Stark-Vegas

Well, this will be the last post in a while, unless Kristen decides to post some...
It was a long long drive down here. We left about 10pm on Wednesday night, and drove for the next 19 or 20 hours or so to Georgetown, KY where Ford lives. Had some awesome home made pizza and went to sleep pretty quickly. Got up at 5 the next morning and left at 6. Ford and Amanda gave us some great muffins and granola to help feed us. Appreciate that! Rolled into Starkville about 4pm or so. Pretty hot. The approach from the East on 82 has changed a lot, it goes to the north of town instead of right by North Farm. Anywho, drove right to the Mylroies to get the key for the apartment. No one was there, so we drove to the apartment and unpacked. First impressions of the place were pretty bad. Kind of dark and hot (AC hadn't been on) and drab. The walls are a kind of light brown color. The bathroom and kitchen were dimly lit. But, as soon as we started bringing in our stuff it started to look better. So far, we have the kitchen and bathroom all set up, and most of the bedroom. The dining/living room is still full of our stuff and some extra furniture the Mylroie's left us. Same for the other bedroom. We've been donig all sorts of things since we got here... Walked around town looking for the Humane society, stopped in at the Johnson's shop. They invited us to lunch that day and barbecue on Monday (last night). Both Kristen and I are overwhelmed with how friendly they are. Kristen says they're the friendliest people she's ever met. Wandered over to the bike shop, it's even messier than before. Lots of nice bikes, just random other crap all over the place. Mike said he'd hire me when I get back from field camp, so maybe I'll be able to clean it up a bit. Ran into John Luthe on campus. He couldn't believe I was back here again. Proof that Starkville is a "black hole" to him. We've been busy with all sorts of things. Cleaning the house, unpacking, going to Wal Mart for a few things and food, that sort of thing. Yesterday, we pretty much just lay low since everything was closed and it was raining. Took a walk at Southfarm though, still nice out there, though it's changed a bit. Lots of sports stuff near the entrance, and a huge horse place out at the southern end. Access to skunk hill is also a bit different. The rain did hold off enough for me to varnish the table the mom's got us. It looks quite nice. Don't really have a spot to put it at the moment, but we have a place once we get the extra furniture out...
To my suprise, Kristen thinks it's quite pretty down here. She loves the big happy trees and the friendly people. I'm so glad. I'm sure she'll do alright while I'm away, especially if we get a dog. We're still looking for one, but haven't had a chance to go to the shelter, since it's been closed so far.
For now, we only have Miss Bette's cell phone, and we only have a car charger. So the batteries are pretty much dead all the time. We'll probably be getting a real phone today or tomorrow though, so I'll try to let you know when we get one, if I have a chance before I leave. For now though, you can can try 207-592-2778. Kristen should be getting a P.O. box today at orientation, so we should have a mailing address soon as well. I'll have her let you know... or maybe we can give our info to her mom, and you can get it from her? If that's what we do, her mom's number is 207-465-9578. Ok, I need to go get some stuff done. Hope everyone is doing well. Talk to you all in a month or so...