It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks. Most importantly, Victoria graduated from college. I could not be prouder of her! Finishing her student teaching on Friday, December 17, she graduated with two bachelor degrees on Saturday the 18th. She received a degree in Music Education and one in Criminal Justice. She also sat for the Michigan teaching certificate earlier this month, and results are due in early January. College life is coming to a close, and a new phase in life is starting.
Western Michigan University had a beautiful ceremony. It was apparently not their first rodeo, as they had it all staged perfectly. The President was quite eloquent using many meaningful quotes; and, it was so interesting to watch the hooding of the doctorates. There were three graduation ceremonies that same day with the the different colleges having their time slot. Victoria was honored to be able to walk in two of them, but since the first was at 9am and the second at 3pm, she only walked with the music school at 3pm. That has been her passion and direction from the start. Unfortunately, each student only received four tickets, so in person attendance was limited. I felt pretty emotional and was in tears as they showed a video on the students journey there.
Following the ceremony, we had a small family and close friends dinner in the Garden Room at a lovely Italian restaurant called Pietro’s in Grand Rapids. It was a lovely way to celebrate her accomplishments! We are all so proud of her! She has worked very hard and is going to take a break before diving into the next chapter.
Clarice Journey Preparations
I’ve been watching the weather to see if I could stay for Christmas or not. I wanted to get Clarice out of town without driving through a bunch of snow and salt. We’ve had some snow and they have definitely salted. The day after a big snow event, I had to take her over to the dealer in town to see about some minor repairs. I had to wait over two months for the appointment! They could not recreate the issues and I have to say, I’m not as thrilled with these folks as the dealer in Rockford. So, I drove through salt for naught.
The weather had improved and we were expecting 50 degrees the two days leading up to Christmas! While I did get to stay for Christmas, it was really an extended preparation time for the exit. Making sure everything was ready, washed, packed, groceries brought into the house/RV, dog food packed, necessary paperwork in hand (taxes, passport, dog vaccine records, etc.), the rig dewinterized and water drinkable, cleaning the car to put into long term storage with a battery tender was all very time consuming and a lot of work. I even learned what teflon tape is!
Additionally, I cooked the Christmas eve dinner of leg of lamb, twice baked potatoes and asparagus. Very delicious! But, there was little time to just soak in the season. Victoria was also fighting off a cold, so she was not feeling the best.
Learning a Lesson
I had plugged in Clarice and turned the heat and fridge on the afternoon of the 22nd so she would be warmed up before I put water into her. Water in a rig in Michigan during December is pretty risky Since I was plugged in to the house, I used electric only for the heat to conserve the propane for the trip. All was going swimmingly well, and I put the water into her on the morning of the 24th and got the filtration system going. I was delighted that I would be able to have water! I also put some of the unopened items into the fridge that I had just bought.
However, when I got up and went out to put some more clothing items into Clarice on Christmas morning, she was cold inside and the fridge was warm! Oh NO! The circuit breaker had blown sometime that previous evening. Fortunately, the food did not need refrigeration since it had not been opened; and, most importantly, it was above freezing the night of the 24th. I got lucky! No bad damage! Lesson learned, always sleep in Clarice if there is any risk of damage. Since the temperature was going to fall over Christmas day into the uppers 20’s that night, I turned the furnace to a mix of propane and electric and slept in her so I would catch any issues.
Leaving and Merry Christmas!
All went well despite the 28 degree temperature at 5am; and, I left this morning after putting the final items into the van. Then while pulling out of the driveway, I got a tire pressure monitor warning! So, after getting gas, I put air into the tires; and, we hit the road about 9am. This was a little later than hoped, but it was a beautiful sunny day and I AM RETIRED! LOL.
Belated Merry Christmas to you all!