There she goes.

The car was packed....(to the gills)
Our girl was anxious but very ready for this new phase of her life.

So we headed north, passing silos and green mountains.....

And gorgeous sunsets...all on roads with no traffic.
A beautiful thing.

We drove, and drove some more, heading due north/northwest.

We landed smack in the middle of a spaghetti dinner, at the gorgeous, and I mean GORGEOUS, home of my cousins, Liza and Jimmy.Who just happen to live almost within walking distance to where Taylor will be going to college.
A very comforting feeling for a Mom and Dad of a freshman far away from home.
They are the ultimate host and hostess, and make us feel a part of their own family whenever we show up on their doorstep. Thank you guys!!


We headed to the college early the next morning....as did every other freshman parent hoping to get a jump on the day!
But, as this was our third time at moving in a freshman, we knew that long lines were a quintessential part of move in day.

We chuckled over this sign...but at the end of ..St. Mike's Really Likes You..it should read "and your tuition payments".

Taylor headed in to the gym to pick up her registration packet...

And then we went and found her dorm and got the keys to her room.

We looked up and realized we had to carry everything up to that top floor.

But, thankfully, there were these ultra nice, ultra cheery students helping us carry our stuff.
(Although their smiles looked just a bit strained when we told them her room was on the fourth floor..lol)

But without a complaint, they helped haul her stuff up four flights.
All of the parents REALLY appreciated these red shirts :)

Taylor immediately checked out her new room and started putting things away.

She has a great view out the dorm room window...

Nice big closets...but with high shelves.
We headed to Lowe's and picked up a mini stepladder.
One of our many trips up to the fourth floor.

Jim got to work assembling a fan (the room is HOT)....

And her cute IKEA shelf...

While Taylor arranged her room just so...and put up things like the dry erase board; and put away snacks, and supplies...

I made her bed...which was bunked at that point.

Only to be "de-bunked" shortly.
And tried out by Dad, who declared it comfortable enough for a nap.

Taylor met her very nice roommate...
And had her first dorm meeting outside and floor meeting with her RA inside.


We took a walk around the campus...

The freshmen dorms are placed around this pretty quad.

We saw the aftermath of move in day...
Funny, all I remember bringing to college as a freshman was my clothes.
And a few cinderblocks to make shelves.
hmmm. Times have certainly changed.
We saw LOTS of UHaul trailers on the backs of cars.

And kissed her goodbye for the day....

Day two brought us back to St. Mike's with a few needed supplies, including a DD Coolata for our girl.

Time for one last lingering look at that beautiful face and smile and we hugged her tight.

After all, Parent's Weekend is only 3 weeks away!

One last quick lunch on the shores of Lake Champlain with my cousin...

And we turned the car south, headed home to OUR new life.