Parent planning questions

another parent planning question

I read the thread regarding the September parent's weekend - for an entering first year, what kind of parental involvement may be needed in June? And for any other events in the first year?

I need to find out if I can get time off of work ASAP, I have no idea what important dates are yet in the Academy calendar, any input is appreciate on what specific days are best for parents to visit.

TIA!
 
Proud mom 2016 said:
You all convinced us...we're all coming. Most expensive weekend we've ever spent but I have no doubt it'll be worth it.

We're flying in on Wednesday to get over jetlag since we are coming from overseas. Anyone have some do not miss attractions to recommend...we'll have 8 and 10 year old girls as well as our cadet so some more little girl friendly activities for Thursday would be great.
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That's so great you've decided to come out. Your little ones might like the cog railway up to Pike's Peak. And of course get tickets to the football game and come early to see the drum and bugle corps in the tunnel and just soak in the fun and excitement of the event. Even if football is not your thing, a USAFA game has so much fun with lots of great distractions for the kids. I might also recommend one of the suites hotels to give you a bit more room to move around. We've done that when we're in the area and being able to have a fridge and a microwave at least is so helpful with kiddies.
http://cograilway.com/
I too know how you have to take a deep breath to spend all that money for a weekend, since we're coming from Hawaii (not as far as you but still pretty expensive airfares) but I read that PW is not to be missed, mostly for your cadet.
Congratulations and happy planning!
 
melindayching said:
That's so great you've decided to come out. Your little ones might like the cog railway up to Pike's Peak. And of course get tickets to the football game and come early to see the drum and bugle corps in the tunnel and just soak in the fun and excitement of the event. Even if football is not your thing, a USAFA game has so much fun with lots of great distractions for the kids. I might also recommend one of the suites hotels to give you a bit more room to move around. We've done that when we're in the area and being able to have a fridge and a microwave at least is so helpful with kiddies.
http://cograilway.com/
I too know how you have to take a deep breath to spend all that money for a weekend, since we're coming from Hawaii (not as far as you but still pretty expensive airfares) but I read that PW is not to be missed, mostly for your cadet.
Congratulations and happy planning!
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Thanks. I did reserve a suite but i've also contacted a few people about a rental house and have my daughter's friend's parents putting out feelers for me if they know anyone in the area that would rent a house to us.

We did Pikes Peak when the girls were smaller. One got altitude sickness very badly. Don't think I want to try it again but one never knows if we'll get brave (or crazy!) and try it again. They were too young to remember it.

Our cadet is quite excited. He is an AF brat so knows the drill of missed important dates (Dad is missing his high school graduation, he's getting himself to I-Day b/c we'll be gone, etc) but the more I read here and the more we talked to him, we decided it was worth the money. (hey we figure this trip will just be his room and board for the year he's saving us. :cool: )
 
Garden of the Gods is great - and free, and you can all stretch your legs and relax while you see some great scenery. Good activity for Thursday morning?

Get there v early on Friday since you'll have a very full day and don't want to miss any of it.

For the Football games, first go to Thudgate! And, we buy only the $5 tickets (or maybe they're $10, but the cheapest available). As I've said before (and mean no offense)... duh - it's not STEELER FOOTBALL! AF always wins. YAYAYAY! $5 t-shirts available at the game so everyone gets a great and relatively cheap souvenir. Rent the seat back for $5 - worth every penny.

After the game, your 4* will be excused but will have to wear the uniform all around. there are all sorts of interesting things to do in the area, most of which are not too expensive and accommodate families with members of all ages.

Some cadets like to take some time in your hotel and just sleep the days away. Mine did not and we were busy busy busy.

I can't tell you how many cadets we saw in Walmart, and at the local movie theater, at restaurants, etc.

As I recall, the Colorado St Fair is Labor Day w/e and great fun.
 
fencersmother said:
Garden of the Gods is great - and free, and you can all stretch your legs and relax while you see some great scenery. Good activity for Thursday morning?

Get there v early on Friday since you'll have a very full day and don't want to miss any of it.

For the Football games, first go to Thudgate! And, we buy only the $5 tickets (or maybe they're $10, but the cheapest available). As I've said before (and mean no offense)... duh - it's not STEELER FOOTBALL! AF always wins. YAYAYAY! $5 t-shirts available at the game so everyone gets a great and relatively cheap souvenir. Rent the seat back for $5 - worth every penny.

After the game, your 4* will be excused but will have to wear the uniform all around. there are all sorts of interesting things to do in the area, most of which are not too expensive and accommodate families with members of all ages.

Some cadets like to take some time in your hotel and just sleep the days away. Mine did not and we were busy busy busy.

I can't tell you how many cadets we saw in Walmart, and at the local movie theater, at restaurants, etc.

As I recall, the Colorado St Fair is Labor Day w/e and great fun.
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Thank you!
 
fencersmother said:
MIKE: You'll miss me at thudgate this year! I'll be watching my son fly in Pensacola! Or DelRio! ;)

OP: GO TO PARENTS WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can't say it strongly enough. Go Thursday, leave Tuesday, if at all possible. You'll never regret it.

Some wonderful parents whom we met through this site took care of my twins on A-Day, and I think their Sponsor Mom and Dad (who are living saints on Earth, for sure!) also came over. Have your phone charged up so you can talk, and lots of tissues nearby to catch those tears!
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We are planning to arrive Wednesday to give ourselves Thursday to get over jetlag.

Our cadets have to be back by 7pm Monday right? The only nonstop (and cheapest) flights out of Denver for us are at 8:45pm. So we could feasibly drop our cadet off around 5pm or so and make a flight Monday night correct?
 
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Not sure what traffic will be like to Denver Monday night, but NLT 5pm dropoff would probably work.

Manitou Springs is a quaint little town to walk around, go to penny arcade, taste the different springs waters.

After BCT your DS will let you know if he'll want to shop for stuff, stay in hotel, go see some things, get out of town. While that doesn't lend itself to much planning ahead of time, we usually let our DS lead us to what he wants to do.
 
You MIGHT be able to make that Monday night flight. Personally, I spent every single second w our sons, not willing to give up even those two hours. :smile:

On the Tuesday afterward, we always found things we wanted to do but didn't have time for while our cadets were with us. The visitors center has great stuff (bring TONS of money. Join AOG and get 20% off) in it and a short movie and interesting displays. Also, there are some things to see in Colorado Springs which you might like to do with your family: Olympic Training Center, the Mansion at Manitou Springs (free for your cadets in uniform if they want to go, and really interesting), even Cliff Dwellings, and cave tours. Of course, your cadet might want to go too, but these places have no lines or crowds when they're back in school.

Denver has the Mint - and I've heard they have professional sports teams (but really, who cares? It's not STEELER FOOTBALL.).
 
Proud mom 2016 said:
You all convinced us...we're all coming. Most expensive weekend we've ever spent but I have no doubt it'll be worth it.

We're flying in on Wednesday to get over jetlag since we are coming from overseas. Anyone have some do not miss attractions to recommend...we'll have 8 and 10 year old girls as well as our cadet so some more little girl friendly activities for Thursday would be great.
Click to expand...

You won't regret coming to Parents Weekend--so much fun and tons of things to do. Here are a couple more thoughts for activities for your girls--the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is close by--very fun, we loved walking through Manitou Springs and visiting all the unique shops like greentrees mentioned, if your daughters are interested in sports the US Olympic Training facility is in Colorado Springs and offers tours, Cave of the Winds (if you don't mind a zigzag, crazy drive around a mountain side to get there!) was interesting. When you get to the hotel Thursday, there will probably be tons of info about other activities that you could do. Or Google Colorado Springs tourism and you can get more details ahead of time.

Concerning dropping your cadet off on Monday, 5 pm should be OK to make an 8:45 flight. Denver is typically about an hour, with rush hour traffic that might take longer. Remember for anything involving the Academy on PW, whether its arriving for classes Friday, going to the football game, or dropping off your cadet, traffic on 25 into the Academy and then getting past the security checkpoints will be heavy with all those parents in town. And the closer it is to the starting time the worse it will get. We preferred to arrive early and not stress about missing anything.
 
I was remembering other "hot spots" around COS. Rodeo Hall of Fame comes to mind if you're a horsey/bronco family. :)

You may meet so many people in your hotel breakfast room who are also parents. A simple "hello" can lead to a lifelong friendship - it did for us, though "lifelong" might be outside the actual truth. Still, we met so many wonderful folks, from every conceivable walk of life, who are just so proud of their fantastic sons and daughters. All the deal-breakers we sometimes experience in our everyday lives disappear: politics, religions, whether or not you are just an avid or a rabid Steeler Football fan...

As we prepare for the Graduation Trip, we are thinking back on our Orientation weekend (they don't still have those? That's such a shame!), and our four trips out for Parents Weekend. Happy happy memories - (even if we're still paying off the last one!)
 
AFAYahoo said:
You won't regret coming to Parents Weekend--so much fun and tons of things to do. Here are a couple more thoughts for activities for your girls--the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is close by--very fun, we loved walking through Manitou Springs and visiting all the unique shops like greentrees mentioned, if your daughters are interested in sports the US Olympic Training facility is in Colorado Springs and offers tours, Cave of the Winds (if you don't mind a zigzag, crazy drive around a mountain side to get there!) was interesting. When you get to the hotel Thursday, there will probably be tons of info about other activities that you could do. Or Google Colorado Springs tourism and you can get more details ahead of time.

Concerning dropping your cadet off on Monday, 5 pm should be OK to make an 8:45 flight. Denver is typically about an hour, with rush hour traffic that might take longer. Remember for anything involving the Academy on PW, whether its arriving for classes Friday, going to the football game, or dropping off your cadet, traffic on 25 into the Academy and then getting past the security checkpoints will be heavy with all those parents in town. And the closer it is to the starting time the worse it will get. We preferred to arrive early and not stress about missing anything.
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You all keep prompting more questions..

Re getting on the Academy property...will having AD and AD Dep. military ID's make it any easier for us during PW?

We're still working on getting approval for dh to come at all...he'll only have been at his new base 2 months before we want to leave again which is why we don't want to take too many days. Even with leaving Monday night we won't arrive back "home" until Tuesday.
 
Your cadet will get you a parking pass (or, maybe for 4*s, USAFA sends it to the parents?), and we have never had any trouble with just our regular drivers license i.d. parking is free but prepare for TONS of walking, even if you take the shuttle buses.

And if you're not acclimated to the higher altitude, beware the shortness of breath and headache. I was surprised by it the first time we were in CO. "Thin air" indeed.
 
fencersmother said:
Your cadet will get you a parking pass (or, maybe for 4*s, USAFA sends it to the parents?), and we have never had any trouble with just our regular drivers license i.d. parking is free but prepare for TONS of walking, even if you take the shuttle buses.

And if you're not acclimated to the higher altitude, beware the shortness of breath and headache. I was surprised by it the first time we were in CO. "Thin air" indeed.
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^^^^^^Great advice. Also, drink plenty of water. It is arid up there.
 
Proud mom 2016 said:
You all keep prompting more questions..

Re getting on the Academy property...will having AD and AD Dep. military ID's make it any easier for us during PW?

We're still working on getting approval for dh to come at all...he'll only have been at his new base 2 months before we want to leave again which is why we don't want to take too many days. Even with leaving Monday night we won't arrive back "home" until Tuesday.
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I can't say for sure about the AD military ID making anything easier for PW, but I think its more a matter of the sheer number of people trying to enter or leave the academy rather than the type of ID that makes things take a long time. Parents of all 4 classes will be there (not just freshmen like at In processing) and I think everyone had to enter thru the North Gate for Friday classes. Some cars get randomly inspected (pop the trunk etc) but everyone in the car has to show ID. Saturday for the game we could enter through the south gate. I believe the parking pass was something we accessed online after registering for PW and printed at home.

We can't take any more days off work either (I work for an elementary school and we had just started the year so I felt a bit guilty leaving last year) so we drop our son at the Academy late Monday afternoon to make an evening flight home. There will be plenty of people in the same boat.
 
Having DOD ID card (AD, ret, dep, or even civilian DOD) will allow you to enter through either North or South Gate.

Parking passes for 4* are mailed with a PW brochure; upperclassmen print the pass out from an email sent to them.
 
** Greentrees... I think you're right about the upperclassmen printing them out, etc.... If they are not MY offspring. :rolleyes:
 
That's great that a DoD ID will let you enter through the south gate--that's got to be a great time saver.

Last year, we got nothing in the mail about PW. There was a link to all Parents Weekend info on the usafa.edu website. They asked parents to register, but it was optional. Registering generated an e-mail with tons of info, although most of it was online as well (and is actually still there if you want to look at it Proud Mom 2016 and get an idea of some of the activities and info about the weekend). We did print the parking pass at home (listed under Security Procedures), it had to be displayed on the dash so we just left it there all weekend as we came back to the AFA on Sunday for a quick visit, my son set up his new printer and dropped off some things we bought at the grocery store.

Proud Mom 2016, I hope it works out for your husband to come. Its a great family weekend.
 
I forgot to mention one thing about the football games that really made us mad: you have to pay to print at home, or pick up tickets at will call, or have them mailed to you - and since we get the cheapest tickets, the price to print at home was equal to the cost of the tickets. Ridiculous! And annoying.

That's really about the only thing that really irked us.
 
Does anyone know if cadets can have cell phones during the academic year? Do they bring their own? How is the reception at USAFA? Any cell carrier better than another?

I know they can't have one during BCT, but I haven't seen anything about cell phone restrictions yet in the packets my DS received.

Thanks!
 
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