It felt like move-in day for hundreds of students at the University of South Dakota.
Coyote Village re-opened at 7:30 a.m. on Thursday after officials believe a frozen water pipe broke, shutting down the residence hall for three days.
More than 200 of students lived in hotel rooms and some stayed with friends during the shutdown. But after an interesting week, it felt good to get back home and stay there.
"You have no idea. It's been such a stress having to get to classes, back to the Holiday Inn. It's quite a distance," freshman Madeline Frank said.
Her roommate, Hunter Wilkes, said it was not an all bad experience.
"They did have shuttles and they helped us get around, so it was nice of them," Wilkes said.
However, the homecoming was not without a few surprises. The power has been off since Monday night, which made opening the refrigerator a tad frightening.
"Yuck, yuck. I don't want to touch any of it," the girls said as they slowly opened the door.
In all, 500 students were evacuated Monday night. USD officials said the flooding was minimal and only affected certain rooms on the first floor.
Students walked back in all morning; armed with the suitcases they were allowed to pack with whatever they needed days earlier. Even though the building opened in 2010, sophomore Ethan Conrad is not surprised a relatively new pipe burst in during the coldest winter in years.
"Compared to my freshman year, last year, walking around in shorts. This is a lot different," Conrad said.
There were still a few cleaning crews inside, but for students everything was pretty much back to normal.
As for Frank and Wilkes, they are ready for a few uneventful and quiet days at home.
"Oh, I hope it doesn't happen again at all. That would be a pain. It's definitely been an experience," Frank said.