We left our last campsite a few minutes ago… laundry is caught up, most of the camping supplies are somewhat organized and ready for storage or travel back to Switzerland, and we met a sweet couple last evening who are considering a move to Charlotte, NC. Best of luck to them!

For those who do not know the entire story I will try to give a quick overview…

Todd was granted a sabbatical for this year from his firm and we decided this was the perfect opportunity for a cross-country trip we had been talking about for a few years. I was not finished with my research as we began planning, but I told my chairperson that I had to finish and graduate in May. We started planning the trip as if I had defended my dissertation already and I worked every day between December to March to feel close enough to defend by April 15, 2022. My committee and I felt confident enough by February 28, 2022 to schedule the defense for April 1, 2022. This kept the SwissHikingDuo on track for sabbatical to go as planned.

We flew into Washington, DC on May 4th and turned right around to fly to Chicago with Todd‘s parents for graduation on May 6, 2022. I was chosen to carry the banner for the school of education and also shared the occasion with 2 NBA coaches who also earned their doctorate degrees on the same day from Concordia University-Chicago!

From Chicago we went to Virginia Beach, VA for a week and then to NC, TN, AR, OK, KS, CO, UT, Vegas, CA, OR, WA, ID, MT, WY, SD, WI, MN, IL, IN, drove through OH and KY to VA. These are all of the camping and sightseeing states we visited this trip.

We have a new goal for a future trip to document… 50 capitals in 50 days. This will take some planning, but we are up for the challenge.

Deb now has work to do. Whether writing, teaching, or something else, she is ready to move from student researcher to helper. Look for future updates on that plan. And as stated earlier, we will post more photos.