SO as a closure,thanks to everyone for their thoughts and ideas about the spongy brake pedal. - Vanpira is stopping again with normal pedal feel, and we made our run to Grant's Pass and back to Central CA without further incident :-)
For those who wondered, a 97 EVC with ABS does have a proportioning valve on the rear axle, and depressing that lever while pressure bleeding the rear brakes seemed to be part of the solution, coupled with bleeding 2cups of fluid at each rotor. The shop that did the work still asserts that wearing in the pads with aggressive braking to get them hot contributed to solving the issue, but I'm not impressed. There's a slight feeling of pulsing or vibration that makes me think they may have warped a rotor(or2) in the process of doing this :-/ Never a dull moment! Best wishes for us all and safe travels.
Peter Leinau & Vanpira, the 97 EVC
