Hello from Gunnison, CO

Hello from Gunnison, CO

Friday night   February, 24 2011   (First travelogue of this trip).

Hi folks.  As has been the case too much lately, we have not posted to this blog very often.  With rare exception we limit our posts to travel-related dialogue and we have not traveled much in the last few years months.  In a few weeks, our bus travel will begin and then our posting will be more frequent.

This is a very special trip.  I am with my daughter Judy, grandson Thomas and his friend Austin.  Judy refers to Austin as her third son.  Fortunately, they have taken Austin under their wing and will become his legal guardian in the near future.  This trip was to visit two colleges that Thomas has been accepted to. 

Pat is helping with daughter Kelly and the kids while Damon is on a business trip.

We left the Bailey, CO area Thursday morning and traveled to Alamosa to visit Adams State College.  This was mainly a quick visit to get a feeling about the facilities and their program.  It seems like a good school, but it is not Thomas' first choice.

We left Alamosa late in the afternoon and took a short cut route (CO 114) over to Gunnison.  It turned out to be a very scenic drive and the weather was great, albeit cold.  We would not attempt that route in one of the frequent snow storms, but it worked out great for this trip.

We are staying 2 nights in the Super 8 in Gunnison.  If any of you followed our non-bus travels, you know I really do not care for Super 8 motels.  Their idea of a “Super Starter” breakfast is Fruit Loops and toast.  Well, my usual choice of Holiday Inn Express was over $160 and we were not going to pay that kind of money.  As it turns out, this Super 8 seems to be the exception to the rule.  The rooms are the typical lower level affair, but clean.  But the real surprise was that they had a very good hot breakfast!!  Not even a Fruit Loop in the place {grin}.

Today we went to a formal “Preview Day” at Western State College (http://www.western.edu/).  Both Thomas and Austin have been accepted here and it was the school that they were interested in.  All of the attendees today had preregistered for the all day event.

Thomas, Judy and Austin

The day started with a tour, followed by a general presentation by the staff.  Then the parents and students split up.  The parents were treated to some more great informational presentations followed by a question and answer period.

Tour of the campus in the snow

The students rejoined the parents and then the big group split up into academic interest groups.  Our first stop was Natural and Environmental department which includes the Geology curriculum that Thomas is interested in.  It was very informational.  The next session we went to was the athletic department session.  Austin is very good at football and track.  It looks like he might be interested in trying out for the track team.

We were then treated to a great lunch in the student cafeteria.  It is a fantastic buffet offering almost any kind of food that a person would want.  They can eat all the want for that meal.  And it was very tasty food.

The afternoon had more presentations and all of the clubs and societies had booths to show the students what activities are available.

I think I will ring off here and fill in some additional details tomorrow.