentation - 3:1 squirrel to student ratio. Because what if you are afraid of those little guys?

My favorite picture on this trip so far...such a proud daddy, walking with his daughter talking about her future plans, hopes and dreams <3 There is just something special about Vanderbilt. Also, Jamie and I love music and this is Nashville after all.  Taylor Swift and other famous names have played on their lawn. The dorms, libraries, and other buildings are historic on the outside, yet updated and practical on the inside.

This photo sort of makes college look so huge, and my daughter so small. But that girl is ready!

Before leaving the admissions building, we had a chance to meet with Laura, our regional admissions counselor to ask some more questions. Jamie has a tough decision to make regarding her early decision application, and we still have two colleges in Texas and more in California to visit. Cali will have to wait until a long weekend comes around.

I took a picture of this quote from someone's door. This really sounds like Jamie's philosophy on life, for the most part : ) It is a good philosophy to have.

Ironically, I took the above picture while we were in the McDonald's drive-thru. It looked awesome, but we were in a rush! We do order grilled chicken wraps and apples though....to get ready for the next stop, lol.

We had to! There is not a Krispy Kreme anywhere near us in San Diego. Now on to an 11.5 hour drive to Texas for two appointments tomorrow. In retrospect, we should have done a better job at front-loading this trip : ) I drove for the first 8-9 hours since Rick had a backache, and Mikey needed a playmate.

 

 

Yes, by the time I took the picture, there were 8 gone, lol.

 

 

I became night blind, and the speed limit went up to 75, so Rick drove the last couple hours.

 

Roadtrip Day 10

Today we had an appointment at Duke at 2pm so we began our drive from Virginia Beach around 8:30am just in case. We arrived a little early and got a really close parking spot. Ironically, even the college campus had road construction. That is the subtitle of our roadtrip ...."Road construction around the US." ; )

Duke was incredible! We loved our tour guide Heather. She was so sweet to Mikey, and of course he hung out with her the entire time. I bet Rick $20 that he would hold her hand at some point during the tour (Mikey not Rick) and sure enough:

 These benches are a tradition for each dorm whose residents paint them to match the Greek organization or the name of the building. We got to see these dorm rooms and we were impressed. Although the outside is historic, they have updated the security and living areas.

 

You can see the beautiful Chapel from almost anywhere on campus. Pictures don't capture it well.

Inside the Chapel is a balcony with a huge organ, and there are many stained glass windows which depict scenes from the Bible.

We have see many squirrels, some birds and a few dogs on campuses this summer.

This squirrel was eating a snack and seems very happy to be living on this campus ; )

Roadtrip Day 11

Mikey is cuddling up to Cooper who is cuddling his "baby" golden retriever. Thank goodness our friends and family have pets so we can love on them and forget how much we miss our pets. Charlie has had allergy and stomach issues since we left. We tried a new kennel which is a Veterinarian in Singing Hills who also does boarding, so at least we know they will be medicated properly....however, we may need to take out a small loan to ransom them when we get home.

I forgot to post the video of Sami and Mikey finally finding fireflies last night!

We woke up this morning at Providence Country Club, my bff's beautiful neighborhood in Charlotte, NC. She made the best Starbuck's coffee ever, we hung out for a teensy bit, and then we had to say goodbye : ( so we could get on the road to Nashville Tennessee for an appointment at Vanderbilt University in the morning. The drive was uneventful with amazing trees and Carolina blue skies. Tenessee is more beautiful than I remembered, maybe because of the time of year. There were so many shades of green and the air smelled so fresh.
 

Staying with the sub-theme of our trip, there were many construction zones on this leg as well :/

We stayed at Embassy Suites and it was perfect as usual. Just an FYI: Expedia was cheaper than hotels.com AND if you book from one of those outside vendors, you do not get HHonors points.  

Roadtrip Day 9

This morning Rick and I slept in a little and decided we would spend one more day and night with my brother's family in Virginia Beach. The girls went to the beach with their cousins and Sami went surfing. Since she is an athlete at heart, she is now hooked on the sport and wants a surfboard. Good thing we live in San Diego.

For lunch we walked (and skateboarded) a few blocks to a Mexican restaurant and were pleasantly surprised at the food.....obviously nobody makes Mexican food like SoCal : ) Rick held Niko while Jen and I ate, and it was precious. Niko loves him but he loves me way more. On the way home, Kona gave Mikey a ride on his skateboard:

We hung out for a while and then Jen made a magical dinner from scratch. Yes, I am in awe of people who can cook. She made baked chicken, broccoli with cheese, twice baked potatoes, and cheesecake without a recipe. Who does that?!?! It was so amazingly delicious. We wanted to look for fireflies again but it started raining so they weren't out.

 

I held little Niko as much as possible, and the kids played FIFA and some other games. 

 

Bear the Labradoodle and Kosmo the Yorkie....cute right?

This is Niko asleep with his favorite aunt.

This is Niko thinking about how much he loves his auntie Kahla.

Lastly, this is Niko right after he ate, dreaming about how he wants to go home with auntie Kahla <3

Niko makes the sweetest sounds while he is sleeping, so I had to record him : )

Roadtrip Day 8

Today began in McLean, VA at the complimentary breakfast in our Staybridge Hotel. They had "made to order omelettes" this morning, however, this poor woman was working 3 pans all by herself, and had a ton of orders backed up. It was too packed and crazy for me, as are most of the free breakfasts on this roadtrip, since everyone is on vacation right now. 

Mikey is finding ways to entertain himself and us:

We drove to Williamsburg, Virginia to check out the College of William and Mary. Because it was Sunday, nothing on campus was open, and we couldn't figure out the the campus layout, so we didn't get to see much. Thus, no rad campus pictures. But what we saw was beautiful, and directly across from
Colonial, Williamsburg:

It was super hot and humid, so our tolerance for any walking was pretty low. We checked the William and Mary Barnes & Noble (really?) and a few buildings nearby.

Lastly, we got Baskin Robbins and headed to Virginia Beach to see my brothers family, sans my brother who is working in Afghanistan.

When we arrived to VA Beach, the kids hung out, we bbq-d, and then got half-price milkshakes at Sonic, yummm! Mikey was looking forward to some fireflies, but we saw zero since it was raining. He said he thought there would be "thunder bugs" since there was loud thunder. I let him know that the lightning bugs are really fireflies and have nothing to do with storms ; )