The nest, she's empty

On our last night together in Niskayuna (Aug. 15), we visited Pirate's Hideout in Halfmoon, mostly for the non-dairy desserts that Carey likes, but also for an aborted round of mini-golf. Too many people on the course, so we skipped a few holes. For the record, Carey was the champ, besting me by a few strokes.

Saturday we loaded up the car and using only the side mirrors because we couldn't see out the back, drove to D.C. 
 

Stopped in New Brunswick, N.J. (home of Rutgers Univ.), for lunch and arrived in D.C. mid-afternoon-ish. Greta and I got a 4-mile jog in from the American campus down the hill to the C&O Canal, and in to Georgetown, where we met Carey and Linc, who did a little walking around. Dinner was a takeout Indian place followed by dessert for the women at Thomas Sweets. We then left the kids at Greta's apartment and drove out to Falls Church to stay at the home of my college pal Gardner and his wife Allison, who were out of town picking up their son (Greta's birthday buddy, Jay, remember him?) following his summer job in Charlotte, N.C. 

Sunday morning we picked up the kids and took them to breakfast at a place Greta likes in Adams Morgan called Tryst and were in the freshman drop-off line outside Letts Hall at our appointed time of 11 a.m. As was the case two years ago with Greta, it took the campus staff/moving company about three minutes to unload the CRV and whisk everything away on a cart to Lincoln's room. While they handled all that muscle work, we parked the car and traipsed over to the student center to get his ID and zip through a few student activity tables. I'm happy to report both Linc and his roommate, a Massachusetts kid named Itai, provided their contact info to the pep band, which might mean we'll have three people to look for on ESPN+ this fall!

Lincoln was a champ setting up his room, which took less than two hours. Lunch was at Wagshal's Deli with Itai and his Dad, before a return to Letts Hall 216-North for final tidying up and photos. We said our goodbyes on the same walkway we hugged Greta on in 2023 and drove back out to Falls Church for dinner with Gardner and Alli.

Monday Greta and I ran a 5.5-mile loop around the National Mall, stopping and saying, "thank you for your service" to the DEA, Army National Guard and D.C. Police with semi-automatics and Humvees who keep us all safe from the city's ravaging homeless maniacs. 

How old will I have to be before I realize which end of the phone the camera is on?

 
We then met Carey for brunch at a Tatte Bakery and Cafe near McPherson Square and were on the road north a little after 11. Home about 7:30 p.m. and once again thinking we should fly that route whenever we can. Carey and I took tomorrow off to decompress after these emotional last few days and I think I'll convince her to go for a bike ride.