We Have FINALLY Arrived!

Greetings from Big Red! It was a long trip, but we finally made it! Since the others did the honors of summarizing today's activities, I'll take the initiative and describe the long trip it took to get to this little heaven on Earth.
So our day began outside the office of our beloved Hercules High School at approximately 10am. As each of us pulled in, we were greeted by the familiar flashes of Don's camera and a smiling Mr. Crossley. A few minutes after 10, all were accounted for and we hit the road on our SF Minibus.
After a small hiccup with a patrolling cop, we made our way on I-80 and arrived in San Francisco in no time.
Expecting huge crowds at SFO, we arrived over an hour and a half before our flight (which turned out to be delayed). While waiting for our Northwest flight to Detroit, my dad, Mike, greeted us in the terminal. I'm really lucky my dad works at SFO reconstructing terminal 2. I got one last moment of home! :) After enjoying a nice relaxed lunch at Perry's, we made a quick dash to our flight. We sat tight, and before we knew it, we were in the air.
Even though we were slightly delayed in SFO, we arrived in Detroit after only 4 hours of flight time. Although the Detroit Airport was extremely large and a pain in the butt to walk, we made it to gate C1, where we only had to wait a few short minutes to board our plane to Ithaca. The picture on the left is of the tunnel that connects the terminals in the Detroit Airport. All 8 of us were amazed by the soothing color changes and peaceful music played in this extensive tunnel.

While we were on time for our plane to Ithaca, the plane wasn't quite ready for us! Due to bad weather conditions in Detroit, our flight was delayed for nearly two hours. By the time we arrived in Ithaca, it was already 1am and we were all ready to head to our dorms at Mary Donlan at Cornell.

You would think that we would take a breather after having such a long day in the air, but we are motivated Ivy Leaguers! We kept pushing on the next day with a visit to Syracuse University. Prior to our departure, we enjoyed a nice breakfast with Mr. Ramsey and Mr. Crossley at the Statler Hotel.

While at Syracuse University, Mr. Ramsey introduced us girls to Kim Rohadfox-Ceaser, Commissioner of Education for the Syracuse City School District.

When we were finished at Syracuse, we packed into our cars and headed back to Cornell for registration and check-ins. After we were done with the paperwork and learned of our roommates for the next 3 weeks, we went to Bailey Hall for the Dean's Convocation (who I might add is quite the comedian).

After our orientation, students separated by class to speak with their professors prior to classes on Monday. I was extremely excited to meet Professor Kramnick, who has been spoken of in only the highest esteem. He is both lively and energetic, two qualities that will make our course even more memorable. Now it is around 9pm, and I am getting ready to take part in a meeting amongst my floor roommates. Right before this meeting was an Ice Cream Social where all 600 or so students came to our dormitory, ate some ice cream, and got to know one another.

Although today was one of the longest days of my life, it contained a lot of adventures. Most importantly, today was a promising day, in that I know Cornell will bring many memorable moments in the next 3 weeks. I can't wait to find out what those moments will be!