After dinner, we started the drive back to our hotel. Our hotel was in another town called Middletown that was about 40 minutes away. About 10 minutes outside of town... my phone died. We had been using it for navigation. More bad news, Josh had broken his phone that morning. We figured "how lost can we really get and if we do, we will ask for directions". About 30 minutes later, we asked a man at a stoplight how to get to Middletown. He said we had missed it and had to take another road in the opposite direction. About 30 minutes down that road, we asked a lady at a gas station if we were heading the right direction. She said we were and to keep going. Finally, we passed a sign that said we were in Middletown, but there was no sign of any hotels or really any place to ask for directions. As we headed into a neighborhood, Josh found a cop and we decided to follow him and ask for directions. About 30 seconds later, the cop pulled up to a crime scene where there were about 10 other cop cars. So much for that idea! So we kept driving around. Finally we found a McDonald's and asked if they could tell us how to get to the Marriott (also on my phone was the exact name for the hotel. We knew it was a Marriott, but not that it was specifically a Fairfield Inn). The first guy wasn't even sure if there were any hotels in town and then his manager gave us some directions. Still hopelessly lost, we found a gas station. Out of the three employees that we talked to, one was able to give us directions. Finally after 2 hours of driving, about 5 different sets of directions, and lots of country music, we found our hotel! Turns out my parents had a fun drive back as well. They got stuck at a train crossing where a train kept pulling forward then reversing then pulling forward then reversing.
The next morning we headed to Verizon for a phone for Josh and then to Oxford. That morning was the first graduation. This was the whole school graduation in the football stadium. IT WAS FREEZING OUTSIDE. Luckily we all had coats, blankets, and hot chocolate to warm us up a little bit. The speaker was a man that is an Alumni of Miami and now is a writer for the New York Times. It was fun seeing all the kids on the field and getting to turn their tassels.
That night we had delicious BBQ at Alis' house and then headed back to Middletown (much quicker this time, with GPS).
The next day we headed back to Oxford for another busy day. The morning started with Alis giving Josh and I a walking tour. She showed us the library, her old dorms, the student center, and the business school. The business school is called the Farmer School of Business and was built from a VERY GENEROUS donation. It was ridiculous how fancy it was inside. There was even a grand piano in the main entry! After the tour, we met up with my parents for a Mother's Day brunch. Then it was time for another ceremony. This one was just the Business School graduates and this was where we got to hear Alis' name called and watch her walk across the stage. The speaker for this ceremony is also an Alumni of Miami and is now a news anchor for FOX news. Then we checked into our hotel that was in Oxford (no more Middletown) and relaxed for a few hours. Then we had dinner, celebrated the birthdays of two of Alis' roommates, and called it a night.
The next day we helped with some cleaning and packing and then headed to the airport to head back to Colorado. My mom stayed a few extra days to help Alis move out and look for a new apartment for her job in Cincinnati, that she will start in September.
I am so proud of my little sister for graduating college with a degree in Marketing and wish her good luck with her new job!
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