April 1, 2013 - Going the wrong way??

This is no April Fool's joke--Jack and I started our westward journey by heading east! Here we are on a "pre-journey journey" near the North Carolina coast, visiting our nephew Craig, a student at East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. He's about to graduate (in May) and we won't be here to see it, so we thought we'd drive over for a pre-graduation celebration. It was a lovely spring day and we had a great visit, starting at his apartment building.

Things have apparently changed quite a bit in student housing since we were in college in the 50s/60s/70s. This student apartment complex (it's actually privately owned but almost completely filled with students) features a couple of swimming pools, with hot tubs, and one with a pirate ship and waterfall in the middle (Pirate is the school mascot and name of their sports teams, for those of you who don't follow Carolina college sports). Also, a beach volleyball court, grills and picnic tables, a gym, etc. etc. It's like a resort! I was born way too early...

We visited a bit with Craig and his roommate Ryan in their apartment (they swear that the beer bottle collection atop their cabinets was left by a former occupant...) and then drove Craig to his ballroom dancing class (!). Jack and I toured through some of the campus and downtown areas and had a spot of tea while Craig was dancing. We then picked him up, checked in at our hotel, and then went to meet his beautiful girlfriend Alex, who is in nursing school and had been working today at the hospital. After some more touring of the campus (very attractive), the four of us had a lovely dinner at the University Chophouse, with lots of chatting about current classes and exciting future plans. They both seem to love what they're doing and learning, and should have wonderful, rewarding careers ahead of them. A great visit! We're so proud of them and wish them both the very best for the rest of the semester!

Tomorrow we'll head back home and finish packing for the Epic Journey: D-Day H-Hour is this Friday, 0900 hours. Just realized that I (Carol) am going to have to start taking some of the photos or else Jack won't be in any of them!