Purdue University

Saturday - 5 October 2002: West Lafayette, Indiana - Our 300th night camping in Goldie! A bright and sunny day! Perfect day for touring a college campus. We started the day early. At his pre-trip check-up, Snickers had something funky going on with his liver, so we started a course of antibiotics and milk thistle. He was checked again just before we left and things had improved, but the vet put him on another 2 week course. It was now time for his blood work again and we were lucky to get into Petsburgh Pet Hospital. Snickers was able to get a bath and have his blood drawn for the tests, and we had 6 pooch-free hours! DT had a long run along the Wabash River and I found a car wash. Then we met Chris at his dorm on the Purdue campus. His dorm is simply HUGE - it houses over 1,000 men. Every one of them is an engineering student. As Chris says, it is a huge brick castle full of nerds.

We headed right out in search of food and TV - Purdue was playing at Iowa. We watched Purdue lose, at the last minute, while we ate unhealthy foods at a campus hangout and Chris told us about his life here in the middle of nowhere in Indiana. He seems so happy with his choice and is excited about his classes, likes his roommate and is making many friends. Chris is slowly working his way through every fraternity to make his choice. We toured campus: Purdue has over 30,000 students. Seriously, that is about half the population of Beaverton. They have their own airport (complete with their own planes) and two golf courses. I wanted to see the football stadium, as Purdue is now expanding the arena. For some reason, the gates were open, so we were able to walk right in and check it out, up-close and personal. The field is actual grass - very nice - and the stadium seats 60,000. Chris said the games are very fun and the student section is wild.

Chris and DT oversee stadium construction

And, of course, we hit the Boilermaker Shop to see if there was something we couldn't live without. There is now a lot of NIKE Purdue gear - all very nice, of course - great quality and design. It was time to rescue Snicks from the vet, so we left Chris to do homework and DT is going to go get him later for the Duck game and dinner here. The Vet, the handsome Dr. Joshua F. Rexing, Purdue graduate, says Snickers blood work was perfect! Good news, and no more drugs. (Note to Mary: As your friend, I can tell you - the plastic football-shaped Borden cheese was perfect for squishing around Snickers medicine - he gobbled it right up, never suspecting a thing. THANKS!)

Tomorrow I will report our game-night activities. DT is BBQing chicken (lime & cilantro marinade) and I made a big pot of beans - a Southwest theme for the Arizona game. I made a pie yesterday and now am baking a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread (at Chris's request).

Not that I want to spoil him or anything.

RV Park: A-OK Campground