Where has the time gone?

I feel like the last almost 3 weeks have flown by! Maybe because I've been so busy with work and seeing what's out there. The 4-10 hr days sometimes seem long when it's not that busy but it's a nice break with a 3 day weekend. It has allowed me to travel around without feeling rushed or too tired afterwards.

The first weekend after the football game I returned to Charlotte to visit with my friend, the OT traveler, for what was initially going to be a wild, well, sort of, wild weekend. It didn't turn out that way. I guess you could say we weren't as young as we used to be. I arrived in Charlotte around 5pm and met up with my friend Molly at her place. It was a little rainy which was par for the course for that day. We ended up going to an area known as NoDo which is a shortform for north downtown. It's supposed to be the artsy area with restaurants and small drinking establishments. We had a good meal and then went down the street to listen to some local music. It was fun but we were both exhausted by the time we got home about 1230am.

The next morning we slept in and then got on the road to the Lexington bbq festival, reportedly the best in the area. We both had a taste of NC bbq and it's very different than what I'm used to. The bbq sauce is more vinegar based rather than tomato based so it doesn't color the pork, it doesn't drip and get messy like the usual bbq sauce and there's none of the usual bbq taste to it. Honestly, it's really not to my liking. In addition, they give you the option of coleslaw with the meat...crazy, don't you think? There were several smaller stages and a grandstand for music. The highlight was the main concert where Lee Ann Womack was the featured performer, singing with acoustic guitar accompanionment, along with 3 other male performers. It actually was enjoyable..I think country music is beginning to grow on me!

We got home and had to take a nap. When we woke up, we barely had enough energy to force ourselves to get dressed to get something to eat. We drove to downtown which is actually uptown, can you say confusing? We ate at this Irish pub which had pretty good food. Since it was the Saturday before Halloween, there were costumed people running amuck which was quite hilarious. It was a fairly early night for us.

The next morning we woke up and went for a walk around her area, saw the Bank of America football stadium in the light of day, saw tailgaters whooping it up for that afternoon's game and sat on top of the world (actually a huge globe by the stadium). We had brunch at a nearby restaurant which was yummy and filling! We went back to her place and watched the Panthers game on tv. I left at halftime so that I would miss the stadium crowd leaving and to get home at a decent time to relax before going back to work the next day. What a weekend!

The following weekend I went overnight to Myrtle Beach, SC which is only 2 hrs away. I had a late start and figured I'd be there mid-afternoon. But noooo, I get caught up in a triathalon that is going on in Wilmington which is about halfway and backs up traffic for what seems like miles. I try and work my way around it, only to be led astray and after having found my way back I realized that if I had been patient I would have gotten back on the right track within a few hundred yards after detouring. I finally was on my way to SC and to the outlet mall! I figured while I was there I would take advantage of the mall and go Christmas shopping for my family as well as myself. As it turned out, I think I bought more for myself than for them. I spent so much time at the mall and because of my late arrival, I completely missed out on the Christmas show that I was interested in seeing. Oh, well!

The next day I spent some time on the beach in front of the place I was staying. It was such a beautiful day, sunny and warm in the 70s with the sun reflecting off the water. The beach here was different than on the west coast, particularly southern CA, because the sand grains seemed bigger and there were so many seashells. I was told later that the seashells, both complete and broken, were due to the many storms that pass by the area. It was so warm that I could have easily gotten a tan. As it was, I had to drive back to NC.

Last weekend I drove to Cedar Island, NC and took a 2.5h ferry ride to Ocracoke Island on the southern part of the Outer Banks. The island is small and most of the things to see are right off the ferry within 1-1.5 miles so I spent a little over an hour walking around and went right back on the next ferry to return to the mainland. A lot of people took their cars so that they could drive to the other end of the island north where you can ferry it to Cape Hatteras. I didn't do that because of the time factor and that the ferry between the Cape and the Island only runs a couple of times in the evening and I wouldn't have made the schedule. The ferry ride to the Island was wonderful, it was warm, sunny and of course, breezy. It wasn't crowded so I was able to sit up on the upper deck and enjoy the rays and catch up on some reading. I spent more time reading that day than I have the whole rest of the time in NC. How relaxing!

The next day I went to another outlet mall where I really did do some damage with Christmas shopping for everyone including myself. Again it was a warm and sunny day. I arrived just before noon and started out. Within a couple of hours and few dollars spent, I noticed people driving around to find a parking spot...the mall was getting crowded. There were plenty of sales going on and I was in spending heaven...however, my credit card was smoking and my bank account wasn't going to like it! Hey, you only live once and that's what credit's for anyways, right? Honestly, I'm glad I was able to find what I did and I didn't break the bank so it's all good.

How's your all's Christmas shopping going?

It's only 5 more weeks to go here in NC and then home for 2 weeks with the family. How excited am I?

Goooooo Panthers!

Well, last Sunday was my first ever pro football game! I took a bus trip sponsored by the Jacksonville, NC parks dept. It was very exciting. It began with an early wake-up so I could be on the bus at 6am...it's a good thing I only live 5 minutes from where the bus was picking us up. I slept most of the way as most sane people were doing since it was still dark out. We arrived there shortly before 11am so there was little time to kill. I just wandered around and then got to my seat early. There were plenty of tickets left over which the organizer sold to someone who then turned around to sell to someone else. Money makes the world go round! Fortunately, she kept one ticket to use as a spacer which my friend bought. Molly is another OT traveler who had just started an assignment in Charlotte and lo and behold she only lives a short distance away. It was great to see her and spend some time with her while watching the Panthers beat the Saints.

Our seats were in the nosebleed section but we could still see everything because of the design of the Bank of America stadium. However, you do miss a lot of the details that you get when watching the game on television, like the commentaries and the replays. The funny thing was that it was breezy and cool on the lower levels but once we got to the top there was very little breeze and it was sunny. Consequently, you freeze on the lower levels and bake at the top. I think I even got a sunburn on my forehead.

There were plenty of people tailgating..lots of bbqs and beer flowing in the parking lots. It was $20-30 to pay for parking near the stadium. People paid the money and were partying for hours before the 1p game. I hear in the south, people take the football very seriously, at all levels, even the tailgating!

NC so far

Well, I've been at the new job 2 weeks, that's already 1/6 of my time here. It was slow to begin with but it's picked up the last week. Don't get me wrong, I like it when it's busy since it makes the time go by so much faster. The other therapists are all very helpful and most are all fairly young. I would say that most of them are also married to someone in the military, either marine or navy. The paperwork is a little different, we dictate our evals, which is a little disconcerting to me as I like to see everything written down. I'm such a visual person that I have to get my thoughts down on paper before verbalizing them so it seems like twice the amount of work to finish up an eval. However, since I've had so many the last 2 weeks, I have gotten better at it. I also didn't need to buy so many shirts when I stopped at the outlet in MO. They provided me with hospital polo shirts but I am glad that I bought a couple more tan pants as that it also part of the "uniform". It's the first time that I've had a uniform, so to speak.
So my first weekend, I got settled; the second weekend I spent just relaxing and trying to get a little more organized. Wouldn't you know it, this weekend is mainly raining and I'm sick so I don't have much energy to go exploring. I had been so good about exercising, running a couple of miles and following some videos for weight-training, yoga or toning over the last couple of weeks. Now I feel that it's all shot since I haven't been able to do anything the last few days. The one thing that hasn't waned is my appetite, I can still eat a full meal.

I found out that the mother of a co-worker in WA is very sick, so whoever reads this please say a prayer for her and the whole family. It is a very sad situation.

North Carolina arrival

I spent the night of the 25th at my cousin's in Champaign, IL after having spent some time at an outlet mall, ostensibly to shop for clothes for work in NC. I probably didn't really need to but it was fun. It was a short visit with my cousin but I'm glad I stopped in. From there, I took off for the long drive to Raleigh, NC. I drove through IL, IN, KY, WV, VA and into NC, traversing through various terrain and noticing that it became much more mountainous and green as I headed southeast. The roads also become more windy and it began to rain which made it more precarious. Driving along side of me were many 18 wheelers who should have not been driving so fast...combine that with the rain-slicked roads and it made for some white-knuckled driving.

I finally arrived at my friend's dorm at NCSU in Raleigh. It was a Friday night so, of course, she was ready to go out and party. I'm really getting old! All I wanted to do is relax and sleep...staying out late was the last thing on my mind. In addition, she had to get up early to go on a day trip to Wilmington and I wanted to get up and go at the same time. I needed my beauty sleep!

The next morning I got on the road about 745ish and arrived in Jacksonville about 2 hours later. I met the roomie and got moved in. I pretty much spent that day unpacking and trying to have some sort of organization to the room. It was pretty warm and humid but sunny. I slept well that night. The next day found me walking through the main thoroughfare in the city to find out how long it would take me to walk to work, if I chose to do that. Well, it would take me a good hour at a decent clip to get me there so on my way back home I stopped in some stores to find out how much a bike would cost. I figured it out and the cost of a bike and lock would be more than the cost of gas to get to/from work the entire 12 weeks I'm here. That's because work in about 4.5 miles from home and I work 4-10 hour days. So much for being green and healthy! I guess I'll just have to find another way to exercise and be earth-conscious. It'll also allow me to get more sleep in the morning. Remember I need my beauty sleep!

On the road

I got a good night's sleep so I was ready to go. Wouldn't you know it...it was drizzling as I started to drive away, actually it had been raining on and off the previous day as I was packing up my car. I guess WA was sad that I was leaving! Me, too. This assignment has probably been one of the best I've ever had with the friends nearby, the things to do (and so many more to do!) and the clinic that I worked at. Hawaii was great as far as the people that I met and have stayed in touch with but as far as what I like to do, WA was more for me.

As I passed over the mountains to the other side, I looked in my rear view mirror and could see the cloud hanging over Seattle-Tacoma. It was sunny and warm on the eastern side of the mountains. I had a long drive ahead of me, filled with excitement and anticipation but some sadness over what I was leaving behind. It was amazing how the scenery changed as I drove through WA, OR, ID and into UT (if you don't know what those states are...look it up!) where I spent the night. The west side of the mountains were wet, lush and green, the eastern side brown/yellow, flatter and deserty. As I headed southwest, more mountains popped up but they were not as high, had little vegetation and were a brownish/reddish color. I slept well in one of my timeshare resorts in UT, was able to eat a good meal and then left Monday morning for the Denver area.

I have a friend who moved to CO about 4 years ago with her husband and 2 kids. I got there around 7ish, having just missed the rush hour traffic. Although, she says the traffic's not bad, unlike L.A. Her kids have grown up! Wow, how time flies! They have this beautiful house with a huge backyard, something none of us could afford in CA. Of course, the MNF game was on. She and her husband are still playing in sports leagues, of which I'm a little envious. I do miss catching that long pass down the field when no one expects me to. I left them with some Canadian chocolate to which she is one of the few that can appreciate the difference.

I made it through the flat plains of Kansas into MO. As I was driving, I talked to another traveller that I met in HI who was driving from FL to CA and had stopped in TX. We were like 2 ships that pass in the night, each going coast-to-coast. I used to live in Columbia, MO for almost 4 years about 11 years ago. My friend still lives there with her 2 kids, both of which have grown up as well! What in the world is going on! She took me for a drive through town today...my, how's it's changed and grown. There are new stores, many of them chains like Applebee's, IHOP, Macy's Old Navy, which weren't there when I lived here. I get to relax a bit here before I head to my cousin's in Champaign, IL tomorrow and then Raleigh the next night to arrive in Jacksonville, NC Saturday morning.

Last stand in WA

So I go to Vancouver, BC, Canada one last time to visit relatives and a friend. My friend and I had decided to climb the Grouse Grind, a straight-up trail to the top of Grouse Mountain. Rather than take the lame tram to the top, we decided to walk it. I figured I had done a lot of walking in WA where there's a lot of hills but that was a molehill compared to the Grind. I don't know the distance up the side of the mountain but it seemed to have go on forever. We did it in a little over an hour. What was disheartening was that you can see on a screen inside the chalet what times people have completed it. There were senior citizens who climbed it faster than we did! I partially attributed it to having an upset stomach and lightheadedness part way up. Lame, I know, but hey, gotta have some excuse.! Next time we'll kick its butt instead of the other way around. Anyways, after that we were tired to go out dancing as we had initially planned but rather just had dinner and relaxed at her house.

The following night, my cousin, her boyfriend and mother went to this open market where there plenty of booths selling cheap knock-offs and food stalls. Reminscent of markets in Asia. It was great to see them all, especially since I won't see them again for awhile.

My last week of work...well, it involved trying to orient and mentor the new therapist as much as possible, trying to cook up all the frozen food (to which the staff at the clinic benefited) and visiting with my friends before I head out of town. I met with an ex-CA roommate who is from and now lives again in Seattle, a friend who moved to Portland with her husband and child and was visiting family in Olympia about 45 minutes south of Tacoma and had dinner with one of the therapists at work. It seemed like every night there was something planned, not that I minded, but I still had packing to do! It's a good thing I had started with my clothes the previous week but there's always trying to fit it all into my vehicle. I did have the Friday night off and all day Saturday, wheww, which allowed me to pack up a lot of stuff. But I also had last minute errands...there never seemed to be enough time in the day. Saturday night, a friend and I went to this dueling piano bar/comedy club which was fun. The comedy was funny at all but the piano playing was great.

The next day I hit the road.

windy Oregon

Labour Day weekend was definitely not laborious. It was fun, whirlwind and definitely windy. I went to visit friends that I knew from CA, actually, I worked with her and met her husband before they left to live in OR. Since that move, they've had 2 beautiful boys. They live in the Columbia Gorge area, where windsurfers and kiteboarders are aplenty due to the high winds that go through that area. Where they live is also the beginning of the high desert, so the landscape becomes more barren and brown. From their house, you can see the tip of Mt. Adams in WA and just up the street atop a hill, Mt. Hood can be seen. The sky is bluer and clearer than further west. It's definitely not a thriving metropolis but you can certainly buy a huge house for a decent price.

On my way there, I took the scenic Columbia River byway and stopped at a few vista points to get a better view of the area. We saw the international gravity sport association (IGSA) championships which were basically grown men and women longobarding (like a luge) or skateboarding down this hill that's curvy and somewhat steep. Talk about the need for speed! The day I left to return to WA, we drove to this lodge that is up high on the mountain where the air was cold, the cloud cover hid the summit and there was snow on the ground. It was pretty cool to see people skiing in Sept.

This was my only trip to OR. I had originally planned to see the area around Bend, OR and coastal OR but I think after all the travelling I've done, I need to stay at home to get a few things done and relax a bit. I started packing up and organizing things to get ready for my next move. I'm trying to get in touch with people along the way out to NC. You know, places to go, people to see and all that jazz!