Before I take you in to see what student housing is like these days I'll share a bit about our journey. Actually, it was uneventful so there is not much to share. Stef packed up the car and there was even room to see out the back window. We had to drive from Austin to San Antonio. Steffi drove us there (down I-35 the highway I hate most because of the enormous number of trucks) while I worked on my laptop using an aircard that kept me online. Pretty cool and it distracted me from the driving. No apprehension on Steffi's part about this so far.
When we arrived we first had to check in at the "Rowdy House." There were masking-taped lanes for arriving students from the front door leading to a long table. By the time we checked in there was only one other student in line, whose name fell into the same range as Powling so we had to wait. Meanwhile, two other checker-inners for A-H and S-Z sat there with nothing to do while we waited in line for Ms I-R to check in. The large room was bright and cheerful and looks like a nice space for social gatherings. There is a large flat screen TV, a pool table and lots of washing machines in another room. And....
the Rowdy House has a pool!
and hot tub and bbq area. The literature says that this apartment complex has, in fact, 3 pools!
After checking in to get a key and punch sheet to report problems, we went back to the apartment and hauled all of Steffi's stuff inside. The apartment has 2 bedrooms, a bath, a full kitchen and living room. I was expecting a hot stuffy room, uncomfortable for unpacking and setting up, but the A/C worked really well. The bedrooms have industrial brown carpet; ugly but apparently new last year so no complaints about that. The living room and kitchen are hardwood-ish and in very decent shape. There is a 3 person sofa, a side chair, a sofa table and side table. After a little re-arranging, you can see it has potential.Here is a view from the door into the living room. Steffi and Abby are chatting about what they want to buy next while Steffi is keeping a list.
This is their current "entertainment center." This is a combo TV, playstation and can play DVDs. Abby brought Guitar Hero to play (she is a confessed "gamer"). It will be hard to see the TV from the sofa so I am accepting bets on when the pleas for a new larger TV begin. Actually, you all lose, because Steffi has already begun begging. I keep reminding her that this is COLLEGE not CAMP and she needs to NOT BE WATCHING TV all the time anyway and this small TV may be a blessing.
At the far end of the room is the kitchen. It has a great breakfast bar that accommodates seats on both sides. I think this will be a good study area if they can keep it clean.
The kitchen is already equipped with the following appliances: dishwasher, fridge, electric oven/stove. The girls have supplemented these with a microwave, toaster-oven, blender, and coffee maker.
I spent Friday evening lining all the drawers and shelves so they could put their pretty new dishes and glasses, pots and pans, silverware, and other cooking supplies away.
they have spices but no salt or pepper yet.
We had fun getting Steffi's room set up. With the risers, and multiple mattress accoutrements and the overbed shelving, the bed turned out great and she can fit 3 large storage bins underneath.
We stacked the two drawers on top of each other and added a mirror. The purply blue thing at the back is her wireless router enabling her to work on her laptop from anywhere in the apartment.
This is the most unusable desk imaginable; it is about the width of a sheet a paper. I treated her to a new adjustable chair on wheels because the other chair was just not that comfortable.
We got a great lamp at Target that is the perfect blend of style and function. And overdoor hooks for her towels. 
Meg loaned Stef her college shoe rack
The bathroom is great. Right now they just have the shower liner and they are planning to get a cute shower curtain to add some color.
After getting the apartment all set up we still had a few more chores to do. First, I had to get Steffi a Costco card. There is great shopping close to the campus. The Costco is about a mile away - so convenient for buying food, school supplies and gas so I added her to my account. Within 2.5 miles there are shops for everything she could possibly need. We had to visit the Wallie-world (aka Wal*Mart) at 11 p.m. Friday night to buy a shower liner so the girls could shower. Of course while there we called each other by our Wallie*World aliases: Fifi La Fluff, Gigi Fuluzi and Lance Zamboni. There are also a Target, Staples, HEB, Barnes & Noble, and Marshalls all in a single strip mall. The school offers shuttle buses frequently to these and other shops.
Then we had to go to the dining hall to get her on a meal plan. There are many places to eat on campus covered by the meal plan, but we had to trek to the other side of campus to pay for her plan at the main dining center. On normal days the Roadrunner Cafe has many venues to choose from including: custom sandwiches; a grill for burgers, cheesesteaks, chicken, grilled cheese, etc; pizza; salad & vegetarian bar; a station for eggs/omelettes/waffles; and probably more. Because we purchased her plan this weekend, we got 3 "free" meals so we had lunch there. Everyone was so helpful and pleasant. Matthew, the Cafe manager saw us looking around and came over to introduce himself and explain everything Steffi needed to know about dining there.
If you look up to the left there are painted Texas Hillcountry scenes. Here is one featuring bluebonnets:
check out their artistic ability with watermelons! The UTSA mascot is the roadrunner and this is the Roadrunner Cafe after all.
Last time we visted, this building was under contruction - now it is done. The campus is pretty modern and in southwestern style. Nothing looks old or worn on this campus.
On the way back to the apartment, we found another pool, this one right behind Stef's building. (Notice the impending storm cloud....)
We had the sense that the girls wanted to be on their own so we left around 3. Bye girls! Have fun, STUDY A LOT and remember to call your mothers sometimes!!!
Did I mention or did you notice how much rain we have had since Steffi returned from Europe???!! And the clouds at school??!! - not random. Steffi admitted that it rained nearly everywhere she went over there and now that she is back, it has rained more in the last 10 days than all summer long!
Here is a small rain storm in the distance:
And a bigger one:
After this very long day and a half of moving into college Mike and I were too tired to stay in and cook so we went to the Iguana Grill for dinner. Playing there was a small band called Woody Russell and they were really very good. The most interesting part though was when they were wrapping up. Woody's wife was sitting at the table next to us, clearly wanting to get out of there. She asked her husband to play a song called Salt, which he did and sweetly dedicated to her. She sat there looking most unappreciative throughout the song. Then they did one more rockin blues number and shut it down for the night. The wife went straight to the tip jar, grabbed all the paper money and started sorting through it. We saw her put several bills into her bra! She counted and recounted and counted and recounted. It was like "you played all night and only got this?!" It was just a bizarre thing to watch. Woody Russell & band was really good and if you see him playing anywhere, check it out.
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