<p>Anyone have a room booked that they aren’t going to use for Friday May 3? We might be sleeping in the car :-(</p>
<p>Disclaimer here as I have never stayed here, but this might be a possibility.</p>
<p><a href=“https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/717915[/url]”>https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/717915</a></p>
<p>^I think that is the person my friend has personally rented from. They had a wonderful experience.</p>
<p>I don’t understand-my parents never came and helped me move out…I drove home 6 hours a few weekends before and got a larger car- I am not planning to help my son move out-doubt he will even have that much stuff… I understand if you are coming to bring a load home but seriously I think these college kids can move themselves out alone…</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>That’s my guess that most are going to move ‘stuff’. Many of the kids don’t have cars on campus at all (and thus no way to get their stuff home) and others who are hundreds of miles away don’t have the option to just go home and get a bigger car.</p>
<p>I know I’m heading down mid-week with a mini-van to move my son’s stuff home (bookcase, TV, stereo, X-box, laptop, desktop computer, + books, bedding, clothes, dishes…) that there is no way he’ll get in his car. But he’s not even coming home with me, he’s heading to Ecuador with Alabama Action Abroad. So, after I make the trip to go get his ‘stuff’, he’ll manage to get himself home later with whatever he still has down there.</p>
<p>if he is not coming home with you then you don’t have to go on friday. you can go whenever and leave him with the bare minimum. we adjusted our trip so we will be gone by friday afternoon (couldn’t find a hotel room for friday night - and this was about a month ago).</p>
<p>Do I HAVE to go to help pack up…no I guess not. However, I don’t know how D would get everything into storage w/ the limited time she has and finals every day - and no car. She is only 18 and cannot sign a contract for the storage unit either.</p>
<p>The stress level would skyrocket w/ the additional stress that getting ready for the trip to Ecuador would add.</p>
<p>We live in Chicago, I have not seen her since Christmas. I won’t see her for an extra two weeks after finals.</p>
<p>I’m a mom…I still like to feel like I’m needed. And I realy need a hug before she leave’s to climb the Andes and walk thru the Amazon. :)</p>
<p>I’m not going to help D move out - she told me she could handle it herself. But she has a car, and the ability to put things into storage in advance. I’m not wild about her making the 12 hour drive alone, so I’m hopeful she’ll find someone to ride home with her, but she at least has the ability to get home on her own. Many kids need to go long distances with lots of stuff (or get the stuff into storage), and if they don’t have cars, that’s pretty much impossible to do.</p>
<p>You don’t have to stay in Tuscaloosa. Try for a hotel in Bessemer or Hoover. We will be staying in Hoover. We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again. I would recommend a reputable chain, though, like a Marriott chain or a Hilton chain. We booked the Residence Inn Hoover for Friday night. I know, kicking myself, too, for not thinking of this earlier, but don’t know if being grad night, it would have made much difference.</p>
<p>Since son has a car, he could probably move himself out and put stuff in storage, but knowing he has exams every day and will be wiped out, I really don’t want him behind a wheel for what will be a short drive compared to your kids. If he was flying home and could sleep on the plane, that would be another story, though.</p>
<p>Wishing your kids good luck on their exams and a safe journey home!</p>
<p>We stayed in Hoover at the Embassy Suites for a football game last Fall. It was not a bad drive at all and the rooms at this location are really nice.</p>
<p>Proudmama, we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Bessemer when we were moving him in and it worked it well. Depending on how far you have to drive, another option is renting a hotel room on Friday night 2 or 3 hours away on your way home. We have a 12 hour drive and my husband is driving alone. He actually is leaving late Thursday morning, driving 8 hours to Nashville and then staying there. Since my son has a final Friday morning, my husband will leave 7:00ish frm Nashville and get to Tuscaloosa around 11:00 and then spend the day packing/cleaning etc. They will then leave after dinner and drive back to Nashville and stay in the same hotel/room that my husband has the night before. It means 2 nights in a hotel, but he would probably have had 2 night anyway even if he stayed in Tuscaloosa.</p>
<p>I like the Residence Inn Hoover because it is a suite and we can bring up the totes/suitcases that are coming home to the room and still have room to walk around. There’s also a couch that son can sleep in and H and I get the bed. There is a great free breakfast in the morning, too. For us, it adds an hour to our drive home, but at least we get a good night’s sleep and a good breakfast before hitting the road.</p>
<p>A friend has also stayed at a hotel a couple of hours into the drive on the way home. So, whatever direction you’re heading, you may want to look at that option.</p>
<p>@busymom3 Don’t feel embarrassed for wanting to see your DD! I’m the same way. I know my kids can manage without me, but I do what I need to do. Whether they like it or not.</p>
<p>Count me in with the group who wants to see and hug their kids. I miss both my kids more the longer they have been away (I have a daughter in grad school). You think this would get easier.</p>
<p>I usually do the fly down and drive back with DS option.
I know he can drive to Chicago by himself, but these last two times, seeing how exhausted he was after finals, and given that he always has a Fri. afternoon test, I feel much better knowing I can drive and he can sleep. Besides, I love the 12 hours alone with him, as they get older this time is more and more rare.</p>
<p>I’m just going to picnic with y’all</p>
<p>AL34: You are a smart parent. Best to be safe whenever possible. Having someone along to share driving is a good idea. My cousin died driving home from college. She fell asleep at the wheel-very tragic since she was driving home to attend her brother’s wedding. The family had a funeral and a wedding in the same week.</p>
<p>^^^^ Oh, that’s awful. I’m flying down and driving back to PA with my D, also.</p>
<p>We also have friends whose kids have fallen asleep at the wheel coming home from college, even though the college was less than two hours away. Could not live with myself if that happened.</p>
<p>Like AL, son always has a Friday afternoon final, and seeing how the next three weeks before dead week are shaping up, I know I would not want him to make the five hour drive himself.</p>
<p>Bumping… for Longhaul :)</p>