Hotels: $700
Food: $500
Gas, etc.: $300
Necessities: $200
Spending quality time with Clare: Priceless
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We arrived at Allegheny College a little after 10 am. We walked into an empty admissions office, but were soon greeted warmly by the receptionist who took Clare’s information and then got a tour guide for us. While we waited another woman walked in and welcomed us to the campus.
Our tour guide, Dan — an elementary school major and Dylan fan, was friendly and knowledgeable (except for the fact he didn’t know about Dan Bern). Clare liked the campus — it has a lot of trees and, while not Gothic, the architecture is attractive. The school contains a building that is considered the second best example of Federalist Architecture (after Constitution Hall in Philadelphia).
After our tour, we headed home. Clare was hungry, but said she could wait a while because I wasn’t. Bad idea. We ended up having to wait a couple of hours because:
- I got lost
- The PA turnpike doesn’t have very many service plazas
- I was in the wrong lane for the first service plaza
- I didn’t want to get off the turnpike in case I got lost again
We eventually stopped at the Somerset Plaza and ate at Pizzeria Unos.
After being refreshed by food (albeit fast, salty, greasy, bad-for-you food) we pointed our GPS to home. Everything went well until Breezewood, where I should have turned off the GPS because I neglected to look at signs and ended up back on the turnpike after just having exited it. We traveled another 18 miles towards Harrisburg and got off the Turnpike, only to be taken on winding, hilly roads that the locals thought were racetracks. The trouble with the roads were that I’d be going up a hill and not know if it wound around to the right or left until I was at the top. I didn’t want to go the 60 mph that the locals seemed wanted to, so I had a couple of angry drivers on my tail for several miles.
One road took us way up a mountain and back down. At that point we decided we were glad we made a wrong turn because the views were spectacular.
The GPS eventually got us back on the main roads, and we arrived home around 6:30 pm to a delicious meal of baked salmon, salad and mashed potatoes, cooked by Dean and Andrew.
It is great being home, but I would not have missed this experience for anything. It was wonderful spending so much time with my daughter. She’s a delight. She’s compassionate, gracious, talented and smart. Any college would be lucky to have her as a student.
We spent Monday driving. The rain continued until we were nearly into Ohio. I’d checked prices for hotels near Cleveland, and as they were over $100 I decided to stop about an hour before Cleveland to find a hotel. Big mistake. Sandusky is an hour before Cleveland. Have you been in Sandusky? Take my word for it — don’t jump into your car and drive there. If you do, bring a gas mask. The air there smells toxic (Clare’s words). We checked into a Day’s Inn (after trying the Hampton Inn and being told that the only room left was a King Jacuzzi Suite for $175.)
We could have driven further into the town, but I suspect the hotels got more expensive since Sandusky seems to be the Wisconsin Dells of Ohio.
Our room was gross — swaybacked beds and mildewy shower. There was some commotion in the room next to us, but it stopped as soon as it started. We ate dinner at an Olive Garden about 5 miles from the hotel. Our friendly waitress explained Sandusky to us. It grew up around Cedar Point — an amusement park that is on Lake Erie. Then other attractions arrived, such as a couple of water parks. Clare and I didn’t bother to drive to see the lake — we just went back to the room and watched a little tv before we went to sleep.
We drove to Berea, Ohio after an inadequate breakfast. We were visiting Baldwin-Wallace College the same day as Barack Obama was, so there were a few people there, including a few news vans.
Clare liked the look of Baldwin-Wallace. I thought it was too spread out — and Clare commented that it seemed too integrated with the surrounding community. We went to admissions, but were not offered a tour. There were nothing but students in the admissions office. Someone began to ask if we wanted one, and — although I didn’t see it — another student may have hushed him. I suspect (huge stretch here) that she wanted to be free to go see the town hall meeting with Obama. While I don’t blame her, I would have liked a tour.
After getting coffee at Caribou Coffee in Berea and looking around at the buildings on campus, we moved onto the College of Wooster. Clare loved the campus, which we self-toured, after a lunch at Muddy Waters cafe in town. (we tried to eat at The Bead Cafe — since our GPS directed us to it, and thinking it was a restaurant — but all they serve is beads.)
The admissions office was staffed, again, by a student who didn’t offer us a tour, but gave us a map and sent us on our way. She was friendly enough, but I suspect that if there was a real admissions receptionist there, they might have been a little more accommodating.
I was impressed by a couple of buildings. The humanities building was a beautiful Gothic structure — like a Norman castle. The classrooms were paneled in dark wood — at least the “tower” classroom was — it had an observation window for some reason.
Clare spent a lot of time touring the campus. It is a beautiful campus, so I don’t blame her. I think it’s going on her yes list.
After that, Clare wanted to do at least one “Weird USA” / Roadside attraction thing. On the way to Meadville, PA (our final college stop) is the site of a local legend about Melon Heads — creatures that once were orphans, but experimented on by an evil doctor. We didn’t see any secluded wooded areas, much less small creatures with large heads. Clare was disappointed. I was not.
I wasn’t sure how big a town Meadville was, so we decided to find a hotel in Erie, PA — about an hour away from Meadville. Clare fell asleep before we reached Pennsylvania, so was not a lot of help once I reached Erie. I glimpsed Lake Erie, then drove towards the beaches, hoping to find a motel that we’d like.
The town was crowded and none of the close-by hotels looked like something we’d want to sleep in, so I headed towards Meadville. Just outside Erie were a couple of large motels, and I decided that if Meadville didn’t work out, sleepwise, I’d go back there.
The road to Meadville promised more motels, so I knew we’d be ok. Then I saw signs that the exit to Meadville was closed, and had to exit early. I ended up on a long gravel road. Thank goodness for the GPS — it lead me to Meadville — albeit the long, slow way.
The couple of sleep options in the town of Meadville were no good, so we eventually decided to go towards Pittsburgh or Erie to find something. We ended up near the main highway outside town, at a Holiday Inn Express. The staff was very friendly and the room is clean with comfortable beds. What else did we need? We ate dinner at an Italian restaurant called Chovy’s (10% discount from Holiday Inn Express).
We watched a little television, then I crashed. Not sure what time Clare went to sleep.
This morning we had a great breakfast (fresh fruit, eggs, corned beef hash, fresh orange juice) and are getting ready to visit Allegheny College. At this point, I’m not expecting a tour, but it would be nice if we could have one.
We left Rock Island and headed to Batavia around 10:00 after a hearty breakfast at the American Bar and Grill. The countryside became less pretty as we headed east — still countryside, but flat. But it is always fun to be able to see for miles because of the flatness of the land.
As we neared Dekalb, Illinois, Clare said she’d like to see Northern Illinois University, where her dad and I went to college. The campus is prettier than I recall. We walked around the area of Altgeld Hall and the closer part of the Lagoon (which is much closer to the building) than I recall it being. The fallen grotesque has lost its head — I wonder where that went. Clare snapped some photos of a grazing baby bunny and some of Altgeld Hall.
We drove on to Batavia after our stop at NIU and were greeted warmly by Kevin and his menagerie (he has two dogs now — one belongs to his roomate though– and two cats). Ashley was there, and apparently so was Brandon, but he didn’t wake up until around 4 pm, having been awake until morning playing his video games.
We went out to a very nice restaurant on the river in Batavia with Kevin, Brandon, Ashley and her friend, Heather. We ordered too much food, as usual, but since most of it was pizza we brought it back to Kevin’s for breakfast food.
I took the girls to see a late showing of The Dark Knight. It was far too dark for me (perhaps because of the late hour, I couldn’t deal with so much violence) but the girls loved it.
We didn’t get to sleep until around 1:30 am, so we all slept in and had a lazy Sunday. Kevin bought food for grilling and Clare planned the next couple of days’ driving routes.
We have three more colleges to visit. Today we will simply drive — the first college is over 6 hours away — then visit the two near Cleveland tomorrow and on Wednesday morning visit the college north of Pittsburgh.
It is both interesting and a tad worrying that college admissions folks are visiting this blog. It is also understandable. We’d been told that admission counselors sometimes checked facebook and myspace pages when reviewing prospective student’s files, so why not blogs that mention or link to their colleges. I’m pleased that two of the admission counselors have left comments on the blog.
It is pouring down rain now, and thundering. Not the best weather in which to pack the car and drive. Maybe it will stop soon.
Even though we spent the night in Galesburg, Illinois — Near Knox College, Clare decided that Knox didn’t have the aesthetics she needed. In addition, a train practically runs through the campus several times a day. We drove to the school, but Clare decided not to visit, and head out to Cornell College earlier than we’d planned.
The drive to Mount Vernon, Iowa got much prettier once we got out of Illinois. I was pleasantly surprised that Southeastern Iowa is beautiful. The green countryside is hilly, similar to Ireland, without the sheep and hedgerows.
We got to Mount Vernon the back way. It is a lovely little town — which I sort of expected. See, besides visiting Mount Vernon for the college it holds, this leg of the trip was a sort of pilgrimage for me. My favorite musician, Dan Bern, grew up there. His father, the late Julian Bern, taught at Cornell College and his mother still lives near Cedar Rapids (of which Mount Vernon is sort of a suburb).
The folks at Cornell are very friendly and we had a lovely, but uncomfortably hot, tour given by a enthusiastic rising junior named Kelly who kept on referring to “This side of the Mississippi” meaning the west side of the Mississippi which made me start each time she said it. Clare really liked the college. One difference Cornell College has is that students take only 1 course at a time for 3.5 weeks. I think that Clare would really shine in an environment that way as she tends to focus well.
We spoke to the same very nice admissions counselor as we did in the fall, when she visited Bethesda. She remembered Clare and encouraged Clare to come back in the fall when classes were in session.
After the tour and brief interview, we headed towards Coe in Cedar Rapids. The admissions office was closed and although Clare, at first, thought the anesthetics were ok at Coe, she soon thought, “eh” when we drove past it on the highway.
We left Cedar Rapids and headed back across the Mississippi River. Clare said she was hungry about the time we hit Davenport, so we decided to stop in Rock Island, Illinois after 2 hours. That way our trip to Elgin would be only 2 hours. We found a hotel and had a nice dinner at the Candellite Inn, which is across the street from the hotel, where the specialty was “Chicken George” — pretty good chicken tenders. We got some take out boxes, thinking that we could take the rest of the food home to my dad, who likes to eat — anything.
We got back to the hotel and began to settle in. I thought I’d call my mom to let her know we were on our way (I’d told her, last weekend, we might be visiting during the college tour and she said that would be fine) and couldn’t reach her on her mobile nor home phone. After a few minutes she called back on her mobile and let me know she and dad were in Wisconsin. With Wendy and Don. She said that since she didn’t know when we were coming she decided to go to Wisconsin. I wish she had let me know that was her plan, because we may have done this trip differently.
I called Kevin, but got an answering service instead, and thought we were kind of screwed in the visiting relatives department — the Follmans are on their way to Wisconsin today, mom and dad are in Wisconsin, and I couldn’t reach Kevin.
Eventually Kevin called back and said he’d be around and invited us to stay with him. Which is good as we are closer to Batavia than Elgin anyway.
Clare and I slept in (Clare doesn’t think we slept in, as it is only 8 am here in Central Time Zone) and will have breakfast at the American Bar and Grill, then head east to Batavia.
Clare had two schools on her list in Indiana, on the way to Iowa, and we visited both of them today, but didn’t stop. Neither were a school she felt she’d be comfortable it. I guess that’s what this trip is all about — finding places she wants to live for 4 years. If the architecture is not to her liking, then why stop?
It was not really a wasted day — we stopped at Target in Champaign-Urbana and bought some traveling music and purses and a cooler. I guess we needed a rest from visiting colleges — at least Clare got to rest. I had to drive!
We’re in Galesburg, Illinois now. We’ll visit Knox College tomorrow morning, then head to Mount Vernon, Iowa and hopefully get to tour Cornell College. She’s got another school or two in Iowa, so we’ll probably scoot by those and then head to Elgin for a couple of days before heading back home (by way of a few more campuses).
We had a nice dinner of non-road food, recommended to us by a Dean at the college (we bumped into him outside the college when we were looking at it and he told us where the better hotels were as well.
Oh, and here is what we are missing by being away from Bethesda:
Note received via our neighborhood email list:
If you live in the area of [street names] and have found that the whole area reeks recently, here’s the reason: there’s a dead deer in my backyard. I don’t know where the deer came from, how it died, or why it was I was lucky enough to have it die in my backyard. We first smelled the odor on Tuesday, I discovered the deer on Wednesday (it’s in a hidden area in my backyard), and called Montgomery County Animal Control Wednesday afternoon. They say it will take them one to two days from the time of my phone call to remove the animal from my property. I’m happy they agreed to remove it at all, as otherwise I would not have known what to do. …
Today we left the hotel a little earlier than yesterday and headed out to visit the first college of the day — Denison.
When we left the hotel, I got into the right turn lane, then remembered we should get gas in town because we only had 1/4 of a tank and there was a Shell station nearby for which we have a credit card that makes the price a tad cheaper. To get to the gas station I’d have to turn left. When the light turned green I made the first stupid decision of the trip — to wait to get gas later on.
Again, we didn’t have a reservation at the school, but hoped to get at least a tour. The drive to Granville was not too bad, good roads most of the way, but it did begin to rain a little, and rain worries me when I’m driving on roads I don’t know (you know, the whole hydroplaning issue). Nevertheless, we got to Denison safely and, after getting slightly lost in finding a way on campus because of road construction, followed the directions to the admission office and visitor parking. Clare will tell you that I was not altogether calm at this point because I needed to use the bathroom, but think I dealt with it well enough.
We walked from the visitor parking to the admissions office, a plain white building and entered. Clare wanted me to repeat what I said to another admissions receptionist — that we were on a whirlwind tour of colleges in the midwest and wondered if we could have some literature and a map of the campus to show ourselves around, but the receptionist immediately asked Clare her name, thinking we were registered, along with the several other teenagers milling around the admissions office.
I explained that we didn’t have a reservation, but hoped we could have a tour if possible. The receptionist, a thin, harassed looking woman, said Clare could fill out a form, but she couldn’t guarantee us a tour. Clare filled out the requested form, then picked up a few pamphlets about the school. After about 15 minutes the woman approached Clare and asked for her name again, then said, loudly, “Oh, you were just the walk-in.” Clare replied that she was a walk-in, and then the woman asked if we were “all set”. We took that as a dismissal and left the building. We started to walk around campus, but wondered if it was even worth it, especially since we had other places to go. We both felt a bit embarrassed about the encounter.
Clare still likes the campus, but I figure that if they are that unwelcoming to visitors, then they might be worse with students.
We went back to the car and plotted our next destination into the GPS.
A word about the GPS. Early in the journey Clare decided that the Yoda voice would be fun to have as a navigator. I agreed and soon grew used to his backwards talk. For instance, instead of saying “turn right ahead” the Yoda voice says, “ahead, turn right, you must” and instead of “bear right ahead and join the motorway” it says, “Ahead, bear right and join the motorway, you must”. It was fun, and occasionally made us giggle, especially when we made a wrong turn and it sounded like it was drowning. “Turn around when po — bbbarevae.”
So, we plotted the next destination and took off. About 3 miles down the road I remembered we needed gas. The tank was near empty (but no red light yet) so we used the GPS to find a “petrol” station. It found one, 3.5 miles behind us and could not find on ahead of us. I decided to turn around and go to the BP station. We followed the directions, happy to be getting gas soon since by now the red light was on. We saw the green and yellow colors of the BP station, but the station had closed for good sometime ago, by the look of the building.
I asked Clare to plot the next nearest station, and we set off to find that, by now in a slight panic. We were on tiny country roads with little traffic and few houses. I figured that we could ask a local where the next station was if this one didn’t pan out.
Which it didn’t. There was no Sunoco station nor building at the “destination you have reached” as GPS-Yoda put it.
I admit having a bit of a breakdown at this point, telling Clare our plan if we ran out of gas. (I’d go for gas, she’d stay in the car with the doors locked and most of our money and the phone). She asked me the worst case scenario, and wonderful, caring mom that I am, I told her we could be murdered. Well, she asked…
So, we found one more gas station on the GPS with the unlikley name, Superamerica. Since the GPS also provides phone numbers for the gas stations, I called the one listed for Superamerica. A woman answered.
Woman: Superamerica
Me: Hi. Is this a gas station?
W: Yes?
M: Good. I’m nearly out of gas and my GPS has led me to two places that are no longer gas stations. I just wanted to make sure.
W: Ok
Me: OK. I hope to see you soon. I hope I don’t run out of gas.
W: Ok, bye.
We followed GPS-Yoda’s directions and prayed not to run out of gas. Clare patted my shoulder and reminded me that things had turned out all right when we ran out of gas in Wisconsin. I reminded her that DAD WAS WITH US THEN! Then GPS-Yoda said, ahead, right turn you must. This was a street clearly marked “Dead End” and at the end was a grain elevator or some other farm-related building.
I drove past it, nearly turned onto a road called “connector road”, but drove past and pulled off the road and called Superamerica again.
Woman: Superamerica.
Me: Hi, I called before — I was running out of gas?
W: Yes?
M: Well, my GPS has gotten me lost. I am on [and I read the exact location that the GPS gave me when I chose "help me...my location'].
W: Are you at a 4 way stop?
M: No. I’m on a road next to a cornfield.
W: [calling to someone else in the room] Can you give this woman directions?
New woman: Hello?
M: Hi. I am on [again I read the location as given to me by GPS-Yoda]
GPS-Yoda: Turn around, you must
Clare grabbed GPS-Yoda and tried to muffle the voice, so as not to let the woman on the phone think we were crank calling with Star War Voices
NW: Are you on [she named a route]
M: No, I’m sitting next to a cornfield. I’m from Maryland… — oh, I’m near the St Peter and St Paul retreat center [reading a faded, rusty sign behind me]
NW: Well, you need to get on Connector road…
M: Connector Road! I saw that!
NW: You know that? Good. Now take a right (or left) and go down Connector Road, then take [named route]. When you get to a stop light we are on the left.
M: Thank you! Hope to see you soon.
NW: You’re welcome. Bye.
So, I turned around and followed the directions. We got there and I very nearly kissed the ground. After getting gas ($57) I went in and thanked the women who helped us. They were very nice and said they were glad to help.
New rule — never get below a quarter tank.
Then we set the GPS to Gambier, Ohio and drove. And drove. And drove. We drove on medium roads and tiny roads and finally when we were on gravel roads we began to worry. We suspected GPS-Yoda was getting us back for muffling his voice when I was on the phone. How could these directions be right? Were we going to get lost? Were we already lost?
Finally we rounded a corner and saw a sign that said Gambier. I drove a little farther and saw a sign that announced we were on Kenyon College’s campus. We parked, asked where admissions was, were given directions and found the building.
After the Denison experience Clare and I were a little wary about Kenyon. Clare coached again me on what to say. We needn’t have worried because were welcomed warmly and asked if we wanted a tour. I told the receptionist about what happened at Denison, and she said that Kenyon always had open tours and was surprised, but not really, about the Denison experience. “Besides,” she said, “we have a prettier campus.”
We had our own tour guide, Maya, a sweet and very positive upperclassman. She obviously loves the school.
Clare fell in love with the campus. The buildings are beautiful and in a wooded setting. She’s put it on her YES list along with Chatham.
After Kenyon we drove to Otterbein College in Columbus, but it was too late for a tour. Clare had it on her yes / maybe list, so she decided she’d visit another time if she was still interested.
We drove to Springfield, half way between Columbus, Ohio and Richmond, IN (where the next college is located). We drove to the downtown area of Springfield for dinner, but got a little nervous about the boarded up houses, so went back to the hotel area and ate at a Cracker Barrel (big ick) instead. The other place was probably much better.
I just deleted a long post I wrote last night detailing our adventures so far and talking about our upcoming ones, but accidentally deleted it when I was approving a comment. I guess I shouldn’t blog while in strange hotel rooms before my first cup of coffee.
But, because I am a little geeky I was able to recover it, but not the comment…
Clare’s decided what colleges to visit and the majority seem to be in the Midwest…
So we’re off! We left at 9 am Monday and drove to Pittsburgh (with a pit stop in Breezewood). Clare’d shown an interest in Chatham University, after learning how beautiful the campus is, so we stopped by Chatham for their 2 pm tour.
She loved it, as expected. The campus in a secluded, woodsy, hilly area of Pittsburgh. Some of the dorms are in converted mansions and the administration building (which is attached to the dining hall) is in a mansion that, upon entering, you wonder where the butler is hiding.
The only worry Clare has is the woman’s college aspect. She’d like to go somewhere where she can meet a guy, and Chatham itself would not be that place. My thought is — she’ll have lots of chances to meet guys in the surrounding area. She loves Pittsburgh, so I think Chatham is a good match. She’d even be elegible for a couple of merit scholarships.
We spent the night in the Wyndam in Oakland. This experience was better than the last, Sponge Bob, one, but the hotel is run-down and expensive, even with a college visit discount. We had dinner at Primanti Brothers in Oakland and both ordered one of their famous sandwiches which contain, besides the normal sandwich ingredients, cole slaw and French fries.
We also visited Dean and my old neighborhood, Shadyside. We walked past the house where Dean and I rented the third floor. It was being completely gutted and fixed up and I talked to three of the construction workers who were curious about what the place was like 25 years ago. They asked if the roof was shot back then and if anyone moved in after us. I would have asked to see the third floor, but I noticed, over the head of one of the construction workers (on the second floor) that I could see daylight over his head.
We left Pittsburgh this morning around 10, after a filling and delicious breakfast (and the above mentioned drive around Shadyside) and headed to the next school on Clare’s list: Washington & Jefferson in Washington PA. We got a little lost and ended up in a run-down neighborhood just outside the school. The few gothic style buildings we passed by didn’t erase the slums we drove through to get there, so Clare didn’t even want to stop.
From there we drove through West Virgina to get to Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio. Clare talked to a very nice admissions counselor and had a tour. The school grounds are attractive and there are many pluses, but Clare’s worried the school is too much in the middle of nowhere. Marietta is a beautiful old town, but very tiny.
We thought we’d visit more than one college a day, but our mornings are not as organized as they should be. Tomorrow we plan on visiting Dennison and Kenyon — they are pretty close together and not too far from here. We’re staying in Cambridge, Ohio tonight — Clare said it is like her vision of Hell, but she was a little hungry when she said that.
Our hotel room is clean, cheaper than the Pittsburgh one and convenient. We have a view of a hill, which is better than the freeway. We ate at Ruby Tuesdays down the road, and have retired for an early evening.
Among the old photographs I took from my mother’s house are a few newspaper articles. This is one of my favorites. The driver was my Grandpa Green. I think it happened about 1957, based on my grandpa’s age.
Bunny ‘Bugs’ Passing Driver
A rabbit was blamed for an accident which sent Walter T. Green, 47, of 501 Raymond St., to St. Joseph Hospital early Sunday morning for treatment of a cut lip, bruises, and shock. Green was driving west on Bent street, west of Willard Avenue, when the rabbit darted into the path of his car and stopped, apparently attracted by the headlights. Green swerved to miss the rabbit and did but his car hit the railing of a bridge. Considerable damage was done to his car and the bridge railing.
So our electricity is back, along with Internet access and telephone connections. I’d say, “its about time,” but I liked spending time with my two very bored teenagers.
The electricity went out during a severe thunderstorm on Wednesday afternoon while Clare and I were driving back home after a meeting at her school. We heard a transformer blow as we neared our house and feared for our power. Andrew greeted us at the door with news that the power was out. We told him of our frightening drive from school (the rain and trees were blown sideways some of the time).
That afternoon, in between complaining about no electricity, television and Internet, the kids read books, jumped on the trampoline and listened to the battery powered radio about storm damage. When it got dark, Clare studied for her upcoming final exams by the light of about 16 candles. Andrew went to bed early.
On Thursday, since there was no school because it was graduation day, the kids alternated between studying and playing. Clare’s anxiety took over and she ended up going to work with Dean to study. Andrew read the first 150 pages of The Overachievers then helped me untangle some crochet yarn. Then he made a potholder with a loom I’d just bought.
When Clare got back home and after we’d eaten dinner, the three of us sat on the porch until dark, untangling yarn and talking.
Sure, we could have these kinds of interactions any day; the electricity does not need to be out to do so. But I think we’d all be thinking about what we could be doing — watching TV, writing blog entries, visiting Facebook — you know what I mean.
Today when the kids come home from school, everyone will be at their own screen doing their own thing and our interactions will be either non-existent or half-hearted.
At least I now have an imperfect neon green and orange pot holder as a visual reminder of our near-perfect day together.
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