hiccup, hiatus, respite, break, recovery

We thank you who have come on this whirlwind travelogue with us. This weekend, however, it seems to have caught up with us. In my 3rd week at the OSU vet hospital, I finally caught the local version of the respiratory crud. Georgia is feeling punky too, so we decided to lay back a bit. We have material to go to Silver Falls State Park which is only about one hour away, just in case we feel up to it tomorrow. http://www.silverfallspark.org/ Today, we layed around the "crib" and I worked on a final exam for the radiology course. Only one practical question to go, then the written. That puts me about in the middle of it. With traveling on the weekends, and discovering the great local cuisine weekday evenings, it doesn't leave a lot of time for the "behind the scenes" part of my "job". This is one of the days when one of my favorite signs seems appropriate.

perspective

A step away from the travelogue to expose my weakness in one of the very things that I teach against. In my radiology teaching, I tie together 3 observations that I have made.

1. Most people think they can't read radiographs (x-rays)

2. You will see on a radiograph what you want to see

3. What you know about the patient doesn't change what is on the radiograph

I use these three facts to demonstrate how the general medical or veterinary population misleads itself when trying to interpret radiographs, and encourage students to concentrate on what they actually see. Well, the last couple of days I was interfacing with someone back home (J:) I have taken out most of the boring part, but have included the interchange below to demonstrate how easy it is to mislead yourself. We start with (J:) asking a simple question. (S:) is of course me!

J: How do you like the IU22?

S: Sorry, don't know what you're talking about. My sister called me during the Illinois Indiana game last week to complain about the poor sportsmanship of Illinois... Problem was, I didn't even know they were playing. I'm sure that if Illinois was doing better, I would be more attentive, but aside from the weekend jaunts, I seem to be too busy to pay attention. I assume you are talking about basketball, but don't know... Please fill me in and I'll give my opinion. thanks

J: I saw a position announcement that says they (Oregon State) have a Philips IU22 ultrasound machine. That is what we're looking at here to replace the ATL. It seems to be getting very good reviews and I was curious if you've had a chance to use it and how you like it.

S: Wow, dufus here. I knew it was a Philips, a "grandson" of the ATL at Illinois. Of all of the machines I have used away from Illinois, I like it best... probably because it is most like the ATL. I think the images are comparable. I probably don't know enough to "put it through it's paces". For everyday use, the 2 features that are plus and minus are that the keyboard is "under" the control panel and slides out. You use it very seldom during the exam unless you want or need to put in manual text labels. There is also a touch screen for labeling, etc. You hit the "annotation key" and the correct set of labels comes up for what you are doing, you just touch it. One little thing that annoys me (again most likely my lack of understanding). For instance, you have the liver label up, then go to the spleen, you have to first hit, erase text or when you label the spleen you will have liver and spleen. Not a big thing. If I remember correctly, with the ATL, the new label replaces the old unless you intentionally move the cursor. That could be set up also. The probes are pretty much the same. The up and down adjustment are the same. So to answer your simple question.... yes, I like it. duh!! I thought Eric Gordon's number was 23....

J: Thanks. Who's eric gordon?

For some reason, I though he was talking about something to do with Indiana basketball, while the machine he was asking about was something I was using every day without knowing the model number. As you can see, once I know the subject, I had lots to say.

To quote a philosophical giant in music;, "you gotta watch what you're doin!"

Oh, perspective: The picture at the top IS of 2 bull elk. Here we are surrounded by mountains where there are many signs for deer and elk crossing. This picture was take along the road just north of Mulberry..... Indiana.

ps

Sorry, I can't pass this up. I just typed this and Georgia was watching American Idol. I finish this, and go over to sit down and watch... just in time to see Amanda Overmyer and see that she is from....... Mulberry, Indiana... If I'm lyin, I'm dyin! How many people in this world even know where Mulberry, Indiana is. How's that for perspective??? I'm ending... again.

Oh, one last note on perspective. Take a look at this last picture and see how it differs from the one at the top... It's perspective.

Cascades day 2

This will be a quicky, just the essence. We left Bend, Oregon for Sisters, Oregon. On the way, we believe we finally identified the 3 sisters. Of course we passed the vista point and took this shot out the side window as we whizzed down the highway. Be sure to click on the photo to get some idea of their majesty... and see my reflection in the window.

Then we got to the town named for them, which is quaint and full of shops. We were hungry so we stopped in at Bronco Billy's. This place was originally built as the Sisters Hotel at the turn of the century. The inside is rough western motif, including a poster of Clint Eastwood as ..... Bronco Billy. We did a mix and match meal of a great salad, vegetable soup that was essentially beef stew and in Georgia's words, "the best nachos I've ever eaten". Shredded beef is always a hit with me over hamburger. Geogia had her first cherry limeade... Sonic doesn't serve cherry limeade (although they think they do). We had more food than we could handle, but boy was it good. We went upstairs to look around... Georgia has pictures she might share later. Then we shopped a bit. An authentic Russian (yes Russian) shop where they had hand made items from those painted nesting dolls to table runners and wall hangings. This Russian lady married to an American from Eugene, OR. imports this stuff from her home community where her sister and friends do the work. Quite an experience. We then found a western store that of course, had a sale going. I replaced the hats I gave Blaine with one that fit me. Georgia finally got her cowgirl boots, although with the help of the clerk, we all decided that the pointy toes were not in her best interest. Fortunately the clerk was wearing round toed boots. So Georgia of the west rides again; and won't damage her feet further while doing it.

Somewhere along the line, we came past this place that had lots (and lots) of horses... Georgia has the pictures. Well, remember the howling coyote that was along the road in Wyoming? Take a look at these horses that were in the same pasture as the real horses. Yup, these are made of the same sheet metal as the coyote, and a few other pieces of roadside art we have seen. The horses are really cool because at first you think they are running along with you, then you see that they don't move..

For me, that's another weekend. We ended up coming down the mountain in the dark and got "home" about 7:30. We have all week to decide where to go next weekend... The weather was fantastic this weekend.. can we hope for the same next weekend???

Cascades revisited

It's another weekend. No emergency duty, no duty period. Yes, this retirement life can grow on you. Since our last weekend trip to the coast, the passes in the Cascades have opened. Remembering the beautiful, but trying nite that we crossed the Cascades 2 weeks ago, we decided to go back to see what it looks like in daylight. Our destination was Sisters. (You may have to go back a few posts for the lowdown on that place, but you can just google sisters oregon and find out about it... if you don't already know.) Sisters is about 2 hours from Corvallis when the Santiam pass is open. We went the long way around 2 weeks ago because it wasn't. For short, it's named for the 3 mountain peaks; Faith, Hope, and Charity. Every time we came around a corner one of us (me) would say, maybe those are the sisters. I do believe we saw them, but didn't get pictures. Will try again today.

The further we went, the cooler (not colder, cooler) it got and the more snow we saw. We stopped by this gurgling stream (video at the end). I was overwhelmed by the moss growing on the dead trees. I was nervous about standing still for very long, fearing I too would be covered with moss.

We reached a place called Tombstone where only a week ago, the highw

ay
camera showed nothing but snow. We also found that where we barely had 2 lanes of road 2 weeks ago, there were 4-5 lanes of road. So here we are at Tombstone, very close to the Santiam pass. We weren't kidding the snow was 10 feet deep. If fact the ski reports claim they have 140 inches of snow pack.

We came to a lake up there (Suttle Lake) with a neet lodge, etc. We are sure they were snowed in 2 weeks ago. We might go back to stay there, the deal is that we passed it up because at that time we weren't sure if we would stay up here or go back to Corvallis for the evening. Oh, here's Suttle Lake: http://www.thelodgeatsuttlelake.com/

Here's where our saga turns to "typical". We had these books to tell us what to do and lots of great people have been feeding us info. We stopped by Black Butte Ranch. A really cool contemprary resort with a fantastic view of, guess what.... Black Butte. We got their info and decided to go on into sisters (Oh, if you want to see about Black Butte, you can google it.) By this time it's too late to go back to Corvallis and we're getting nervous about housing for the nite. A B&B in Sisters looked interesting. This is as good as any place for me to complain about the signage in this area. Seems they think everyone is from here. Although the speed limit signs are huge, the street signs (when you find them) are small and difficult for these old midwestern eyes to decipher. OK that's done, I feel better. We found that the best way to get around is to ask a lot. The people we have run into in Oregon are really friendly, talk like midwesterners and are very helpful. (My problem is that I want to see some signs now and then to assure me that I heard correctly.) Coming over 2 weeks ago, several people we ran into at rest stops advised us to go 20 to Corvallis, just as Mapquest had directed us. We stopped in Sisters at a Subway, and this little lady, said, "Oh no! You have to go 22 to Salem because 20 is closed. About 10 miles down the road we came across a policeman in the snow who confirmed that in another 8 miles or so we would see the split and needed to take 22. So here we are 2 weeks later back in Sisters (are you following this????) The B&B in the book is on Camp Pope Road just north of Sisters. We stop into the Subway, and, Yep, she's working.. (safe at last) She doesn't know the B&B, but does know the road. She directs us and when we got to the end of her directions we come to the road which only goes left from there. We drive and drive and can't find the B&B. Finally after driving about 10 miles, we come across a set of buildings that look very much like the description. But it was supposed to be only 1/4 mile from Sisters. The place is empty and in disrepair (we find that the book was published in 2005.) so we drive on another 1/4 mile and.... you guessed it, there is the sign "Welcome to Sisters". The really sad thing is that we drive another 1/4 mile and look across the street and see...... The Subway shop.. I glanced quickly to my left and to my surprise, there is a street sign.... "Locust Street"... I rest my case. We thought we should go over and let her know what we discovered, but then we were getting more nervous about housing and ... the B&B wasn't there anyway. Plan B the Blue Spruce Inn in Sisters. We found it, but there was a note on the door to call this number. We called and got no immediate response, so beat it for Bend, hoping for success. As we were messing around at the Blue Spruce, these guys were prowling around the neighbor's trailer.

OK, now we're really getting nervous. and the sun is sinking. Pretty, but sinking. Not wanting to stay just anywhere, but wanting to stay somewhere, we decided to give it one last shot before pulling into the local motel 6, or something akin. Georgia found in her book... Oh, I forgot to give you the title; "Places to Kiss in the Pacific Northwest, Romantic venues (paraphrased) Yes, Valentine's day extended. So now our quarry is the Pine Ridge Inn in Bend. We pulled into Bend and the first stationary person we found became our guide. He didn't know the Pine Ridge Inn, but did know where Century Avenue was. We followed his directions onto the parkway and off, but when we got to the end of his directions we found no Century Avenue. During this time, Georgia's prayer generator kicked in... "Lord, please help us to find a clean and nice place to stay for the night." was the essence. What to do now. Look, there's a Subway... Went to the door to find al long line of people wanting what they were selling food... Hey, there's a McDonalds with only a few people. (Does this mean Oregonians are healthy eaters???) Went to the counter to ask for help. The manager goes over to the only customers, a nice couple, and asks them. This guy is on it. He points to the round-about outside the window. (Yes, thought we left those in Michigan). Go 3/4 around it and you will come out on Century. Go through the next round-about, then it should be very close on the left. If you get to the 3rd round=about, go around it and come back, because you missed it. His directions were spot on. Next fear comes... do they have a room this late.. Yes they did and overlooking the river, with hot breakfast... and because it's so late we're giving you the corporate rate (30% off). Feeling the hand of GOD on us, I return to the vehicle to tell my bride that we have a room.. Next test.... will it be clean and nice.... Wow! she loved it. Have pictures, but maybe later. Here are a couple of pics from our patio. The river is below through the trees. So now what to eat. The really nice lady at the desk gave us some options, the easiest of which was to walk across the street to the Cascade Lakes Brewing Company. That was really good. A bit noisy with "ski folks" hobnobbing, but the food was really good. and it was easy. While we're sitting there, Georgia checks her phone for missed calls. Seems like she is missing several somehow... So there were 2 messages from the lady at the Blue Spruce Inn, about 10 minutes after we decided to go to Bend. But there was also a message that our oldest son had caught the bug from his family and was really sick. What timeing for us. We had just had some real prayer victories, pulling us out of the depths of dispair to the pinnacle of joy. We were obviouly saddened by this news, but felt confident in our prayers. We trust that he is much better now... If not, we need to know so we can stay on the job.

Today is another day. Back to Sisters to "do the town", then "home" to prepare for another week of work. Oh, these last pictures from our patio were taken this morning.

Ahhhh! Romance

Georgia and I have been romancing each other since 1959. Over the years that romance has been much as the fruit of the grape. In those early years, it was guzzled down like refreshing fresh squeezed juice. Where and how we drank it was not important because it was plentiful and easy to come by. As the years passed, it of course aged, but didn't sour into vinegar. It developed it's own bouquet and took on the pungent character of the cask of our marriage inside of which it was ripening. At this stage it is more like brandy. Although no less exciting than the grape juice or the wine, it is to be sipped daily and each drop savored for it's richness. Each whiff and taste brings memories of the beautiful as well as the difficult times that affected the character of the product of our love.

So Wednesday evening we ate down by the Riverwalk here in Corvallis. While eating we talked about what to do for Valentine's Day. Decided on Iovino's, the cool Italian Restaurant on the end of the Riverwalk. Wondered if we should make reservations. After all, there were only a few people there on the Monday nite when we first started this discovery tour. Decided that since we were going right by it, we should stop in. Well (Did I tell this story before????) the guy was on the phone and had just had a cancellation leaving the only option at 8:45 (That's 11:45 in Indiana). We took it... (I saw the book... it really was the only option). So, we were set.

Thursday, I get "home" and ask Georgia, "I forgot my watch, do you know where it is?" I nearly missed the little grin when she said, "it's in the bedroom". So I opened the door and these pictures show what I saw.. Rose petals, which last year, she had strung all the way up the stairway at home and into our bedroom. With all the chaos of packing and trying to get away on this trip, she remembered and took the time, to pack the rose petals, just for this moment... That's the flavor of rich brandy! It doesn't end there. At Iovino's, the tables are terraced up to 5 levels. When we went before, she noticed that and really wanted to sit "up there". When I made reservations, we asked for that, but were told that they couldn't promise specific seating on such a busy nite. Last nite, I dropped her off and went to park the car. When I came into the restaurant, she was telling the guy that we had asked to be seated in the upper levels. He said, that might require a bit of a wait. ... So after waiting maybe 15 minutes, we were seated at the front of the 4th terrace. As Georgia said, probably the best seat in the house, looking over the other diners, with the music from the live jazz trio wafting up to us.... and the food...... oh my!. Must say it was very close to a perfect evening to sip the brandy of our love! Then the waitress was a trip. She had just broken up with her boyfriend and working in a romantic environment on Valentine's day. She even called us her "favorite couple" and slipped us a free desert tort with our bill. (Don't tell her boss). She just added spice to the evening and of course helped us to see how special our relationship was. Gotta quit.... tears might short out the keyboard.

More Oregon coast

Before I start with us, it seems the bug has hit the second Kneller family. Hate to say, but, I'm kind of glad we're where we are right now. We'll add a second family to our prayers.

I know Melissa is waiting for pictures of our "dwelling" here, but I'm saving that for Georgia, and I can't wait to jump ahead to today. It was very foggy on the Oregon coast today. However, after waking up to the crash of Pacific waves and screeching seagulls outside our bedroom, we ventured back north to Seal Cave. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/getaways/141109_sealioncaves.html

but since this 2003 article the price has gone from $7 to $10. It is cool, but it does smell. Because it was so foggy, there wasn't much light in the cave, but we got a few pictures and these short videos. I did them so you could hear them barking. The second one is a close up of a bull on a rock, but I couldn't get my c

amera to focus... Looks like I'd learn to use it before venturing out, right.


I saved the best for last. The power of the ocean and the stability of the rocky shore make an awesome sight and sound. Wait til we show you the Oregon sand dunes where motorcycles, etc. play.

Newbies on the Oregon coast

Today, we went over the coastal range to the Pacific shore. A WHOLE lot different than Florida. I was told by a guy at work that grew up on the east coast that it was a mirror image of the coast of Maine.. I've never been there, but it makes sense after seeing it, except I'll bet the seaside mountains here are higher. The sea mist made everything appear foggy today. It reminded me of those pictures we see of some exotic place in China where the fog (or clouds) cover the steep mountains. We took our time, stopping here and there. First to Newport. We then went north a bit to come back on the Otter Crest loop. Then back through Newport south. We ended up tonite at the Driftwood Shores Resort (http://www.driftwoodshores.com/) in Florence. We asked for a clean place to stay with no pet, no smoke rooms and someone told us about it. we found the sign and zigzagged back this road several miles and ended up with an oceanview room. This place has a great restuarant. So all in all, we believe we were directed by God to a real blessing. Now we have to decide what to do tomorrow. Very near us is Seal Cave which is supposed to be the largest and most beautiful seal cave in the world where Stellar Golden Sea Lions live. We may go there tomorrow, as supposedly seals are there year round. http://www.sealioncaves.com/whatsee/steller.html

http://www.oregonreservations.com/oregoncoast/sealioncaves.html

In searching around, it appears that we would have to stay a few days at the end of our stint to catch the whale watching period. It blows my mind to think that we just drove past about 20 of the sites for whale watching. Check out the map. http://www.whalespoken.org/OPRD/PARKS/WhaleWatchingCenter/watch_sites.shtml

We are told there is sickness at Briarcliff Academy http://knellerbeat.blogspot.com/

We'll be praying.

Oh, Barb, if you're watching. this is where we were sitting when you called last nite. Sorry we weren't up on the game. We've noticed that we haven't watched much TV since we left home. Interesting.... Sorry Melissa, this is just a tease. You'll have to wait to see the rest of it. Y'all take care.

Wow! One week down and 5 to go!

It's hard to believe that I have worked one week at Oregon State already. This weekend seems to be the time to check out the Oregon coast since they are still getting record snows in the Cascades. Just like Wyoming had the wyoroad.info to show the road conditions, Oregon has "tripcheck.com". Check it out to see how many road cameras they have. I'm going to include a few here to give you some idea of the extreme conditions just a "few" miles apart. We came through Detroit on our way in in the dark and it looked about like it does here today. This was just before we descended into the "rain country". If you can imagine that the cameras are supposed to show the roads like in the Detroit picture, The shortest way is through the Santiam pass where today the winds were 80 mph. The camera is apparently covered with snow, but just up the road it looks like this at Tombstone. Yeah, there is supposed to be a road there. I did find a picture that today looks like it did where we came across on road 22 except that the snow was deeper along the roads in the McKensie pass than it shows here in the Willamette pass. Anyway, these pictures were taken just before dark Friday nite, so you can see that we're heading for the coast in the morning. Lots of locals have given us hints, but you might know that there are different opinions as to what not to miss. Good thing we have a few more weeks to check it out.

Have we mentioned the "New Morning Bakery"??? Well, Panera is McDonalds in comparison.

http://www.peak.org/~newmorning/

I'm convinced you could eat there every nite and have something different each time... and Gooooood!!!. Last nite I had a Ham and Pinapple Panini and Georgia had a corn and roasted tomato soup.. Hmmmmm! Oh and a few other things including some deliceous cherry pie. The first nite we ate at Iovino's Italian Ristorante. Sorry Brianna, the Olive Garden is no match. You will notice that neither of these places is a chain. This town seems to have a number of "real" restaurants.

So what did I do in my first week at work. I ran into no less than 5 people I had known at the University of Illinois, in addition to meeting some more really nice people. "My" technicians (the people who keep me in line), Fuge, Carol, and Becky have made me feel welcomed and at home from the beginning. The faculty and students have made me feel needed. I have seen some cases that I haven't seen before. That's the fun in my business... there's always something new. I learned a new dictation system. I dictate into this little digital machine then e-mail the files to a stenographer in Eugene, Oregon. She puts the typed versions back on the Oregon State hospital system where I proof them and finalized them for the hospital record. I have 5 great senior vet students. The funny thing is that only one of them is from Oregon. One is from New Mexico, one from Montana, and if I remember correctly the other 2 are from California. (hope I got that correct.) We have spent several hours discussing x-ray cases some which we are working on in the hospital, some from an archive that previous radiologists have saved for study, and some that I brought on my laptop. We are using a 52 inch LCD screen so we can all see. Monday, I have to monitor lectures coming from Illinois for the sophomore class and will most likely start delivering lectures in addition. These poor students will have about 4 weeks of "double radiology". But we'll get through it. Boy am I rambling??? The big difference here is that rather than the Standardbred racehorses I saw in Illinois and Michigan, most of the horses here are Quarterhorses.... surprise, surprise, right???

Working man blues

Now we're here, but I'm working full time for the first time since June 30. Although I enjoy what I'm doing, I can see that I really like retirement because I don't have to put off the more frivolous (sp) things that I want to do, like this. Anyway, I promised some pics. Here is one taken from the Perrine bridge Sunday morning when we left. Again, I'll let Georgia post most of the photos of the trip. Also the photos here and the last couple have not been downsized to work better with the site. If you haven't figured it out, you can shrink this stuff by clicking the lower right corner and changing from 100% to something else. But it shrinks everything, so you will probably want to go back to 100% to read the fine print.

Here's a snap of Burns, Oregon. We pulled in here after crossing 150 miles of Oregon mountains on a 2 and sometimes 4 lane road (not interstate) through some beautiful mountains, open grazing land, etc. then we crossed a basin that was flatter than any Illinois road for about 40 miles. The problem was that there was snow on the road most of this way. Just before we came into the basin, we came on a wreck where a motor home following a u-haul that was towing a car (I think they were all together) had apparently slid into the u-haul, then flipped over. The nearest town was Burns. We drovw on snow-pac most of the way until we hit this valley Sunday. Then the snow disappeared and it was like April in Illinois. You want snow? Take a look at what it looked lik out our winshield as we left Burns and headed into the Cascades. Fortunately it didn't last too long, but did come and go. So every time these big flakes would come drifting down, Georgia would cheer and I would groan. Then it would stop and I would cheer and she would groan. By the time we got tro Corvallis, we were both groaning.

Here are a couple of pictures of southeast Oregon in February. As I think we said earlier, we came through the really pretty part in the dark, so we'll have to go back to see it in daylight and get some pictures. I believe I got it right by quoting Georgia's frequent comment, "Oohhh! Myyy! Godddd!