And finally: breezing through Columbia…

After my youngest child proclaimed himself ready to forge ahead on his own without his mother’s continued assistance and nurturing (which is fine, all fine, everything’s FINE), my finale in Florida was a bit…anticlimactic. On Saturday morning I texted him once more to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, and then I…got in my car

Goodbye to my Gator…

The latest installment of the UF Digest picks up one day post move-in, and approximately 72 hours before FDOC (First Day of Classes, to the higher education crowd). The a.m. agenda included storming the campus bookstore to outfit ourselves with some Gator swag. Thus I navigated the now-familiar route from my hotel to Hume Hall,

Heads up, G-ville, here we come!

The Gainesville Express, carrying two passengers, a full cargo hold, and a bike rack, pulled out of the Chapel Hill station at 8:45 on Wednesday morning for the long trek down I-95 to Florida. With so much road ahead of us, Riley and I chatted and listened to music for the first stretch–during which we

Counting down to college x 2

Well friends, no matter how much I tried to skate along in blissful ignorance (or its cousin, “abject denial”), the dreaded (for me) College Prep Week descended upon us nevertheless. This year for the first time I’d be sending not one, but both of the sons off to the deep(er) South—Derek back to the University

San Francisco 2021: random notes

Before I mentally and logistically begin prepping myself for the next set of shenanigans kicking off later this week, I wanted to do a concluding roundup of thoughts about the Team WestEnders San Francisco sojourn. Aaaand, here we go… –It suddenly occurred to me shortly before we left that this would be the LAST vacation

San Francisco Day 4: blooms and beaches

For our last day hanging around the bay, Husband apparently asked the boys to come up with “something that Mom would like”–which is how we found ourselves heading back to Golden Gate Park for a lovely flower appreciation session at the botanical gardens. We snagged free parking again, this time on MLK Drive, and wandered

San Francisco Day 3: Time for some iconic tourist attractions

Team WestEnders woke up feeling strong aftershocks from our hike-apolooza, for sure, but there was more to do and see, so we shook it off and forged ahead. Today’s itinerary included some of the quintessential San Francisco stuff, such as the Golden Gate Bridge. You’re allowed to walk across it, so we drove the couple

San Francisco Day 2: so. much. nature!

For the sake of keeping it fresh, we followed up our downtown diversions with an ambitious hiking agenda. Husband (the Team WestEnders Commissioner of Wilderness Excursions) did the research on this one, and chose a destination just a bit down the coast from SF, “on the western slopes of the Santa Cruz Mountains overlooking Half

San Francisco Day 1: city shenanigans

Since—as our team manager–I usually handle all of the logistical pieces of our family forays, I tasked the Male Trio with finding interesting activities to fill in the agenda for the duration of our West Coast exploration. First on the list was something Derek picked: the California Academy of Sciences, a destination that promised an

San Francisco 2021: winging it westward

Well, after all the discussing, negotiating, planning, backtracking, canceling, re-booking…and waiting…Getaway Week finally arrived! Team WestEnders prepared to head west—which has weirdly enough turned into our preferred Summer direction in the past few years. (Hey, we’re escaping the oppressive Mid-Atlantic swelter for a spell–so if we need an excuse, that’s a good one…) Because of