a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

“I sustain myself with the love of family.”    ― Maya Angelou

This weekend we drove almost 1000 miles to get our family together.

First stop - Rochester, NY

Annie began her musical journey at the Eastman School of Music five weeks ago.

She has faced so many challenges since we've seen her last.

She has conquered many fears and insecurities too.

We met Annie on Friday outside her dorm on her way back from class.

Greeting us with a big smile and big hug, I couldn't help but think it doesn't get any better than this.

This is what parenting is all about. 

  

At lunch, we met some of her new friends.  Sabrina...

CJ and Drew...

and Khanh.

She was excited to show us around a little now that the school has become her home.

We went back to her dorm to get her things to pack them in the car for the next leg of our journey - Burlington.

Her bulletin boards in her room were covered with photographs of people from her past.

After driving though many backroads of New York

we finally crossed Lake Champlain on the bridge at Crown Point into Vermont.

When we got to Burlington,  Kerry and Adam were waiting for us at his apartment.

It was late, but we chatted for a while before heading to the hotel for some sleep.

We stayed at the new Hotel Vermont on Cherry Street.  It was amazing!

Annie slept on a trundle bed on the floor.  She commented the next morning how nice it was to sleep close the the ground after sleeping in a lofted bed near the ceiling for the past 5 weeks!

Adam met us for a trip to the farmers market.

Then he played in the leaves with his sister!

Then we drove to Williston to watch Kerry play softball.

UVM had 3 games against UConn.  They didn't win, but it didn't matter.

After the games, we went out to dinner and then to our favorite place - Burlington Bay - for creemees!

This morning we ate breakfast together at the Skinny Pancake before heading back to Connecticut with Annie.

I will be driving her back to Rochester on Tuesday to end her fall break.

If you add those miles, we will have driven well over the thousand mark.

But it is soooo worth it!