On the Road with Pat: Iowa to Oregon to Iowa Express!

Remembering Mavis/Mom/Grandma/GeeGee

We had always planned to be in Eugene during late Summer (parts of August/September) after our stay in Iowa was up. On tap, once we managed to pry ourselves away from the two grandsons… oh and their parents as well… was a semi-leisurely sojourn up through the Northern parts of the Western United States, followed by a leisurely stroll through the best of what Oregon has to offer before actually arriving in Eugene a couple weeks after leaving Iowa. Okay, throw those plans OUT THE WINDOW!

What happened instead was a mad dash as straight as we could go from Des Moines to Eugene in late July, this prompted by news of Lanie’s Mom, Mavis, being admitted to River Bend Hospital in Eugene with some serious health issues. We hesitated only slightly before mutually deciding to go as fast as we possibly could to Eugene, leaving basically as soon as we could. So, on July 27^th, a Monday, we set off for Eugene in the early morning hours on a pace we, as retired folks, had not previously envisioned.

The trip West basically went like this:

Monday – 625 miles from Des Moines, Iowa area to Cheyenne, Wyoming. This was a quick run through a whole bunch of corn, followed by an equally quick setup in the town famous for its Rodeo. We didn’t pause long to soak up the ambience of either corn or rodeo. By the way, this was a new one day distance record for us while traveling with the 5^th Wheel.

We must be in Iowa... or Nebraska!

Tuesday-630 miles from Cheyenne to Twin Falls, Idaho. Throw out that distance record from the day before. We set a new one on this day as we dashed through Wyoming, passing more antelope than people, dipped down into Northern Utah, then up into South Central Idaho. Not as much corn on the agenda today, just a lot of fast driving on wide open Western Freeways.

Wednesday- 575 miles from Twin Falls to Eugene. This was the “short” day, though with much of it off the Freeway. We hightailed it through the rest of Idaho, then set off for Burns by way of the “world famous” (?) Drinkwater and StinkingWater passes, before heading across the Eastern Oregon sagebrush to Bend, Sisters and on up through the stunningly beautiful Oregon Cascades (yes, Folks, I admit I’m biased, but to me this is the most beautiful State in the Country), then down into the Great Willamette Valley to Eugene.

On the Road West in Idaho... is that a grain silo right in our path?

For the record (it’s the Accountant in me), we had covered, over two nights and three days, a total of 1830 miles in 32 hours of road time. That’s an average of 57 mph, counting all stops for meals, bathrooms, and fuel (Bertha’s a hungry girl while hauling). And, not to be discounted, we, or rather Lanie, at the wheel at the time, set a family one hour speed record by averaging 73 mph on a stretch of flat, fast freeway in Idaho Wednesday morning. In a word, we were hauling!

Home Again at Deerwood RV Park, Eugene

We got there just in time, Mavis was not improving, would eventually be released from the hospital into a rehab facility, but would not make it back to her apartment. We sent the word out to our daughters (and sons-in-law), not really expecting that they could or would make the supreme sacrifice on such short notice, to have one last visit with their Grandma. But come they did, showing great admiration and love for their Grandma in the process. Emily and Trevor booked last minute flights at great personal cost from Phoenix to Eugene, and arrived late Friday, August 7^th. Sara and Drew and Jonah and Isaac (At 3 months, on his very first airplane trip) decided to head West as well late Friday afternoon, and theirs was an odyssey that went something like this (making our three day dash from Iowa to Oregon look somewhat leisurely by comparison): 1) 200 mile drive from Des Moines to Kansas City, 2) a flight from there to Portland via one stop in Denver, 3) then an early morning drive down to Eugene, arriving around 3 AM on Saturday, August 8^th.

"Take us to GeeGee, Please, PRONTO!"

Daddy and his boys try to rest on the long plane trip to Eugene

By late morning that day, everyone in our immediate family, plus Elaine’s two brothers and one sister-in-law, were at Mavis’ bedside at the West Eugene rehab facility. She kind of waited until everyone was there before passing away peacefully near Noon, exactly one month before her 88^th birthday.

Emily and Trevor say Goodbye to her Grandma

Isaac says Hello.. and Goodbye.. to GeeGee

Jonah and GeeGee (her preferred name as Great Grandmother to he and his little brother) had bonded on first sight nearly two years before; and, before and after all of the trips to Eugene for her passing, he frequently mentioned “going to GeeGee’s”… this while often packing a wagon, play truck, whatever he could find really, full of stuff to take to “GeeGee’s”. During those final moments, Jonah looked a little sad at seeing GeeGee so frail and unresponsive, and offered that GeeGee had an “ouchie”. After she passed, he was re-assured by his Grandma and Mom that her “ouchies were all gone now”. As for Isaac it was a first meeting and a goodbye all at once with his GeeGee.

Jonah's Wagon packed with essential items for visiting his GeeGee

We are so glad that all our immediate family was able to come. As it was with my Mom a year and a half earlier, Mavis/Grandma/GeeGee’s passing was sad; but Lanie and I both think it was her time and that she was comforted knowing that all of her immediate family was with her at the time she left this World for a better place.

Isaac meets his Auntie Em (Emily)

And his Uncle Trevor

We laid Mavis/Mom/GeeGee to rest in Redmond, Oregon, her hometown, later in August, and, in what spare time we had, Lanie and I played catch-up with Eugene connections, some of which were put aside/delayed while we tended to “Mom” matters during much of the first part of August. We did manage to squeeze in a good chunk of quality time, at lunches and elsewhere, with work acquaintances and other dear friends; but could easily have spent more time there.

Two of Mavis's bridesmaids from her 1949 marriage were there in Redmond to say their goodbye's

Mavis's 3 kids in Redmond, OR

"Self Fulfilling Prophecy" at Off the Waffle, Eugene, OR - my favorite

Except for the fact that we both decided we needed to go back to Iowa as soon as possible by the time early September rolled around. As with Iowa in late July, this was not our original intent. We had planned a leisurely jaunt down into Southern Oregon wine country, then a trip down the Southern Oregon and Northern California coasts to Napa Valley, where we would meet up with dear friends, Connie and Addison, for a one week wine tasting/SF excursion, before continuing on to Yosemite, Death Valley, Vegas, and finally a return to our new home (away from “home”) in Tempe, Arizona in early October.

Big Sky Country along I90 in Montana, enroute to Iowa

What changed all that was a decision to help Sara and our two grandsons while Drew was away on work business for two weeks in mid-September. So off we went on Sunday, September 6 on a slightly less frantic trek (than the one a month earlier going the opposite direction) back to Iowa. First stop, Spokane, then Billings, Montana, a 3^rd day traveling to Kennebec, South Dakota, and finishing up a 4^th day by continuing on to the DesMoines area; that was (the Accountant in me again) 2,080 miles in 35 hours of road time, averaging 59 mph, pretty much all of it on freeway. We stayed for the rest of September, enjoying a warm, dry late summer and early fall in the heart of the Midwest before heading out on the road again in late September.

Sara and Isaac

Iowa fields in early Fall

Half a Pork Tenderloin - Iowans swear by it, breaded and huge - I call it merely overcooked, dried out pork, but then, what do I know about these things?

We have found through all of this that 1) Family is of utmost importance; and 2) Traveling gets in your blood. The two together, family and travel, are quite a combination. Speaking of which, as I write this we are once again traveling, on our way to our present home in Tempe, AZ, and a re-union with Emily and Trevor, who we left behind in early April, and have only seen briefly (in early August in Eugene) since. Then, who knows?... maybe a trip (flying this time) to Mexico… okay, that’s already in the works, so not a “maybe” any longer; before settling in (sort of) at our house in Tempe. Stay tuned for further adventures.