Day 8 - The Mystery of the Missing Roommate

Day 8
Miles Driven - Even fewer than yesterday
Total Time in Transit - Not long, unless you count that stupid trip to Target
View from Hotel - Still the I-90

Today is the day.

Alex is going to college.

MSU had worked hard to try to arrange the move-in so that things actually kept moving. Because otherwise it would be a still-in and that doesn't even make any sense. We were told to arrive at school for move-in between 8:30 and 9:30.

They were trying to stagger things a bit so there wasn't a huge traffic jam of girls with carts full of fluffy stuff fighting for space in the elevators against guys with garbage bags full of semi-clean clothes.

We had breakfast and Alex made sure to tank up on waffles, just in case something dire happened and there were no waffles available at school.

Since Tori has done so well matching carpets in hotels, I thought that I should up my game and try to match the bathroom.

Tori still did it much better than me.

Our traditional Back-to-School picture was in a slightly different setting this year, but we got it.

True fact: The backpack on his shoulder is the same one he took to school on his first day of kindergarten.

We arrived at school at our allotted time, the delicate scent of waffles still lingering on Alex's breath. At least, I assume it was. I sure wasn't going to smell his breath.

We were greeted by smiling greeters and colorful banners and streamers. It looked more like Chinese New Year than the first day of school, but it was festive.

And there were cinnamon buns! They had no doubt been baked in the top secret salad/bakery building that we spotted yesterday.

Excuse me. Are you in line for cinnamon buns? No? Then outta my way!

Alex in front of his dorm. A necessary, but ultimately pointless picture.

Alex checked in and got his key while I made sure that the coffee was hot and the cinnamon buns were fresh.

They were.

Good job, secret salad/baker people!

We went upstairs and found Alex's room.

He's in room 218 if you want to send him a nice letter. Or some waffles. 

You may have noticed that the door has two names on it: Colton and Alex.

Alex had had a bit of trouble getting his room assignment. It had come very late and he only got his roommate's name and contact information a few weeks before school started.

In contrast, Alex's girlfriend had been given her roommate's name and contact info months before school started. They had been in frequent contact with one another deciding–and Alex swears this is true–on a theme for their room.

I don't want to go too far off topic here, but a theme? For your room?

When I was in art school and got an apartment with my friend Ben (no dorms were available), our theme could have been considered "What Is That Smell" or "Was That A Cockroach or Small Dog Scurrying Under the Couch?" or, possibly even "Will You PLEASE Flush Next Time? But, Yeah. That's Pretty Impressive, Dude".

Alex's girlfriend and her roommate were coordinating colors and choosing matching comforters and probably deciding on a general small for their room, too.

Alex, perhaps inspired by that display of camaraderie,  reached out to his roommate and introduced himself. He told him a bit about himself. He said he was looking forward to meeting him.

His roommate responded: "Yeah. I'm your roommate."

And that's all Alex ever heard from him. At all.

Perhaps Alex was disappointed that he didn't get to coordinate his comforters. I don't know. He plays that sort of thing pretty close to the chest.

We gathered in Alex's room to await the arrival of Colton, The Mystery Roommate.

While we're waiting, let's make your bed! 

While we're still waiting, let's put your stuff away.

While we're STILL waiting, let's take a random picture of the back of Tori's head

While we are STILL waiting, let's wander aimlessly around the room.

We got the room set up, got Alex's stuff put away, and still there was no sign of the quiet and elusive Colton.

"Maybe he's outside, smoking with that bird we saw yesterday," I suggested.

We tried to fix some of the more glaring design flaws with the set up of Alex's room.

The bed is built in. And it's built in directly in front of the drawers, which are completely inaccessible.

This light will be great. For cooking your hair while you try to read.

 We were not able to fix any of these problems. "You're going to be an engineer," I said, "Maybe this is how they test the incoming freshmen!"

Alex brought exactly 1 photo with him. It's a photo of him with my step father, who died when Alex was rather young.
This may have made me a bit weepy. Shut up.

Room Selfie!

There is an old-fashioned intercom on the wall. I tried calling Colton on it, but he didn't respond.

Soon, we tired of waiting for Colton and decided to wander around campus a bit. Alex's dorm is three circular towers. The idea being that all the rooms in each pod will open into a small common area. Students can leave their doors open and chat with friends in adjoining rooms.

Let's see how that worked out.

Hello?

Um, hey? Guys?

Alex left his door open, anticipating Colton's imminent arrival.

Here is the view out Alex's window. It's more scenic than the I-90 out our hotel room window.

Here is the large common area for the floor. I suggested putting up a "Missing Roommate" poster for Colton, but everybody thought it was still too early.

They planted salad makings in the planters around the building. Kerri would not let me take a tomato.

Alex decided that he wanted to wander around on his own and asked us if we could run over to Target to pick up some plastic crates that he could stack in his closet.

"Plastic crates?" Kerri asked. "You mean plastic crates like the ones that you had in your room at home but refused to pack? Plastic crates like those?"

Alex was unfazed. "Yeah. Just like those."

We headed off to Target in a college town, on freshman move-in day.

I'm sure that someday, years and years and years from now, I will be able to forget the experience. Perhaps with therapy or strong psychoactive drugs.

For the meantime, I will share just one photo to give you the flavor.

There was an ENTIRE AISLE of clothes hangers.

Don't be fooled by the seemingly empty aisle in the photo. It was a unique moment in the store, and lasted only a second.

We escaped from Target, clutching three crates that seemed quite similar to three crates we had at home.

I decided that the only way to purge The Target Experience from my brain, would be some tasty Mediterranean food for lunch. We had a tasty lunch and were treated to the fun sight of somebody getting arrested and stuffed in the back of a police car in the parking lot.

Cuff 'im and stuff 'im, Roscoe!

Alex texted us with an update: "Still no Colton."

We arranged to meet Alex for the family and friends dinner that was being held on campus that night. It would be our last time together before we left him.

We passed the few hours in between with some swimming at the hotel and making idle, yet implausible conjectures about Colton's whereabouts.

We returned to the school, gave Alex his plastic crates, and headed to dinner.

One last family selfie!

On the whole, the dinner was wonderful. Unless you happened to be Tori.

Montana, in case you were unaware, is beef country. Tori, in case you were unaware, has been a strict vegetarian for many, many years.

"Don't worry," we told her. "It's a college campus. There are bound to be lots of crazy vegetarians like you here. Of COURSE there will be something you can eat."

And, technically, there was.

There was a salad. With bacon mixed in.
There was macaroni and cheese. With more bacon mixed in.
There were huge slabs of campus-raised beef. With heaping sides of... MORE beef.

There was also a small assortment of vegetables and hummus.

So, after carefully inspecting the carrots and hummus for any signs of meat, Tori had a delicious meal of appetizer vegetables.

We had a nice meal together and, with a unique mixture of joy, sadness, excitement, and anxiety, gave Alex a hug and sent him off to college.


Tomorrow - The Colton Mystery Deepens.