House Hunt Trip Wrap Up

Our last few days in Blacksburg were lots of fun because we were able to stop house hunting and pretty much just vacation. We did absurd things like go out to dinner, go on long drives, check out the campus, enjoy breakfast and coffee, and read books and watch Myth Busters. We truly thought we would be house hunting right up until the last day of our trip and that we might have to fax things back and forth to California, possibly have to wait a couple of business days for credit checks to go through, and perhaps break some legs to fight for a space to live. It turns out it was very easy! So we took advantage of our extra time and enjoyed the vacation.

Walking on Prices Fork Road 

The campus is all styled in what is called "Hokie Stone." As far as I'm concerned it should be called castles! If you read any of my posts last summer you might remember my loose definition of castle. If it has turrets of any kind, it's a castle! In addition to the architecture, the sprawling lawns and beautiful blooming trees make this campus one of the prettiest we've been on recently.

Turrets=Castle.

If I would have known I could live in dorms like these I might have picked a different college. MIGHT. 

If only graduate school was really here... (This is actually grad division, where the admins work)

When I was looking through the pictures, there was one that reminded me so much of a hotel we stayed in when we were in England!

England

Virginia Tech

On Saturday Virginia Tech happened to be having their spring scrimmage. Mark and I are eager to be part of a football community again and while we'll always bleed purple, we are okay with rooting for the Hokies also. The game was free, parking was free, and the 40,000 people watching the game made for a fun atmosphere. AND I got to wear a tshirt with a turkey on it (40% off at the bookstore, w00t!)

On Sunday before our flight, Mark's new PI took us on a hike. Now, when we think hike, we think of taking .25mile walk from the parking garage to the park entrance at Disneyland instead of taking the tram. What can I say? We live a pretty sedentary lifestyle. However, this hike ended up being a 4+ mile loop trail to a waterfall and back. Aside from the embarrassment of huffing and puffing through the whole hike, it was AMAZING. It was also about 30minutes away from our new house. I can't believe we'll be living so close to a national forest. Um, if this is exercise, then yes please! Apparently if you hike it in January/February, the falls are completely frozen. We are definitely planning to do that this winter in addition to getting out and walking and hiking more.

We got home late last night and were greeted at the LAX airport by honking taxis and a huge traffic jam. It felt like 1:30am to us because of the time change. When we walked in to our apartment we were sorry to see that the boxes remain stubbornly unpacked and I have a ton of work left. We've got more crazy times ahead, including yet another weekend trip before we embark on our cross country drive. But first... I must take a nap!