I got back from Minneapolis Sunday afternoon. Alix and I left B'ville on Thursday at noon and arrived at her apartment on Friday at 10:00am after spending the night at I-90. (I was glad I could fly home instead of driving back, my back is still killing me from sitting so long.) We quickly unloaded her car, even though it was completely packed but couldn't start putting things away until her roommate arrived as they hadn't settled about who got what room. One was bigger with a small closet, the other smaller with a huge closet. All the apartment had in it when we arrived was a chair we had bought at a St Vinnie's during orientation. By the time I was home from the airport on Sunday, Alix said everything including the kitchen stuff had been put away. Her room is still a bit messy as her desk (a 5 ft folding table from Staples) will be delivered on Tuesday so her printer, etc is still laying around cluttering her floor. She had found an antique brass bed on Craigslist so after buying a new mattress set on Friday afternoon we slept comfortably. The quilted duvet I (finally) got done looked nice on her bed, but then we put it away until it gets cold. She is using the quilt I made for her bed when she was a baby as her covers right now. I told her that her room reminded me of an apartment in Paris!

Her roommate, Dave, is as nice as I thought he was. He brought so much stuff! He bought the living room furniture off of Craigslist and it is really a bit big for the room but it is very comfortable. and his bedroom is as dark as her's is light. I met both his parents and step Dad, they seemed nice also.

It seems like we spent an awful lot of time driving around Minneapolis. Fortunately for us, we had given Alix a GPS unit in May to help her navigate Indianapolis, so we mostly were okay. But we had to be alert whenever we went north or west to make sure it didn't try to route us over the BRIDGE. By Sunday I (at least) was becoming familiar with some of the routes.

We did a lot of "shopping" on Craigslist. What a wonderful tool that is for poor students wishing to furnish housing as cheap as possible. In the entire apartment the only new stuff (other than the "Kitchen in a Box" that Dave brought) was Alix's mattress set, dresser and Dave's bed frame and mattress.

Minneapolis is 11 hours away according to Mapquest, but it seems closer than Marquette. Mostly because we can get there by plane. Kent is already planning a visit in a couple weeks, at her request, and he is to take some tools. I think we are going to like having her there.