Spring 2019 Wrap-up

Corinne Family 3 Comments

Our “Spring 2019” RV trip (which really started on December 31, 2018) has come to an end. When we last posted, we were in Phoenix getting new decals put on the hood of the RV. Since leaving Phoenix, we have driven another 4000 miles. It was all about getting to where we had to be.

Our circuitous route this Spring. Scroll down to the bottom of this post for all our trip stats.

Destination Portland

Our first goal was to get to Portland, Oregon for Callie’s graduation. We had a few routes to choose from. There was still snow in some of the northern mountain passes, so we opted to head west first into California (thus avoiding said snowy mountain passes) and then northward into Oregon.

Traveling through the west side of the Cascade Mountains in Northern California and Southern Oregon. It is really pretty in that region. We will be back someday!

After four days of travel and another four days in Grants Pass, Oregon to catch our breath, we finally reached Portland and Callie. Then this began.

This is the inside of Callie’s local UHaul store. We “visited” it four times during our two weeks in Portland.

I have been remiss in mentioning that Callie got a post-doc position at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Yes, she is coming home! So it was time to help Callie pack up her apartment. We wanted to get as much packed up as possible before all the hoopla around graduation began.

Within four days, we had Callie living among boxes. I also went to town selling on Facebook’s Marketplace all the stuff she didn’t want to move (shout out to Brenda B. for letting me know of the Marketplace’s existence).

Dissertation Defense

The day arrived for Callie to present her research to her peers and defend her dissertation before her Thesis Committee. For the occasion, Janelle flew in from Texas and our friends Leola and Doug drove in from Michigan. (Mary Ellen and ONe joined us a few days later for graduation.)

The OHSU (Oregon Health and Science University) campus is intertwined with many hospitals on Marquam Hill Campus just west of Portland. We spotted this interesting sculpture outside the building that houses the Department of Behavioral Neuroscience. It seemed appropriate.
This is a notice I spotted on a bulletin board inviting people to Callie’s Dissertation Presentation.
Callie gave an excellent and understandable presentation.

After the presentation, Callie defended her research. We were allowed to sit quietly in the back of the room and listen, Not much of it made sense. After being questioned for 1 1/2 hours, we were all asked to leave the room (Callie included). About 15 minutes later, Callie was called back in and we heard “Congratulations!” She did it!!!! Callie successfully defended her dissertation. She had a few edits to do to her final paper, but that was expected.

It was now time to relax and have some fun.

Visiting Portland

It was Rose Festival time in Portland, so we all went out to International Rose Test Garden.

Hey Janelle, those aren’t roses.
A couple of grad students (also sisters) chilling out at the Rose Garden.
We made a stop at the Pittock Mansion. The grounds were a great place from which to see Mt. Hood! L to R – Janelle, Corinne, Callie, Leola, Doug
And since it’s right next door, we visited Portland’s Japanese Garden. It is truly beautiful.
We also got our D-Uber (Doug-Uber) to drive us downtown to Pioneer Courthouse Square, aka Portland’s Living Room. Because it was the Rose Festival, they had potted plants adorning the steps and the square.

Graduation from OHSU

It was time for the main event, Callie’s graduation and hooding from Oregon Health and Science University!

The procession into the Portland Convention Center. This is Callie followed by her advisor, Dr. Marina Guizetti. Dr. Guizetti is the researcher who made the move from Chicago to Portland 1.5 years into Callie’s graduate program and took Callie with her. It was an EXCELLENT move in all aspects!
This is a list of the Behavioral Neuroscience PhD candidates. Callie wins for the longest title.
Callie being hooded.
Presenting Dr. Calla Goeke! And that is one VERY PROUD Mom!
Sisters
This is the “hood” that Dr. Guizetti put on Callie.
From the program, “The inner lining of the hood represents the colors of the university that confers the degree. OHSU colors are light blue, dark green and white. The colored inside border indicates the academic discipline, dark blue for philosophy.”

Mad dash across the country

And that was that. Callie’s time in Portland was done. We all had to be somewhere else and it was time to hightail it out of Portland. The day after Callie’s graduation we picked up a UHaul trailer and loaded Callie’s worldly possessions into it. We also got a tow dolly to tow Callie’s car back to New York.

This is what our convoy looked like.
Callie’s car was behind the Jeep with Corinne or Callie driving.
The UHaul trailer was behind the RV with Jim driving.
We drove the 2726 miles in four days. It was EXHAUSTING! Here we are parked in our friend Mary Ellen’s driveway. We got back on a Saturday evening and didn’t even go over to the house that night. We spent a final night in the RV and tackled the unpacking process the next morning.

Trip Statistics

An end-of-a-trip blog post isn’t complete without some trip statistics.

Days away159 days or 23 weeks
Total campground fees$4502
Average campground cost per night$28.32 (higher than usual due to our needing to be near big cities at times)
Number of nights FREE44 (BLM Land, Truck stops, etc)
Number of unique locations we parked overnight at (including freebies)44
Miles driven in the RV11318 with 135 hours of driving time
Miles driven in the Jeep7278 driving plus another 8158 being towed behind the RV
Total fuel cost$3905
Number of RV diesel fill ups18
Cheapest diesel fuel$2.48 – Utah
Priciest diesel fuel$4.11 – California
Number of states19
Number of zip codes36
We filled our white board twice with zip codes on this trip. Having the zip code handy is the easiest way to investigate the weather, location of TV towers, location of cell phone towers, etc.

That wraps it up. We are now home for six months. Jim is going to have both knees replaced (one at a time) starting next week. After this massively long trip, I’m ready to sit still for a while. But I am sure come January “Hitch-Itch” (the desire to hitch up the RV and see the world) will set in once again.

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3 thoughts on “Spring 2019 Wrap-up”

  1. dominiquefeather

    Wow!!! Those statistics boggle my mind!!! Guess it’s time for some rest — except for Jim who has a big job ahead of him. Hope all goes well with the procedure.

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