A College Visit

Doug and I were on the road to Bloomington at 6:20 a.m. to visit Brett.  Sunday morning is definitely the day to travel as there were very few cars on the road.  It rained a lot and by the time we got there at 10 a.m. the weather was down right dreary.  It didn't dampen our spirits, however.  Brett was right outside his dorm waiting on us with a big grin on his face and his new "mustache."  I gave him a hard time about it, but he was expecting that.  Once he jumped in the van we off on our adventure.

The first stop was Target for a few essentials and then to Barnes and Noble.  Brett found three books that he was interested in.  We tried our luck at costume shopping.  The one costume store that we knew of is closed on Sundays.  We tried a few other places with no luck, so we decided to head to Oliver Winery for lunch.  We were not the only ones with that idea.  I was surprised with all of the rain at how many groups were visiting.  It is one our favorite stops, so we definitely weren't going to pass it up.  Instead Doug brought in a table from out of the rain, we dried it off, and squeezed into a spot on the patio.  The food was good, but it was the conversation that made the lunch great.  My favorite was when Brett asked who we thought sang "Goober Peas" better, Burl Ives or Tennessee Ernie Ford.

After we wrapped up lunched we headed for the Union and the IU bookstore.  We found an IU sweatshirt and stocking cap for Brett plus a t-shirt for Cal and an IU golf ball with tee for Cameron.  We had already scored big for Meg when we found pink Nike breast cancer soccer at Dick's.  Once our shopping was done, we took a walking tour of Kirkwood and then up to Showwalter Fountain.  Brett showed us the new IU cinema that is hosting unique horror movies for the Halloween season.  He plans to check out a couple of those after midterms.  The theater is only a block from his dorm.

I then talked Doug and Brett into taking one last trip out to the college mall to search for a Michael Myers mask.  We stopped at a couple of places.  Doug was sure we were on a wild goose chase, but low and behold there it was at Hot Topics - one Michael Myers mask!!  Brett put it on and talked of all of the places he was going to wear it!!  After this success we decided to celebrate with dinner at Buff-a-Louie's.  We then headed back to Brett's dorm to say goodbye until we see him again in two and a half weeks.  This time the Heinisch children will be joining us on the trip.

It was wonderful to catch up with Brett in person.  I have really missed him and his conversations.  I am proud of how well he seems to have adjusted to college life.