Kate's Graduation From East Chapel Hill High
June 12, 2004: Kate graduated as a North Carolina Scholar from East Chapel Hill High School!
Congratulations Kate!
Kate graduated from East Chapel Hill High School on June 12, 2004. She achieved a North Carolina Scholar ranking which is equivalent to graduating with honors. We were very happy that Kerry's mother, sister, and our niece, Becca, braved the travel and the heat to help us celebrate this milestone. The graduation exercises took place at the Dean E. Smith Center (affectionately known as the Dean Dome) on the UNC Campus. It was a hot day so the air conditioned facility was welcome. There was plenty of comfortable seating and the exercises were very enjoyable.
We are very proud of Kate and all that she has achieved in high school. She has become a very mature and intelligent young lady and we look forward to her continued success in college.
Kate will be attending University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill in the fall. While the school is in the same town as we live, Kate will be staying on campus and will be able to enjoy her college experience to the fullest while having the advantage of a place nearby to escape if she needs it. Of course I like the idea that it only takes 15 minutes to bring Kate's gear to campus rather than a 14 hour drive
.
When Kerry and I were discussing a graduation present I thought it might be fun to have a project that Kate and I could work together on over the summer. I thought that Kate liked the old VW Beetles so I thought it would be fun to restore a beat up VW.
When I suggested this to Kate she liked the idea but said that she thought a Mustang would be more fun to restore (and cruise around in). I looked around and we found a bunch of classic Mustangs on eBay. The quality of the cars ranged from ready-to-drive show cars (for several tens of thousands of dollars) to rusted out hulks that would barely survive towing to Chapel Hill.
We finally found one, a 1967 Coupe, that had a decent engine and drivetrain and only had surface rust. Everything else we thought we could handle. See the Projects link to see detailed photos, description of the project, and current status. The irony is that this car's model year is the same year as I graduated from high school (I was very young when I graduated
) - not bad for Kate's own high school graduation!
Kerry and I drove to Dallas, Texas to pick up and tow the car back to Chapel Hill. We left on Thursday afternoon and arrived back home on Sunday evening. A total of 2400 miles roundtrip in a 3½ day weekend! We had fun and the trip was actually fairly relaxing even with the strain of towing the car. Everything went smoothly but, when we arrived in Chapel Hill and I went to take the car off the trailer, the right strap had fallen off the wheel (the UHaul place neglected to tell me to lock the steering wheel) and the car was only being held on with the safety chains!
