Dad is retiring this month, eighteen years after he followed Tim and I to the Rogue Valley and started working at
Providence Cancer Center, and I wanted the little Ws see what he does for a living before he's no longer doing it. Some had visited his workplace when we lived down there, but they don't remember it, and some had never been there at all. We hadn't been down for a visit as a family in over six years, so it seemed like a good time for a quick trip.
We took off first thing Tuesday morning and this was my view from the passenger seat the whole way down.
We'd allowed time for rest tops and traffic problems on the way down, but it was smooth sailing the whole way and we had a little bit of time to kill before our first stop in Ashland. We decided to do a tour of homes and show the kids where we used to live.
I lived in three different units of this apartment complex over nine years, two roommates, one husband, and two kids. The upstairs unit in the background of this picture was our first home as a married couple and also where Devon was born. We lived on Iowa Street for a little over six years.
There was one year in the middle of my stint at the previous apartment complex, the year between college graduation and marriage, when I lived in this apartment on Walker Road with a roommate (one I'd lived with for a couple years in the other complex) and my brother.
Tim shared this apartment on Lincoln Street some other guys for two years, moving out when we got married.
This was such a whirlwind trip that our time was almost completely dedicated to family, but we did arrange ahead of time to pop in at my old workplace on their lunch break. My friend who I worked at the front desk with and two of the doctors were there. I'm thankful we were able to give them hugs, let them see the kids, and catch up a little bit on each other's lives. They were the best group of people to work with! I wish I'd thought to have Tim snap a picture of me with the three of them, but it didn't occur to me until later.
We headed to
Great American next, having Dad and Debra join us there for lunch. Dijon chicken pizza for the win! Dad asked the server to snap a picture on his phone.
We headed to Dad and Debra's after lunch and spent time visiting and playing
Watch Ya' Mouth. Next stop was Lithia Park to burn off some steam. Debra, Tim, and I hung out at the playground with Naomi and Tyler.
Dad, Silas, and Tyler went for a walk and came back with this picture taken in the spot Tim and I were married many years ago.
A quick shot of the kids on the bridge as we headed back to the cars ...
... as well as a few attempts at a family picture. The second two are fine, but Tyler's face in the first one cracks me up and I have no earthly idea what Tim is doing.
Ashley joined us for dinner, which included quite a bit of time spent with Dad and I beating Silas and Devon at a game that they couldn't figure out how to win.
Wednesday morning we did what we came to do, we visited Dad at work. We got to meet some co-workers I've interacted with on Facebook and heard lots of stories about, then he gave us a tour of the four main areas he works in. One is like a command station and we didn't get any pictures there, but here are some shots from the other areas where he's spent nearly two decades working as a radiation therapist. Room one was a
linear accelerator, where patients are treated.
Room two was another linear accelerator.
Room three was the
CT scanner, which you can't really see because most of the time was spent seeing how custom forms are made during patient simulations.
The staff made an informational video for new patients at one point and my dad, the fake patient for the project, had a custom mask made in the process. People always say we look alike (we do!), so I figured I'd try putting his face on. It's flattering, don't you think?
A quick group shot and then we left.
My view on the return trip was the same as it was the day before, but with the opposite side of the freeway in the background.
I'm grateful that we could coordinate everyone's schedules in such a way that the trip was able to happen and that the kids, who had a general concept of how Papa spends his days, got to see it up close and personal .
Photo credit: The pictures at Great American and of the big boys in the park are from my dad's camera. The third and fourth picture in the CT room, as well as the one of Dad and I, are from Tara Goffic.
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