Notes From Home....

Well, it's been pretty quiet on the home front since Erik headed south last month. And, while Erik is roaming the foothills of the Sierras, Riley, Chloe, Daisy and I have been keeping busy exploring the beautiful mountains of Western Montana.

I decided to take the pooches up the Gold Creek drainage a few weeks ago and we actually got more than we bargained for! I have affectionately named the trail we took "Bear Alley" and figured we will leave that trail off the list and stay out of their way for awhile while our hairy neighbors pack on the pounds for the long hibernation. I'm including a picture of one of the many piles of bear scat that we came across and, I can tell you, whoever left this behind outweighed all 4 of us by a couple of hundreds of pounds at least! Needless to say we got out of there as quickly as possible although Chloe was convinced she could take them.

Fall has hit Missoula and, while poor Erik is melting in 90 degree temps, we're all soaking up that liquid gold Fall sunshine. Nights are cool enough for my big comforter (I haven't pulled out the down yet) and the days have that nice little chill. The leaves are beginning to turn as well and the colors are so beautiful! I thought I'd leave you with a few shots of my garden showing off its take on "Fall Colors". Erik, take a look at the pepper and tomatillos! Wish you were here to whip up some of your famous salsa and guacamole. We miss you!

Have RV, Will Travel

Well, it's official. Susan and I are the proud new owners of a motor home. Yep, we've taken the plunge and there's no turning back for shore.


We bought a 2003 Holiday Rambler, Vacationer. This baby is sweet, if I do say so myself. It's a 36 foot A-Class Motor home. It's got one and a half baths, two slide outs, a washer/dryer combo, a powerful engine and it drives like a dream. Just don't ask what kind of gas mileage it gets...
I found this one at DeMartini RV in Grass Valley,
CA after three weekends of checking out Craigslist, RV websites and many different lots.
But let me tell you, it was all worth it.
John DeMartini and his crew took good care of us. They got our RV ready to go and were truly a pleasure to work with. They even drove it up to Reno, NV (a common request from out-of-state buyers) to avoid paying the 7.75% sales tax.


So now we can begin planning our itinerary... where to next? Will it be the California coast? How about New Mexico? You will just have to wait and see!

Cutting My Teeth

Tomorrow marks the end of my fifth week here in Placerville, CA. Wow is it going fast! At least now, that is. Some of you may be wondering why it has taken me so long to blog about work. Well, I guess there are two reasons why, the first is that I have always been focused more on enjoying life than work. So it was just natural to talk about where I am living and what I am doing, rather than work. But the real reason that I haven't written about it is that it has taken me several weeks to get over the shock of my major career shift!


The place I'm working is a skilled nursing facility, or SNF (pronounced sniff), as we say in the medical world. Okay, a SNF is no hospital and it's certainly no outpatient orthopedic clinic like the one's I've spent the better part of the last 10 years, but this SNF is one of a kind. It has a character of its own. If Stephen King could personify a SNF, it might be just like this.


From the outside it looks like any other 1970's nursing home, complete with it's stone facade and ranch-style appearance, but after you enter the front door...it's an entirely different world! It is dated to say the least. Picture aging linoleum tiles and dusty corners, heavy curtains on the windows, an ancient sounding intercom and noises that reverberate like Jimmy Hendrix's guitar solo's at the Fillmore. And that's only the beginning.


I walked in on Monday morning, August 11th with a positive outlook and a smile. I arrived a few minutes early for my "orientation" and was immediately engulfed by the chaotic nature of the place. There were room lights going off, people screaming over the intercom, residents screaming in the halls from their wheelchairs, and I thought to myself, "what have I just gotten myself into?" I'm still not quite sure I can answer that question.


But I was pointed immediately to my supervisor, and she whisked me out of the hallway and into the PT office, closing the door behind us. "Whew, safe at last" I thought. And on to orientation, complete with a tour of the facility, meet and greet with the facility administrators and charge nurses, detailed explanations of the medicare-dictated paperwork and maybe even an offer of a cup of coffee. Nope!


My supervisor was a bit frazzled, putting together the week's rehab schedule for not one, but two facilities, while also preparing for the day's medicare meeting. So what I got was the worst orientation I have EVER had, in any of the jobs that I've ever held, including temp positions, working as a registry therapist in Seattle or L.A. I was completely shocked that after 20 minutes of mostly useless crap that she said she had to head off to the meeting at that my schedule was here. She handed me a list of patients and their corresponding minutes, totalling 450 minutes of treatment, or something like that. To put this in perspective, there are a total of 480 minutes in an 8 hour day. So here I am, I don't even know where the restroom is (honestly) and I'm off to begin treating patients in a facility where I haven't been introduced to anyone yet, except our OT Debra, PTA Ambre and PT Aide Becky, and that was only coincidental as they all made their way through the office while I was there.


So needless to say, I freaked out! But I jumped in and began introducing myself to anyone (and everyone) I could. I knew that these folks were going to be the ones saving my bacon and I'd better get to know them. The goal: just get through the day.


Debra and Becky could smell my fear and stepped in to calm me down. For the next several days they did ask me if I was coming back the next day. I told them yes, mostly because I didn't want to be unemployed, but with each passing day and week it got easier. I really like the staff that I work with and things have settled in nicely now. I found the restroom. I know all of the staff by name (no easy feat) and also all of the residents. And we have some kooky residents, too! It's a crazy place that has a life of its own and now I'm part of that life. Good thing I'm a little kooky too. It's almost beginning to feel like a real job, not just a struggle for survival. And for the first time today, I thought that I might even miss some of the staff or residents when it's finally time for me to move on. Wow.


So this is the facility that initiated me as a traveler and it's a place that I will not soon forget. I'm sure its noise will echo in my mind for a long while.

I Live In The Mecca Of Cycling!

Yes folks, it's true.

I knew that the Gold Country was rich in history and the topography lends itself to cycling, but when I arrived at Coffee Republic at ten 'til 9 this morning, you would've thought that I had come to a race venue or cycling convention. The entire parking lot was full of cyclists and their cars and riders were riding in from all directions. "Whoa," I thought, "this must be a popular ride."

I heard about this ride from locals Wyatt and Jay, both Placerville-based, former racers, and the two guys I've been riding with. Funny, but neither of them have expressed much interest in doing this ride...hmm.

So it turns out that the "Coffee Republic Ride" as it is known, is described by bikecal.com as a moderately paced ride with "some rollers and Indian Hill for a total of 30 to 40 miles." Sounded perfect to me! Well after we rolled out and I started chatting with some of the guys, seems this ride has morphed into more of a "race-training ride" complete with fast pace lines, even faster attacks and a couple of bigger climbs. And there were teams of guys (and gals) present. I saw Webcor/Alto Velo, Rio Strada, Team City (City Bicycle Works-Sacramento), Victory Velo (Auburn) and Ophir Milan (Women's). You know that I was representing Montana with my Team Stampede/Five Valley Velo kit!

California is the mass of humanity, but it is also diversity, and surprisingly, tolerance. We have literally hundreds of deserted miles here in the Sierra foothills. So the 60+ riders today headed out for an always the same, 50 miler that rivaled the Tuesday night Hell Ride in Missoula that I'd come to love over the past several years. I finally felt a little of home out on the road today. We raced, we climbed and at times I thought I wasn't going to make it! But I survived and hung with the lead group. Oh, and for the other cyclists out there in webland, We climbed about 3000 feet and our average pace was 21.3 mph over the distance. The last 18 miles were at just under 25 mph. And my HR was maxed several times. Whew!

Okay, some casual (or not so casual) observations of the racing scene:
1) The groups are HUGE compared to Montana.

2) Everyone is good! Even the wimpy looking guys are strong.

3) Everyone in DARK tan. It's unreal.

4) There is a race (or three) every weekend.

So there you have it. As you can tell, I'm pleased to say the least. I do miss riding with my teammates in good 'ol Missoula, but I couldn't ask for a much better place to spend my time away from home.

~E~