A Long Flight

When buying my tickets for California, I came across a flight that appeared to be a direct flight, leaving Norfolk on Sunday, October 5th at 5pm, and said to arriving in Oakland 12am. I thought the website might have accidently put the EST arrival time on, cause I knew the flight to California does not take 10 hours!! Well, I was right about one thing, it was a direct flight to Oakland ... just with stops in Washington D.C., San Diego, and then Oakland ... just all the same plane!!! Haha!

So my arrival in California was actually 3 am for me! Oh the joys of jet lag. Thank you Lord for the safe flight. Stayed in a pretty nice hotel in Berkeley, right on the Marina.
Got to enjoy a new rental also, a gold HHR. Always wanted to know what a PT Cruiser drove like - this is just a little bit bigger. Pretty roomy, not a bad drive. :)

Trip Across PA - Waynesburg

I have never seen so much of Pennsylvania, even after having lived there for over 10 years! Daniel and I literally traveled across the state of PA, from Newark, DE to Waynesburg, PA - all the way on the west side of the state! The trip took about 5 hours, but it was a nice drive, especially since I had company on the trip. And Pennsylvania in the fall is beautiful - the trees and their marvelous colors.

Waynesburg seemed like a nice little college town. I had a pretty good turnout at the Grad Fair and as it turns out, one of faculty's sons attends Regent Law.

Dan and I are going to spend the weekend with our cousin Brad near Geneva College. Should be a fun.

Trip Across PA - University of DE

Okay, okay... I realize that Delaware is not in PA, but it was on my schedule, and I was already pretty close being in Philly. Daniel and I ended up switching hotels to the one right on the edge of University of DE campus because it had a pool & hot tub. That was a fun way to relax after after our fair. It is also where we learned about the YouTube videos of the "Trunk Monkey" from our friend Marnie of Albany Law School. They are halarious! (see post below - my fav is the chaperone!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8avOiTUcD4Y

Trip Across PA - Drexel

Next stop was Philadelphia at Drexel University. This was the biggest grad fair I have been to, to date. They actually held it in the train station in downtown Philly. That was pretty cool. Dan found a place to work on his school while I did my thing. We didn't stay in the city, but rather drove in from Delaware. Not sure I would have enjoyed going to school in the city. Way too much traffic and some "iffy" areas close by. Nice to visit though. Dan definitely agreed.

Company on the Road

I was able to get home to see my family in Pennsylvania over the weekend of Sept. 20th. It is always good to get to see my family & also my nephew who is growing up so fast! I was also able to pick up a fellow travel buddy to go with me as I made my recruiting stops all across Pennsylvania - Dan, my 15 year old brother! One of the great advantages to being homeschooled!

Visit to Bryn Mawr College

I visited Bryn Mawr College, just outside of Philadelphia, PA. It was only after I left that I discovered that it is actually an all-girl school. Haha! I didn't have many students come to my presentation of putting together a personal statement, but I believe those that did show up found it helpful. Bryn Mawr has a beautiful campus with many stone buildings. One of the students described it as Harry Potter "like".

More New Hampshire

Here are some additional pictures of my visit to New Hampshire and Gordon College in Wenham, Mass. Actually while I was at the grad fair at Gordon, the recruiters at the table next to me actually new our secretary back in Regent Law Admissions! Small world.

Okay, just had to turn around and get a picture of this when I saw it. Not a bad idea for next vacation. Cuts down on packing. I believe you get a complementary towel too. Haha!

A Great Visit to NH

On Tuesday I flew up to Manchester, New Hampshire to drive down to Gordon College in Massechusetts for a graduate fair. It has by far been my best trip for two reasons: 1) I got a sweet rental car at a sweet deal, and 2) I was able to visit my grandfather who I have not seen in about 4 years.

When I arrived at the rental counter, I asked what types of cars they had. Turned out they were having a special on upgrades, and she listed them off, all for a $7 upgrade. At the top of the list was a convertable Mustang. I did my best to hide my excitement, and said "I guess I'll take the Mustang then." Inside I was estatic! "No way?! I can't believe it! This a dream. I love mustangs!" Yes I was just a little excited. Haha. It was a fun ride, though never was warm enough to put the top down.

I also was able to visit my Grandfather (Mom's side) who I haven't seen in about 4 years or so. I called him to see if he would drive down from Etna, Maine to meet somewhere for lunch. Manchester is only about 3 hours from him, so I said I would meet him somewhere for lunch. He liked the idea and told me to find a Wal-Mart somewhere for us to meet at, since that would be easy to find. We ended up meeting in Rochester, New Hampshire. It was good to see Grandpa Bickford and Rose. We had a nice lunch at a little steak joint, and I updated him on Dusty's wedding and all I have been up to since school. They decided to turn their little trip into an overnight trip and I ended up canceling my other reservation near Boston so I could spend the evening with them. We watched the movie "The Bucket List" and then Rose and I grabbed some dinner next door at the diner. I was able to get a little work done later that evening and still grab some time in the hot tub. :) It was a very nice visit!