Farmer's markets, friends and USAA

Another glorious day in the Pacific Northwest! I went to an amazing Farmer's Market with two new friends from work today. Gotta love farmer's market's the PNW: in addition to the assorted fruit, vegetable and craft stands, this market offered great Indian, German, Italian, Japanese and Mexican cuisine....all to the background of live jazz music! It was great! I purchased fresh jam, asparagus, apples that the grower let us try first, and lovely hand cream (very necessary for a job in which you wash your hands a hundred times a shift!). My friends and I then ambled down the block to a local wine store owned by a husband and wife team who were able to talk knowledgeably about every kind of wine we had questions about!  It was so much fun!

 On my way back from the farmer's market, I stopped at the only Barne's and Noble I could find in Tacoma and bought not one but TWO books as an early birthday present. I was walking jauntily along back to my car when I realized that I didn't have my keys. Not even that I couldn't find them in my purse, which is a pretty regular occurence, but that they were just not THERE. I rushed back to the Fit and saw the keys, sitting on my driver's side seat, glinting merrily in the sunlight. Bastards! Luckily, I remembered that my USAA auto insurance comes with free roadside assistance, which I called (because I at least had my phone in my purse!). Ten minutes and one chocolate cookie mocha frappacino later, the unlocker person was there and I was back on my way! Woohoo!!

  I'm now sitting on the sunny lawn of my landlady's house, enjoying the remainder of the afternoon. After I finish this, I'm going to start reading my new book by Julian Fellowes, who created Downton Abbey!! So although I'm in DA withdrawal as they film season 3 in the UK, I'm ensconced in another of Mr. Fellowes' delightful creations!

Life is good!

Ahh.....

I'm off! I've been working quite a lot, mostly thanks to the crazy start-up schedule, but now I've some time to relax and reflect and cook my meals for the next week. On the menu: roasted carrots, potatoes and mushrooms, and also garlic-herb baked chicken with broccoli.

 It's a rainy, sleepy day here in the Pacific Northwest, and I'm happy to be relaxing into it. I'm so happy with this ER. It's very well-run, well-staffed and functional. In fact, I've never worked in such a functional ER. There is help when codes come in, there is help when you're overwhelmed with sick patients, the techs are AMAZING and professional- I actually got the stink-eye from one tech when I was washing a patient's laceration out. She said, "I was just coming in here to do that! You don't have to do that!" in an offended, slightly aghast tone. I apologized (really!?) and left to do something else....amazing. The nurses have been really welcoming and I'm going to a farmer's market in Tacoma tomorrow with a group of them. All in all, the only thing that is hard is switching back to days for my days off, but that's even getting to be okay.

  Tacoma is a lovely little city, and I like Puyallup too. Even if they don't have an Ann Taylor Loft. Which is, frankly, kind of shocking. I am thinking more and more seriously about staying in this area and making this home. It feels good to be here, and I'm happy with the people and the place. I think I'll make the move toward Seattle from Tacoma, but this is a good way-station. The Dog is settling in to life as a pack dog, and starting to relish her dog friends here at Anita's house.

 Overall, life is just very pleasant right now. I'm so glad I took this chance to come West!

Maybe Thoreau was wrong....

Maybe I shouldn't "Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." Maybe I should go to work grumpily and slightly irritated, because the bar was pretty darn low, and I had a fun night. So take that, super positive author/philosophe! :P

Appreciation and other musings

I have had a fabulous day off. One of the things I like about intense 12-hour shifts is that I tend to REALLY appreciate and enjoy my free days. Today was no exception. Today was sunny, clear, and 75 degrees. In other words, perfect weather. And I spent the day the exact way I wanted to spend it. I got a great haircut, browsed a bookstore for a few hours, found Trader Joes (thanks to Younger Brother 1!), walked the Dog, broiled steak and made a fabulous salad. Now I'm on the Internet, but I'm also reading my new book, thanks to B and N. I have had a marvelous day. I read a quote recently that said that those who sacrifice much, whether professionally, personally, physically or all of the above tend to be more appreciative of the blessings they've been given. I don't know if that is true, but I know that my job as an ER nurse, single, in her early thirties, and traveling the country courtesy a company paying me for the pleasure, has made me so thankful for my life. My life has been a gift. I see suffering and pain and can help those who hurt. I love an area of the country and can go there, thanks to my job. I'm healthy, and feel the euphoria and security in knowing my body can not only handle a tough run, but likes it. I'm loved by people who are truly remarkable, and who honor me with their love. I see a beautiful day, and am blessed enough to gasp with awe that I can experience it.  If my life isn't lucky and blessed, then what is? And what is a higher power/God/gods/Allah/ but being able to respond to other humans in a loving way and loving and appreciating the life one has been given?

Everybody's Working On The Weekend....

Hooray! It's Monday afternoon and I'm off! It's my Friday! I had my first shifts at the ED here in Washington, and they were GREAT! The ER is really well run and the staff (RNs, MDs and techs) are professional and fun to work with. I had so much trepidation about working nights, but the past three days have allayed those fears!

 Last night was particularly fun. I was a float nurse with two others, one of whom is a friend I worked with in Virginia, and we had a very low patient census, meaning the number of patients in the department was lower than had been projected by staffing/scheduling. Sunday nights are usually really busy- some really sick people and some people that, as one nurse put it, "tore themselves up over the weekend and now would like to take Monday as a Day of Rest....and want a note from the ED to prove it!" Anyway, the charge RN asked us at 2:30am if we'd like to go home, which we did! My friend, M, asked if we wanted to go to the casino for a bit and we were all up for the adventure, mostly because we'd expected to be there another 5 hours and had just had coffee.

 I have never been to a casino before, and it was a particularly surreal experience at 3 in the morning! The parking lot was full of cars, and the lights from outside were brighter than daylight. We were in our scrubs, which I thought would seem strange, but when I saw how some of the other patrons were dressed, I realized that we were far from abnormal. At least we were wearing clothes that should be worn in public. I walked past one lady who was wearing essentially a skin tight swimsuit. With heels. And a body that perhaps would have benefited from clothes that were tailored to her large frame, rather than said polyester/rayon swimsuit. On the other hand, she was winning more money than I did, so maybe it is her lucky outfit! :P

 We played the slots, and after an hour, the twenty dollars that I had allotted for the Casino Adventure was gone, my friend A's money was gone, and M was up sixty bucks! We decided to leave and get some food at the casino deli, but as we walked past the blackjack table, M suggested we take her winnings, split them, and go play blackjack. She wouldn't take no for an answer, so we ambled over to the blackjack tables. I have seen blackjack on TV and movies, and thought I knew how to play, but I definitely did not have the niceties of blackjack etiquette down. Luckily, it was a slow night and the dealer was really nice about telling me what to do. We played for about an hour, and were hootin' and hollerin' and whooping it up, generally being loud and having fun. The dealers around us who didn't have any customers were laughing and smiling and yelling with us. People thought we were high rollers and kept coming by to see what all the commotion was about, but quickly left when they saw our dollar bets and realized we were just overly excited!

 We tired of blackjack around 4:30am, and the pit boss (I guess) came over and asked us if we'd like to have a comp card for food. He gave us each a ten dollar voucher and we feasted like queens on nachos, chicken strips and fries, and free cokes. It was SO FUN. We left after our food, which was actually pretty good, and I went to sleep around 6:15am with a smile on my face, and only down ten bucks thanks to the free food, which was a win for me! I'd rather have food than money under normal circumstances!

 I'm off the today and tomorrow and I am so happy to be able to enjoy the sun, but happy to have had our nocturnal casino adventure!

Game of Thrones

On the drive out here, I listened to George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones, Book One. It made for excellent listening material on the drive. You know that feeling when you HAVE to know what happens next, and you don't care about real life until you DO know? That's how I felt at the end of the first book. Riding that reading/endorphin high, I went to the University Bookstore at UW to buy the next three books. Sigh. Even though they're nice to read, so far the second and third books, (just finished the third now) were just okay. I'm becoming less interested in his writing and enjoying the story and more determined just to KNOW what happens. So I'm not really reading the books anymore, just skimming so I know what happens in the plot. I feel a little like I'm cheating, because it feels like when you fast-forward through a movie just to see the end, but so be it. I am invested enough that I want to know what happens, but not enough to really read. The skimming is still more fulfilling than just reading a plot summary, though!

 Sigh. It's only 10:16pm right now. Tonight is my "flip night" to get ready for night shifts that start Friday. I don't know how much longer I'm going to make it! I'm tired! I want to sleep!  It's amusing that when I was a kid, all I wanted to do was stay up later, and now that I'm older, I just want to sleep. :)

 Life continues to go really well here in Washington! I have a lot of night shifts ahead of me, but then two days off to hike, run and hang out with friends.  Hooray for my Washington sojourn!

Glorious Ranier

I'm here! Though Friday was rainy and cold, Saturday, Sunday and Monday have been full of warm sun and truly breath-taking views of Ranier from my little corner of Tacoma, Washington. Every day since the sun came out and the clouds left, I've had these moments of forgetting where I am, driving along, intent on my chores (I need a curtain rod....and then a measuring cup...and a bookshelf...and oh yeah, food!), stuck in my little world inside my head, and then seemingly out of nowhere, Ranier appears on the horizon. Well, actually, Ranier becomes the horizon. She is so prominent and heart-stoppingly, breath-takingly gorgeous and massive that she is a constant reminder of the beauty of the Pacific Northwest to me. It's also a good reminder of how fragile life is. Ranier, for all her beauty and majesty, is an active volcano, and if she were to erupt, the area in which I live, Tacoma/Puyallup, would be covered in minutes with mudflows. So even as she is a reminder of the beauty of life, so is she a reminder of its fragility.

   Yesterday the lady I rent from took The Dog and me on a lovely hike that wasn't even 15 minutes from the house. We drove to Swann Creek and hiked up the creek and onto the creek bluffs for about two hours. It was sunny and pleasant and we had all four dogs with us. I had first decided not to go, because I had "so much to do" (please see "Katie Stuck In Her Little World" from previous paragraph). Then I remembered that I'd chosen to come to this place to do just that kind of thing- hike! With my dog! I am so glad I was able to go. My landlady is a really nice woman and it was kind of her to take The Dog and me along.

 I had orientation today for my job. It was a standard hospital orientation, and I have three more days and then one day off and then three night shifts in a row. Sigh. At least I have 4 days off after the three in a row! I'm feeling some trepidation about the night shifts, but I also felt trepidation about crossing the country myself, and that worked out well.

 I'm looking forward to another great run tomorrow about more orientation. Life is good!

Arrival

I'm here! I made it to Seattle today, and am staying with my friends D and J and their dog, Beauty. Beauty is a sweet little bulldog...to people. She was FIERCE to The Dog. I've never seen The Dog back down from a female dog so quickly or a little puffball of a dog turn into an Alpha female so quickly! They've settled down, now. The Dog stays near to me and Beauty is pouting in the master bedroom.

 The trip to Washington state is at an end. I really enjoyed this trip and have mixed feelings about this portion of the adventure ending. I enjoyed my drive and my stops, I liked seeing the country and admiring its beauty, as well as the feeling of freedom I had while driving with just myself and The Dog.

 But here I am, in Washington, and am so glad to be here, too. I can hardly believe I get to be here for three months. I've dreamed of being back here so long, it doesn't seem real that I'm here.

 After I arrived, I went to pizza with my friend C. at an old haunt on the Ave called Pagliacci's. We walked around the UW neighborhood and talked about how our lives have changed in the last ten years. Life has been so good to me. I'm so lucky to be where I am, and I'm grateful. I'm looking forward to Monday, starting at the new hospital and seeing how I like travel nursing....I'm already dreaming of my next trip....good sign, or a sign I need to live in the present? I'll let time answer that question. :)

Battles, Tickets and Running...

Well, I like Missoula, Montana! I came in the midst of a little rain storm. By the time I had unpacked my Hotel Things into the hotel room (a suitcase, a backpack and my purse), the sun was shining on the mountains that surround the city and it was time for a run. The Dog and I ran for a half hour on their River Trail system and into the downtown area near the university, where I spied the Italian restaurant that I went to for dinner. It was a fabulous run, made even better by the INCREDIBLY courteous drivers! The first time, I was illegally crossing the street and TWO drivers stopped for me, which was a bit embarrassing but very nice. Toward the end of the run, I was waiting at a busy intersection that didn't have a light for the traffic to pass by. Instead, the traffic in both directions STOPPED and waited for The Dog and me to run across! Amazing!! I like this town!

 Today I stopped at the Little Bighorn Battlefield and stood on the hill that was Custer's Last Stand. As I stood there, feeling the wind sweep across my face as it traveled down the mountains into the river valley, I felt sad. We have such a great country, but I think that if I had been a Sioux or Arapaho, I also would've fought the invaders to maintain my way of life in a wild and beautiful land. The feeling of the battlefield was similar to what I'd felt at Normandy when I visited with my family. The sadness and loss felt by both the Native Americans and  the US soldiers was palpable. I was really glad to have stopped there, although I also have some kind of awkward pictures of me with a strange look on my face....it seemed wrong to smile at the site of a battle, but it seemed weird not to too....hence the strange look. I'll post them after tomorrow's journey on Facebook and you can see what I mean. :) Nonetheless, it was a really powerful place and I'm so glad I was able to experience it.

  I got a ticket in Montana, too. Sigh. I considered using the "I'm a nurse," excuse, which I hear works, but the officer that pulled me over looked like my high school track coach, and I WAS speeding, so I just apologized and was polite. The Dog, snarling and growling in the passenger seat (she does NOT like when people come to the driver's side window- she also hates drive through attendants!), did not help matters. Luckily, the officer had a dog too, and apologized for startling her. The Dog has some kind of weird power over people! Anyway, the ticket was forty dollars, which has to be mailed in, and it was a good reminder to slow down.

 I'm discovering the joys of living out of my car, too. I left my razor in South Dakota two days ago, and stopped at a Safeway after dinner tonight to go pick up a new one, when I remembered I HAD a razor in my bathroom rolling cart for the new apartment! Voila! Problem solved! The same thing happened today when I needed my running gear, which I thought I'd packed in my Hotel Things bag, but it was in my very large duffel bag, so I just had to pull it out! It sure looks like a messy way to live, but it works! :)

 Well, that's all for today. Tomorrow I'm going to be in Seattle!  I can't believe it! I can't wait! Thanks for reading along on the trip!

Sheridan, WY! I left Mitchell, SD a bit later than I'd planned, thanks to my travel-induced Alzheimers....in five minutes I'd lost my hands-free kit, then my phone and finally my sunglasses (VERY necessary in the West- no shade!). Luckily, they were all found (note the passive voice, as if I had nothing to do with this! ;) in the car. Where I'd left them. Sigh.

 Today was a quick trip through South Dakota and Wyoming, punctuated by one really amazing visit to Mount Rushmore. Wow. It is one of the few places that was more impressive in person than on TV. My first view was as my car climbed the mountains en route to the memorial at a curve in the road. I looked up and suddenly saw Mount Rushmore and gasped. I hurried on, took The Dog for a quick walk, and then walked on to the Mount Rushmore Memorial.
  The mountain itself is so big, and the memorial is mostly outdoors, viewing the Mount. The faces are almost unbelievably large and surprising compared with the equally large peaks around them. I took several pictures (see Facebook) and also went to the museum that detailed the creation of Mount Rushmore. Interestingly, the 1:12 scale carving that Gutzom Borglum, the creator and artist, first built took FOURTEEN YEARS to do, working from the mountain's dimensions. The actual creation took a total of 6 years over a 20 year period of starts and stops related to funding. Definitely a case of measure twice, cut once (literally). He had to change his dreams for what the memorial would look like as they blasted based on the geology of the area, too. I don't often find myself at a lack for words, but in trying to describe Mount Rushmore and how affecting and awesome I think it was, I am.

  I traveled on through SD and then Wyoming. I was planning on stopping in Gilette, WY today, but got there pretty quickly, thanks to 75mph speed limits, so trekked on to Sheridan, WY, where Kaci and I are hanging our hats tonight.

 Tomorrow is Missoula, MT. I'd like to get farther, the West isn't the East Coast, for sure. I went 50 miles today without sighting a town or gas station, and I know from experience that the hotel situation between Missoula and Kellogg, ID is about the same. :)

 I can't believe I'm almost there!

Day Three

  Yesterday was my second day of the drive, and I enjoyed it thoroughly! I awoke in downtown Columbus and ended the day with my friends A and S at their extremely comfortable and welcoming abode in Davenport, Iowa. S and I went to nursing school together, and she has always been an incredibly thoughtful person. I learned that first in nursing school, near the end of the year, when I had simply lost the ability to care about whether or not a poster presentation on Public Health that was due the next day was finished, or, for that matter, started. S, who I'd known, but not well, called me and announced that she was coming over with glue, letters, markers and ideas, and that I should be ready to finish my poster so we could graduate. We did finish it, amongst giggles and a newly forged friendship that has not weakened with the years (And I got an A. And graduated from nursing school. Thanks, S! :).

The Dog and I rolled up to the C. home in Davenport and were greeted by a smiling S. We lugged in my bag and backpack and I collapsed on their couch in A's "Man Cave." It was lovely. Then I brushed my teeth. Whenever I've been up for a long time, I want nothing so much as to brush the grit and grime off my teeth. It feels better than a shower sometimes, really! Then S and I went to our S-arranged MASSAGES and a lovely woman named Lindsey kneaded out my knots and kinks from the road. I fell asleep, but only drooled a little. :) Afterwards, thoroughly relaxed,  S and A took me out to a really nice Italian restaurant, and we each had great dinners. Then we all went home and went to bed. It was a perfect evening.

 This morning I woke up energized and ready to roll! After saying goodbye, The Dog and I got on the road around 7:30am. (Here come the random thoughts, per My  Consciousness During a Long Drive)::
1. We live in a really LARGE country. And in that country, the Middle Western States (Ohio, Indiana and Iowa) have the nicest and cleanest restrooms. As my aunt Grace says, "I never met a restroom I didn't like!!" Well, me either, and I think that qualifies me to speak on the subject. Every single one I visited in the Mid-West was clean and smelled fresh and had soap AND paper towels, whether a highway rest stop or a gas station. AND Iowa DOT rest stops have free wireless internet! Awesome!!

2. Des Moines, Iowa has the shiniest gold statehouse dome I have ever seen. Sorry, Charleston, WV (which I've also seen), but Des Moines has you hands down.

3. Iowa is such a pretty state, with rolling hills, rivers, creeks, gullies and washes, and so GREEN right now. My dad's family is from Iowa/Nebraska, and my mom is Irish, so the combination of the land that my great-grandmother was raised on and the many shades of green made me love Iowa (that, and the clean restrooms! ;). I think I could tolerate a travel stay in Des Moines. There wouldn't be much hiking, but there would be wonderful running!

4. Game of Thrones is a FABULOUS book to listen to across the country. I'm completely absorbed in the story, and can't wait to finish so I can watch the TV series. It's perfect because I can listen, completely engrossed in a description, and then pull off and walk The Dog and get gas, and then get right back to where I started. It isn't complex enough to require TOO much thought, but is interesting enough that I want to listen. I highly recommend it!

5. My Mom Is Better Than Siri. I initially planned on staying in Sioux Falls, SD today, but it wasn't a far enough drive. My mom called, I told her my quandary and she said she'd find me a place to stay. And isn't this a wonderful world: Kay, in Doha, Qatar, found a hotel for her daughter to stay at in South Dakota, US. And then ALSO explained how said daughter could easily see Mount Rushmore tomorrow. My mom (and the Internet, and the age we live in) is amazing!

6. (and final point for today!) I have wonderful friends and family. I've had some really nice calls, emails and texts from friends and family. Even though it is just physically Kaci and I, by the power of Facebook and my Droid, I feel enveloped in love and support. Thank you all more than I can say!!

7. (I lied about point 6) Kaci and I went through a really magnificent storm just before arriving in Mitchell tonight. I'm reading a book recommended by my cousin Linda called Isaac's Storm about the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the power of nature. Anyway, as Kaci and I  drive onto Interstate 90, we were met by a wall of black clouds that stretched at least 30 miles parallel to the interstate. I drove on with trepidation. In about 30 minutes, we were enveloped in a driving rain, with pellet sized hail pelting poor little Veronica Fiona, the Honda Fit. The storm was fast moving but lasted for 20 minutes as we drove though it, Kaci taking shelter behind my back (which was both adorable and wierd!).  In the West, you can see the actual front as it moves towards you, and it is impressive and terrifying. I admire the strength of the Native Americans and then settlers who called this land home, and their descendants who live here now. Nature is still something to be respected, and tonight I am in awe of her power.

 So tomorrow, Kaci and I are headed to Mount Rushmore and then to our waypoint of Gillette, Wyoming. The travels and adventure continues! Thanks for being there!

Love,
KT