My youngest son, Tim, has really been on the move the last two years! 18 months ago Rich and Lily dropped him off in Fort Collins, CO. He was there for a year before we moved him to Morgantown, West Virginia. Six months later, he is on the move again to California. Each time I leave him off at a new place where he knows no one…and doesn’t know his way around, etc., it makes my heart squeeze for him. I have done that so many times in my life, but I usually had family with me to help ease the awkwardness of moving to a new place. He does not, and although I know he is doing what he loves, I always have that hopeful momma voice in me, hoping he’ll quickly make connections and get into a routine that will allow him to start to feel at home faster.
Tim had been doing a lot of work online trying to sublet his apartment in West Virginia (his lease isn’t up until July) and then finding a place he could afford near Stanford University. That was the real kicker. Do you know how expensive it is to live in towns around Stanford University? Think basic studio apartment…now think of a cost in your mind….living two towns away…a 20-30 minute drive was $2500. Yikes. Not in the budget! He managed to find a website where he could apply to rent a room in a house…and found one in East Palo Alto (about a 15 minute drive to his building on campus) He is paying $1000/month to rent a room in this beautiful home. He really isn’t there much as he has settled into a routine of leaving around 5:15 each morning and returning home around 6:30 or 7:00 each evening. He has some free time in the afternoons but tends to use that time to take a walk or work out so he doesn’t have to leave the campus. Gas is expensive too…as high as $5.29/gallon which is INSANE. We got him settled in his new digs and then drove to Stanford University to get a look at the campus. It is very old and very big. It is also very beautiful. Tim purchased a Stanford U shirt to wear for his first day of work the next day. Since he was hitting the ground running the next day, and we couldn’t find an inexpensive place to stay, we rounded out the day building a daybed frame and bookshelves and helping him unpack most of his belongings. We had dinner at a hole-in-the-wall Caribbean food place nearby which was SO YUMMY once we finally found it! We then took off for our next stop near Sequoiah and Kings Canyon National Parks. Here are some photos of Stanford plus a few coming into the area on our drive in the fog.
Messina Musings 