Visiting Colleges in New York City...

Veronica figured it didn’t make sense to visit just one women’s college, so she decided she wanted to see Barnard College in Manhattan as well. It was surprisingly compact covering just four acres. We weren’t impressed with the dorms, but the rest of campus was quite nice.

We first saw this innovative drinking fountain, which fills water bottles at quick speeds, at Barnard but later saw them at several airports.

While Veronica took a class, we walked over to Columbia University, which was across the street. Once Veronica rejoined up with us, we decided that we should tour Columbia as well since Barnard students can take classes on either campus. Not surprisingly, this Ivy League university was quite impressive. Veronica liked what she saw, but is unlikely to apply.

Hello, Manhattan!

No trip to the East Coast is complete without a stop in Manhattan, which we hadn’t visited since 2005. Jimmy dared to drive into the city. Luckily the rental car drop off was near the highway, so we didn’t have to negotiate too many one-way streets. We contacted a fellow Jimmy used to work with during his old prepaid phone card days for a suggestion on where to stay and he generously offered us his apartment on the Upper East Side with this amazing view.

I was expecting a one-bedroom bachelor pad, but Peter actually sublets from a woman with very nice taste. We felt very spoiled!

Turns out that Peter doesn’t actually stay in the apartment much because his fiancée owns an apartment nearby. We enjoyed a delicious sushi dinner and champagne on the killer rooftop terrace.

Veronica took the opportunity to take some night shots.

Cornell Vet School...

While Veronica and I were visiting a dorm, Jimmy took Ashlynn to the open house at the vet school.

Ashlynn has always had a special way with animals and I think she would make a great vet. Although she has no interest in being a vet, she enjoyed listening to this dog’s heart...

...and petting one of the world’s ugliest cats.

The highlight of the open house was the equine treadmill demonstration. Apparently, this treadmill can go up to 45 mph, the speed of a thoroughbred race horse.

Cornell University...

We had a full day at Cornell University with a tour and several admin sessions. It was nice to be able to visit a dorm, which is separated from the main campus by this waterfall; we were disappointed that we couldn’t get into the environmental science department.

Cornell is famous for its agriculture department, which runs the school’s dairy. No idea why we though it was a good idea to buy each girl one of their own giant ice cream sandwiches, but they were yummy!

Ithaca, New York...

We had no idea that much of New York was so rural. With the large number of dilapidated barns, cars in front yards and gun stores, we could have easily have been in the South. Not sure how well Veronica would fit in this area after we heard a DJ say, "Sit back and watch your ass grow."

The Ithaca region is famous for its waterfalls. This is Buttermilk Falls, which was just off the main road. It was a bummer that we had no time to go hiking.

We enjoyed an evening in downtown Ithaca, which was full of funky shops. We especially loved our vegetarian dinner at Moosewood Restaurant.

There were several good thrift shops. Veronica had fun swirling this dress, but didn't end up buying it.

Jimmy soon grew tired of shopping, but managed to keep his sense of humor.

Two Nights in a Yurt...

Our next stop was Ithaca, New York to visit Cornell University. At first I was disappointed when I found out that the hotel on campus was fully booked but then I expanded my search and came across the Climbing Vine Cottage. It was a bit of a drive out of town, but we loved staying in a yurt for the first time.

It was surprisingly roomy. Jimmy and I had our own room and the girls shared the loft.

It was cold enough that we need to heat the place with the wood pellet stove.

There was a supply of kiddie books. How fun to read Goodnight Moon to my big girls.

It had a very nice kitchen where we cooked dinner one evening.

First College Tour...

Wellesley College, a small private women’s school, was our first college to visit. The campus was lovely, situated on a lake in Wellesley, Massachusetts, about 45 minutes outside of Boston. We took a campus tour and went to an admissions session. While Veronica went to her first college class, we walked around the town. It wasn’t the cute college town that we would have hoped; in fact, we had sticker shock when we went into a prom dress shop and many of the dresses were around $2,000.

After lunch, we met with two professors to learn about their research, which included a tour of the greenhouses. We were definitely impressed with the science center and its interdisciplinary labs.

We had read about The Sleepwalker statue before we arrived and were happy to find him. It was amazing how realistic he was, which made Veronica very reluctant to pose with him. Apparently, he’s been vandalized with yellow paint since our visit, but he’ll remain until the end of July when the accompanying exhibit in the art museum closes.

That evening we took Joe, Lisa and Allie out for dinner. It brought tears to my eyes when Joe and Lisa offered to be Veronica’s surrogate family if she went to Wellesley (she’s since decided that it’s not the school for her). The next morning, it was time to drive to Ithaca, New York.