My daughter finished a summer program at Smith College. I picked her up and we started visiting colleges around Massachusetts. Day 1.

Flying out from LA on the red-eye to Hartford, Connecticut, I didn't sleep on the flight and it landed at 6am, local. I picked up the rental car and drove the 40 miles north to Smith. I kept eating throughout the morning to keep from getting sleepy. With the sun up, and a warm Saturday morning, I was okay for a while. I had a yummy french toast breakfast at Green Bean, in Northampton, which is apparently very lesbian friendly. Rainbows and lesbian pretty much everywhere in Northampton.

Smith College

Small, quaint, homey. Cute little Northampton. 1870s. After a few weeks of a Sustainability Program, my daughter knew what that surrounding community was like. There went on field trips to power plants and dairy farms, and sustainability labs at other Sister Schools, like Holyoke College, and Hampshire College. It has been hot and the campus house didn't have AC. So, my daughter was happy to stay in a hotel with me. The dining hall food was okay, on par with UCSD's food from last summer. She made some friends from all over the place. Some were from SoCal, others from the East Coast, Asia, and Europe. They'll probably keep tabs on social media.

University of Massachusetts, Amherst (UMass)

This was a big university, the flag ship campus for UMass. It's in a sprawling valley of rolling hills. Brick and glass. Huge Basketball stadium. 1870s too. We treated our selves to a self guided tour. We strolled through the agriculture green houses and the 26 floor DuBois Library, and the Hilton U Hotel.

Amherst College

Small and quaint. Cute little town surrounding it. Lovely grounds. Robert Frost statue across the green from the Robert Frost Library. Lots of 1870s style buildings: Thick white columns with brick and rectangle windows. Really nice. We wandered through the campus grounds, and snuck into a performing arts theater. It has a smaller enrollment than UMass, but it's surprisingly full of lots of buildings and lovely grounds. We had lunch at a nearby Asian fusion cafe. Then, finished our self-guided tour. The sun broke through the clouds and beat down hot and muggy on us.

Lunch made me super sleepy, but walking around looking for the Japanese garden kept me awake. After we left, I barely made the short drive to Holyoke, I was really tired. I took a quick shower and crashed for a heavy nap. Nothing special to eat in Holyoke, so M got to try a great american staple for the first time: Applebee's. Actually, not too special. The hotel room is a nice suite, with full kitchen and TVs in the living room and bedroom.

End of Day 1.