We left Buffalo in the at 9 AM on Sunday and travelled to Athens OH. Along the way we again listened to books on tape – finishing Envy by Sandra Brown (15 hrs), and starting Smoke Jumper by Nicholas Evans. We arrived about 3:30 PM in Athens and immediately stopped by and saw Katie. She had been phoning us during the trip to find out our progress. Upon arriving we met her friends, Kim and David, saw her dorm room and then went over to MaryLib’s, Kathy mom, where we’ll be staying these next few days. The day ended with dinner, talk, and Brian and Katie seeing the Madagascar movie.
Monday was a relatively quiet day, but then most are quiet and peaceful while we’re on vacation. Since we have the car and it’s almost the end of school for Katie, we’ve been helping her empty out her room and transport her things to a storage facility where she’s rented a 5×5 locked space. We’ve been to Walmart once so far for more storage tubs to help in this effort. It’s amazing how much stuff she has accumulated in such a short time. Because this is Katie’s “Parents Weekend”, she’s wanted us to meet all of her friends, so we went to Damon’s for dinner with Kim. Large portions and good talk were had by all. Kim had RA duty at 8 PM and Katie a paper to write, so we dropped Kim and Katie off so they could do their work. MaryLib, Kathy and Brian stayed up late (1 AM) talking animatedly about things including how Ohio University is doing a poor job in allowing Katie to get the courses she needs for her degree. It seems that although she is now a junior she still getting closed out of required classes. This seems to be a institutional problem here since her mother, Kathy, who also graduated from here, encountered the exact same problem when she attended many years ago. MaryLib is considering talking to the administration concerning this issue since she too is a graduate and has “connections”.