Jarom Goes to College

We got Jarom down to college on Saturday. David wanted to leave at 9:00 am, but Jarom and I were still zombies. We finally got up and got moving around 9:00 am and finally headed out on the road at about 11:30 am.

That would have all been fine - we would have made it there at about 1:30 pm, but... David remembered on his way out of town that he had forgotten to eat anything that morning. With him being diabetic now that was a bad thing, so we needed to stop someplace for him to get something to eat. I suggested the Burger King we just happened to be passing on our way out of town, but he said he couldn't make it over to that lane and we'd find something else.

Then, I forgot about it (still being somewhat asleep). When we got to the freeway, David said we'd stop along the way for food. When we were about 30 miles from home, traffic slowed to a crawl. There was construction on two lanes of the freeway and only two lanes were open. We tried getting off at the first exit, but about the only place to eat was a Del Taco and I doubt I can eat any of their food. So, we got back on the freeway and got off at the next exit and stopped at a Wendy's.

David decided Jarom needed to take a bike to college so he could make it to his bowling class on time. Which was probably a good idea since the bowling class is about a mile from the campus and he only has 10 minutes to get there. 

We bought a bike rack and strapped the bike to the back of the van. Dad was afraid someone was going to steal the bike, but I told him, "Good heavens, the bike is old and no one is going to steal it." By the time we got to Wendy's it was about noon, so all of us got something to eat. And nobody stole the bike.

The college had a free lunch for students and their families on move in day, but I figured we'd probably make it there around 2:00 (what with the traffic), so we'd probably miss the lunch anyway.

We got a little lost on the way there. We knew we were off when we ended up on a dirt road! We also managed to drive through a torrential rainstorm, but we finally made it. At 3:00 pm.

We had just enough time for Jarom to check in to his dorm, then go to the Student Center to pick up his Pell Grant check and get his Student ID. He even got to talk to a counselor who places Engineering students into internships. Apparently there's a company in a nearby city that has paid internships for students. Only problem is, it's 22 miles from the college. Maybe Jarom will find a friend with a car with an internship, or maybe he'll wait awhile to do an internship.

We were suprised when they told us that the cafeteria doesn't open until Wednesday (the first official day of school), so we went to a grocery store and bought Jarom some food. At least he has a refrigerator and a microwave in his dorm.

We got to meet Jarom's roommate - the one he's actually sharing a room with. His name is Ben. We also got to meet Ben's parents and his older brother who is on temporary leave from his mission because he broke his arm playing extreme Frisbee on wet grass. They seem nice. We met another of Jarom's roommates, too. His name is Bryan and he's from the next city south of us. He seems nice as well.

By the time we got everything done and Jarom settled in it was 8:00 pm, so we headed home. David ran out of oxygen, so I got to drive home. It was kind of scary driving through a twisty canyon in the dark, but we made it. And David was OK too. Sad thing is, he was thinking more clearly than I was! We stopped at a KFC for dinner at about 9:40. They closed at 10:00, so they were out of a lot of things, but at least we got some food.

Once we left KFC, I was tired, so I cranked up Twisted Sister on the CD player. Amber did not enjoy that, but she didn't complain. David seemed fine with it, though. :)

So, we made it home safe and Jarom's at college now, ready for a new adventure.