For a degree in art education and a Christian community, Violet’s search for schools reached beyond Oregon’s borders. We spent two consecutive weekends visiting our neighboring states and got a glimpse of where Violet could be spending four years soon.

Washington

We made two stops: Whitworth in Spokane and Central Washington University (CWU) in Ellensburg, which was Jenni’s and Jim’s (Jenni’s dad) alma mater.

October had been surprisingly dry and warm, so we took a chance and tent-and-van camped for our lodging. It worked out well and lowered the travel costs. Violet got the van to herself while Jenni and I enjoyed our three-person tent we purchased this year.

Whitworth University

Whitworth’s campus was cozy with fall colors complementing the brick buildings.

Their senior preview day gave us plenty of time to talk to people, visit the dorms, and tour the grounds. We got to tour the art building and met with several instructors.

From there, we drove a few hours to Ellensburg for the night and enjoyed a beautiful sunset en route.

Central Washington University

The next day at CWU was a contrast to Whitworth in that the student population is around four times more–understandably since CWU is the public state university.

It felt less unique and personalized, but all the people we talked to were helpful.

California

Violet’s top two choices were in the Los Angeles area. San Diego wasn’t too far so we added a third school to visit over two days.

In hindsight, we should have only done one school visit a day to talk to people and see the campus. We likely spent more hours on the road than on campuses.

Biola University

Our first stop was Biola (Bible Institute of Los Angeles) University, which showcased very high-end buildings that were very new and modern. Their grounds had eucalyptus trees and great facilities for aspiring filmmakers.

Their library also included an impressive exhibit of the dead sea scrolls, which we learned more about it the previous weekend’s sermon at Cedar Mill Bible Church.

I appreciated that their tour setup included a group of students who would mingle with the tour group. Most tours we’ve had included only one or two students, and the talking was mostly scripted at specific locations on the campus.

Sadly, we couldn’t stay for the entire tour and lunch as we needed to drive to the second campus visit a few hours away in San Diego.

Point Loma Nazarene University

Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) greeted us with impressive views of the ocean, warm temperatures that stayed steady, and just a touch of humidity.

The campus is confined to its peninsula and housed a diverse set of architecture. The art building was under construction unfortunately.

Meeting Evyn

Violet has found friends all around through her online art community. One of those friends lived in San Diego, so she got to spend in-person time with Evyn at a beach and geeked out on each other’s art during dinner. Jenni enjoyed boogie boarding in the warm ocean waters of San Diego.

California Baptist University

Violet’s first choice, California Baptist University (CBU), located east of Los Angeles in Riverside, felt bigger than it seemed. Then again, since it’s in Los Angeles, California, their small is probably large in Oregon.

This had the feel of CWU with good crowd of students shuttling on walkways between classes. We sat through their chapel service, several information sessions, and bounced around their campus life fair before a lunch break in their cafeteria.

Unnecessary Cold Showers

While we were in Los Angeles, we stayed in a cabin of a RV campground. On the first night, Violet shrieked because the shower was cold. Jenni courageously followed with yelps.

When I took a shower after, they were puzzled to hear me laughing, but figured it was my coping mechanism to the cold shower.

Instead, I was laughing because I followed my curiosity and turned the shower faucet handle to the opposite side. I enjoyed a hot shower.

To their credit, the faucet was mislabeled: cold was hot and hot was cold.

Meeting Reziah

On our two-day drive back home, we made a stop to visit my cousin Charlene and her husband David, who welcomed a baby boy named Reziah in July.

Drive the Distance

I was surprised that the long drives didn’t bother me as much as I thought they would. Jenni helped a lot by driving long sessions so I could watch a movie with Violet, practice our songs for Lovegood’s Christmas choir, or play some Marvel Snap.

The hours went by quicker than I expected and we got there and back safely–all 3,000+ miles of the west United States.