For those that have not been to Williamstown, MA or don't even have a clue where it is.....here's a map. NY stateline is to the left, and Vermont to the top. Basically in the corner of nowhere...but absolutely gorgeous country.

I found this list in a Williams College Graduation Newsletter. If you didn't catch it, they state that 11 students completed the program, but they list 14. Quite puzzling!

You've been Ice-ed! Definition is below.

Earl's Feast! Excellent job!

Check out David's expression and add your own caption.

Ice-ed? Let me get this straight, If someone Ice'es you and you don't have a similar Ice beverage within a nominal distance, You have to quickly consume the Ice beverage while kneeling on one knee and pointing towards the sky? Ok, that makes perfect sense! lol

It was a wonderful three days of graduation celebrations with many memories.

The Fab Five enjoy yet another San Diego afternoon at David's former frat house. Note how everybody looked right at the camera.

"Ich bin warm!" cries Robbie.

A beautiful feast prepared by Earl, the chef. Well done!

Between the ceremonies, we met at Robbie's house, where David used to live. Earl had prepared most if not all the food. Good eats and brew was enjoyed by all.

Lori, Ivy, David, and Chris relish the moment!

No, that is not a halo! It's a hang-glider.

Ully & Ivy. I shall name this one: Sisters!

Ivy's thinking......."Only by coincidence did John wear the right shirt! "

A very proud Povoa family.......Augusto, Ully, Ivy, and Jeanette with a hang-glider about to land on her shoulder.

Hey everybody, I can fly now that I have my degree!

David's ceremony was at 8am, while Ivy's didn't start until 5pm. In between, we took these coastal pictures just down the street from the campus.

Who's Spanky?

David and classmate with the tassles officially on the left side. Congratulations!

One very proud dad! I shall call this one: Two Engineers!

It's about time! David and friend show off their watches. David with a Men's data bank complete with calculator and calculus functions......what did you expect? He's an engineer!

Pre-graduation photo......only a few hours away!

Three very proud parents! (Chris is taking the photo) Congratulations David.

The day, Sunday, June 13, 2010, finally arrived. A bit early as the ceremonies began at 8am, but the weather co-operated, hey, it's San Diego, and the graduation went remarkably smooth with almost 600 walking in about 2 hours. The good news, done by 10am. The bad news, The Rock Bottom Brewery wasn't open yet.

Exhausted Ully, Ivy's younger sister, relaxes with her Vanity Fair.

Good things come in 3's!

Now this is truly a pic in a pic. Note the simulated Pacific Ocean as a background!

I shall call this one: Four Clowns!

And that was the end of Day 2 of graduation weekend, UCSD style.

The Captain & Rachel. (the names have been changed to protect the guilty)

David standing at 6' 7" receives a signature Hallmark card from his Dad.

Life is full of decisions.......There are 3 kinds of people in this world; those that can count and those that can't.

This one stands alone and is my favorite for the weekend as Ivy strikes a pose. If you look at the photo for several hours, you might just notice the beautiful flowers I brought to the celebration or the surfer dude in her hair. (Ok, maybe you still don't see the flowers)

Chris receives a complimentary cooking lesson from Augusto. (note how Chris cradles the delicate but robust red wine that is paired with the chef's choice of meat!)

Danny's new name for the day was "The Captain" dubbed by Augusto.

A very proud dad next to his daughter. Congratulations!

The hotel provided the grills, but Augusto provided the magic. Sausages, tri-tips, and picanha. Picanha is the name of the 'roasts' that Augusto grilled. It's a Portuguese cut of meat, similar to a CA tri-tip, but with a layer of fat on one side that adds to the moisture during the 2-3 hour grilling process. Wow, was it delicious, along with several cases of wine to compliment the meal. Thanks again, Augusto & Jeanette!

The Del Mar Motel.........the place to be on Saturday as the festivities began about 2pm.

Many thanks to Ivy's parents, Augusto & Jeanette, for hosting a grand celebration at their hotel in Del Mar. (www.delmarmotelonthebeach.com)

The food and wine was incredible as my photos attempt to show.

Now we're talking good food, beverages, and new friends.......a very nice ending to the Day 1 of David's and Ivy's graduation weekend. The place is called Pizza Port in Port Solana Beach and it comes highly recommended. A very fine selection of local brews. (http://www.pizzaport.com/)

Let me present to you, The Povoa Family! Augusto, Jeanette, Ully, and Ivy attempting to enjoy a San Diego evening. (hey, it was cold!)

You can just feel the smiles beaming across the aisle.

Does anybody want to eat this stuff? What is it? What just happened here?

ACGC.....All Campus Graduation Celebration.....was held on Friday night, June 11, 2010.....I hope I don't offend anybody, but it was one of the worst displays of rude and lemming-like crowd behavior. I'm confident that the organizers did not plan on half the crowd which grew selfish and crude leaving somewhere in the middle of the planned presentations to 'gang' up on an imaginary line drawn by the people in yellow 'staff' jackets. Granted I found myself in the same cluster, before realizing what was happening. I slithered to the back of the crowd to remove myself and observed stupidity at it's finest.

Before the final words from the keynote speaker, which is another story, could hit the grass, the frenzied crowd literally raced towards the scattered tables of 'delectable' snacks grabbing everything their arms could hold......a ridiculous display of a pathetic avaricious behavior.

If it weren't for the fact that David had spent over $50 on tickets, we wouldn't have even sampled the 'frosty' 10 ounce plastic glasses of pre-poured Coors Light. Spilling the brew was even acceptable. Very very sad. My letter to the planning committee will be long.

Very disappointing, so disappointing, that collectively, 8-10 of us quickly decided that great pizza and even better beer could be had in Del Mar. (just North of the campus)

I checked into my room which was surprisingly very nice.......For $99 in San Diego, I wasn't expecting a lot....more on logistics at the end of this series of blogs. Oh, the hotel was the Doubletree Golf Resort......here is the web site...

http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/dt/hotel/SANCMDT-Doubletree-Golf-Resort-San-Diego-California/index.do

If you can pronounce the name of the street, you are a winner......Penasquitos Dr. It was about 15 miles from the UCSD campus and 25 miles from the airport......they call it San Diego.....I call it.....middle of nowhere....but it had very easy access using the CA highway system.....which we all know I love. Ok, back to the story at hand.....David's graduation.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Now to move on to David's graduation weekend which was a week ago. I flew out to San Diego on Friday the 11th of June. An easy non-stop direct flight from Milwaukee to San Diego landing about 11am. Picked up my rental car from Enterprise who clearly don't have a clue how to quickly rent cars to lots of people. There has got to be a better way......I shall think on that one....but I digress....

Rock Bottom Brewery is the closest to UCSD and by 12:30 I was sipping a delicious IPA with my favorite son......Bill. I mean David. (see photo) Shortly thereafter, Lori and Chris joined us as the graduation weekend had officially begun.

Now for some logistics for the engineers and economists out there reading this....all others can skip this part....

Average Cost of a flight from Mpls to Albany, NY.........$450 each


Average Cost of a flight from Milwaukee to Albany, NY ...... $350 each


Cost of a standard rental car for one week from Albany, NY airport.....$460

Fuel for rental car for 1 week and 500 miles at 25 mpg.....$60

Fuel cost to drive Prius to Williamstown from Fond du Lac.....$146.00
(average of 53 mpg for 2600 miles)
Split that by three riders/drivers.....$48.67 each
Toll charges for IL, IN, OH, PA, NY without I-Pass.......$60.00
Toll charges using I-Pass.....$39.00 (divided by three is $13.00 each)
Hotel room for two nights (1 night each direction) .......$70.00 each

Attending Jamie's 5-day Master's Graduation Ceremony.......PRICELESS!

May I present to you......the Williams Class of 2010......

Jamie had two high-school classmates join in the celebrations......Busty Smashley from CA and Chris V. from NYC.

Gotta love the Scottish bagpipes.......a grand processional indeed!

This one speaks volumes, so I will let it......Congratulations Jamie on a job well done!

I counted 2000 chairs. Really. Then I played a game of Buck Euchre with Eugene. Can't tell you who won. (ok, I could, but I won't)

GRADUATION DAY! Sunday, June 6, 2010 It finally arrived and so did the rain. It was the first time in over 20 years that the ceremony had to be held inside. But that did not dampen the spirits (pun intended) of the 600 graduates. 28 with Masters, 579 with Bachelors. (do the math)

Note the excellent seats we snagged....that's Jane, Eugene, Smashley, and Chris V. in the back row.