<p>@mcat2,
Sorry, was off the grid travelling.</p>
<p>Both hotels would be fine. And the area is fine. Hope you have a fun LA visit with your kiddo!</p>
<p>“We are looking at Doubletree at 1985 E Grand Ave, Segundo, CA right now. Likely more cost-effective for his trip. There appears to be another one, Courtyard Marriott close to the Toyota Sports Center.”</p>
<p>@lotsofquests,
Congrats on setting up your son so nicely and for dealing with the crazy hot weather. It’s not normally like this here.</p>
<p>I am back home in Pittsburgh reading the nice comments. Thank you all for the support, both informational and emotional. As I recover from jet lag, I am thinking back about how much I have grown. As a high school student, I would have been that shy kid who had trouble making friends. I was afraid to make phone calls and most definitely avoided conflict. I don’t know what I would have done if my freshman roommate was a problem like some that you read about here. I married late at age 36 to a man who was 9 years older who had considerably more money. I spent way too much time in my early years of marriage feeling inferior. </p>
<p>I still have a problem dealing with criticism so I hesitated to start this thread because I was positive that someone was going to comment on my “helicoptering” even though I felt strongly that my S’s situation called for someone to help him. He is a very competent young man and given a different time frame would have been quite able to do everything himself. An interesting thought on helicoptering: I think at this stage of my life, I do more support for my husband than my son. H has come to depend on me for anything involving numbers or finance or multi-step directions. </p>
<p>I am pretty proud of myself that at the age of 65, I can still learn and grow. The thought of flying out there was rather daunting but I did it and now I think I can handle a solo trip driving S’s car to LA. In fact, I am looking forward to it. I thought when H retired that we would travel more but due to his health, that hasn’t happened. I don’t need to wait for him to decide to take a trip. I am going to get my first smartphone, maybe an iPad mini, and load up on books on tape.</p>
<p>Oh, and the best part of my adventure was the huge bear hug thank you I got from my son.</p>
<p>lotsofquests - while you’re still 500 miles farther east than me, the driving-trip-to-LA was a trip that I just made Labor Day weekend, by myself. If you have any questions about how I did it, please feel free to ask.</p>
<p>Thanks, Teriwtt, as I start to make plans, I might get back to you. The project this week is getting the car thoroughly serviced and inspected. H is picking it up now after a transmission check. I made flight reservations for Oct 3 for a wedding in Colorado which I had said repeatedly to H would be a good stop on my cross-country trip. Unfortunately, he couldn’t plan that far ahead (and I didn’t push him) so the car won’t be ready for me to drive to the wedding. I am trying to balance my need for planning with his need for maintaining some control as he gets older. At times I feel like he is my father, not my husband. It has been difficult for him to realize his limitations as he ages and I don’t want him to lose his self-confidence/dignity. So, it looks like I will leave Friday for the wedding returning on Tuesday and leave sometime after that for LA. After the heat spell the past two weeks, I am looking forward to being there in cooler temps. I WILL do some sightseeing this time.</p>
<p>I have to say, I’m someone who has a pretty well-attuned radar for “helicoptering,” but your posts on this thread did not strike me as helicoptering at all. The vibe I got was a fabulous opportunity arising for your son and you – his family – rallying around him to allow him to take advantage of the opportunity. Just what we’d all hope our families would do to help us no matter how self-sufficient we’ve become. And you are so gracious to view your grueling weeks as a opportunity for growth! </p>
<p>OP - get your iphone, ipad and enjoy your life. My father passed away a year ago. My mother is 75+. I thought she would sit at home and be depressed. She is going on a cruise with a group of friends this Dec. She is going to Dubai (yes) next year with another group of friends. She is out everyday to exercise, lunch, majong…I would encourage you to travel with some friends (or group tour) even though your husband is not able. Start with baby steps until you feel more comfortable traveling by yourself.</p>
As we get ready for S’s graduation, I just reread this thread that I started when he was accepted. Today I made reservations on Southwest to attend the graduation festivities. I told my husband that if he weren’t going with me, I would do another cross-country drive; I really enjoyed that trip on my own. H didn’t even want to rent a car for this trip because he said he won’t drive in LA. I told him that I have no problem with doing the driving. I bet he will change his mind when he gets there and sees that traffic/driving is not nearly as bad as he imagines. I have much faith in my iPad and Apple maps to get me where I want to go.