I was fired up to leave for our journey! I had planned and waited for so long for the Cincinnati Ballet intensive, but it seemed very intimidating the closer it got, to leave home for such a long time. What seemed possible and even exciting in February seemed irresponsible and catastrophic in July. It's always like that with trips. It's hard to escape the gravitational pull of endless responsibilities at home and launch into a new experience.
I just had to remind myself of what I told Ginger at the ballet when I interviewed for the Dorm Mom position when she asked who would take care of everything at home in my absence. I told her without hesitation that Scott could manage it with no problem and that he had lots of help from our parents and Golda.
Now I just had to put that confidence to the test. I knew Scott could handle it, but I felt guilty that it wasn't entirely fair to him to expect it. I looked at all the positives and just tried to focus on my end of the bargain: having a fun, meaningful, adventurous experience that would make everyone's sacrifices at home worth it.
First step, the 24-hour drive. We left at midnight, so Freestone slept most of Wyoming. While it was hard to stay awake, I monitored myself carefully and took a couple of five-minute naps and drank lots of caffeine. I also kept myself alert by thinking about how much I LOVE road trips, and how lucky I was to be on the interstate, zooming across the country.
We stopped at the Pony Express museum in Nebraska.
And the Winter Quarters temple in Omaha.
It was an 18-hour drive! We drove all the way to Iowa City. I was delighted to find that our budget motel was amazing with comfy beds and crisp, clean sheets, and a nice area of restaurants we could walk to. We had a great dinner and I wanted to party in Iowa, but I desperately needed sleep.
Sneak peek at my dorm suite. :)
The next morning we were on the road at 5 am with plans to meet Gwyn and Bryan in Indianapolis for lunch. I forgot we we're going into Eastern Standard Time, so there was a bit of a time crunch. We made it, though. It was great to visit with Gwyn and Bryan. Gwyn was my roommate in the dorms my first semester of college. She was already dating Bryan, and they seemed very grown up and put together. I played the violin at their wedding a couple of years later, in Rochester, Indiana. Gema drove up there with me from Bloomington, and we almost died when our car skidded off the road and onto an exit ramp. It's miraculous that exit ramp was there, first of all, and miraculous we didn't skid off THAT because there was a big dropoff. We joked for years because as our lives flashed before our eyes and I was calmly trying to maneuver the car, I was saying, "It'sOKit'sOKit'sOKit'sOK!!" It wasn't ok, but then...it was OK! Ha ha!
Anyway, we arrived at Xavier University at 2:09 pm, only 9 minutes late even though we lost an hour. These pictures are all out of order, sorry
I love driving!
Me: "We're only two hours away from Omaha and then after that, it's only 326 miles to our hotel, so we're almost there! I love these corn fields!"
.🌽.
Freestone: {pause} "Mom? I think your mind works differently than everyone else's."
😂🤓
It's all mind games when you're up against a two-day drive, and evidently my mind LOVES road trips.
I sent this to the Spaniards. Almost as funny as pastel de nata in Vegas...Andalusia in Iowa!
Our dorm, Bishop Fenwick Hall
Xavier is a beautiful campus
Freestone INSTANTLY hit it off with all the other dancers. This is just his world. These are his people.
I made me room as cute as I could with the one pillow I brought. Ha ha. I bought flowers and a clearance rug to cheer up the space. When does a mother of seven ever get a whole dorm suite all to herself for three weeks?! I told myself that it was my duty to enjoy it to the fullest. :)
There were already many dancers here when we arrived, who had done the first three-week session. The next day, we checked in all the new dancers and gave them an orientation, and we we're off on our three-week intensive.
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