Empty Nesters

We moved our son into his freshman college dorm this past week. The move-in was well organized, with students scheduled to move in at a specific day and time to ensure an orderly move in process. After driving to and reporting in at a designated parking lot where he received his room assignment and key (actually his student ID), we were given a temporary parking pass to park at the foot of the residential hall so that we could easily move in his clothes, computer monitor and electronics, other sundries, and the microwave that he and his roommates agreed he’d provide (his two roommates brought a fridge and a wifi router to boost their room’s signal). (I saw one family with a big screen TV still in the box!) We were given 15–20 minutes to move everything in and were directed to a nearby lot so that other students could also move in.

While helping him unpack and organize his space, we met his two new roommates (yes, the room is a triple) and their parents. One of his roommates is actually one of his best friends from high school—quite a few people he knows from high school are also attending school here. Afterwards, we took a quick walk to the student store. Though we knew we would be playing by ear, we thought we might share a final dinner with him in town that evening, but it was clear that the other parents were also making their farewells so that the kids could start settling in, so we all agreed my wife and I should depart. He walked us to the car, but I did ask him to go back to his dorm, as I didn’t want to leave him standing there as we drove off. And with that, our son was off to college. The university is also actually adjacent to and part of a popular beach town and boardwalk—so after we left our son, my wife and I went to the boardwalk for a lovely dinner. 

Our son was understandably a bit anxious about this big step—he’s 350 miles away from home, so we’ll likely only see him on major holidays and on break. But that night, he texted us that he was doing fine and, the next day, we got a text that he’d already met many people in his dorm and found them to be all great. I have to admit, that really choked me up a bit, it was clear he already was adjusting and making friends—to us, that’s a big part of the college experience.

As you’ll see in the pictures, the campus is very wooded and hilly—he wanted a campus with a Pacific Northwest feel and though he’s not quite that far north, it’s definitely as close as you can get in California. On the first day, he sent video of a deer he spotted on the lawn by a campus library!

My mother and siblings actually live not far from the area—less than 50 miles—though the drive is through a winding one-lane mountainous road! I found the first time I drove it last spring when we first visited the campus to be a bit daunting, but fortunately this time found the experience less stressful. And this includes driving back after dark! It helped that the road wasn’t that busy when we rode it and I used turnouts to let vehicles pass me a couple times. I’m a confident driver and, being a skier, have driven such roads many times, but I also realize I’m not a young guy with the same reflexes or eyesight either! 

The only hiccup to our trip was the drive home to L.A. a couple days later—normally a 4-½ to 5 hour drive, accidents and construction created a nearly two-hour delay outside L.A., during which we sat in four lanes of slow-moving bumper to bumper traffic. That’s life in California!

Click here for the full photogallery.