Aaaandd. back to Corvallis

Since the last post, we did Thanksgiving at Greg and Mel's with them and Ava and Aidan's other grandparents, had (I think) a really nice family Christmas on Christmas eve at our house, had Georgia's sister, her daughter and her kids for a few days after Christmas and Georgia's Mom for about 2 weeks before packing for another trip to Corvallis. The night before we were to fly out of CMI, I got a call from the airline that no flights were going out of CMI the next day. Since I was scheduled to lecture in Corvallis the following day, we made arrangements to drive to ORD to fly out. Fortunately, Jeff was available to go with us to bring our car home. Once we got in the air (having been introduced to Garrett's popcorn and caramel corn- I think Mel's is as good or better)... Things went pretty well for a long cross country flight. With the change of plans we got settled in our apartment about 10:30 pm (PST).. It was a welcomed sight. Dave had carried the large suitcase full of "work clothes" that we FEDEX'd out the week before up along with the fan, shredder and printer we had left from before. Aside from our home and Nan's, we have spent more time in this apartment than anywhere else on earth....Wow! Here is the view out my office window looking on the coastal mountain range. This train goes right past our apartment (remember, the base is the Corvallis Depot.) This trip is different because I am not teaching at Illinois this year and there is now an on-site radiologist so rather than the make-shift course schedule we have worked in the past, we are following the OSU course schedule and are actually having labs. I just finished my second week of that course and covering the clinic. The OSU radiologist has been handling it all by herself since we were here in late June. (I think she started in early July). It was great to re-acquaint with old friends and make new friends. The OSU radiologist has brought some organization to the program. She is actually of German/Austrian descent and grew up in western Austria. It is quite possible that Georgia went through her home town when she was in Europe... This shrinking world is amazing. Along that line, I didn't have students in the clinic for this first 2 weeks, but was assigned a large animal surgery resident who grew up in Memphis, TN. Her father has met Mr. Tuohy (Tim McGraw in "The Blind Side"). Because Georgia was feeling punky last weekend, we "stayed home", then drove to Salem to see that movie.. good flick.. Let's see; eating in Corvallis where there is never a lack of interesting places to fill your tummy. We of course have brought home chicken salad from the New Morning Bakery a couple of times (along with their deliceous cherry pie). Have ordered Pizza from Cirello's twice, China Blue once Iovino's once and Cloud 9 once. These are all favorites from the past. Got to go to a new place that we apparently missed last June. They opened last St. Patrick's day. "West Coast Italian" is their description and Terzo is their name. If you go back to our first trip, we raved about the French Bistro. As I understand, that guy is now doing Terzo. (http://www.terzocorvallis.com/) Georgia had these gigantic meatballs and spagetti. I really lucked out in choosing Italian sausage soup... It's a little like Olive Garden's Zupa Tuscana, but oh so much better....mmmmmmm! Then my entree was pork tenderloin scalapini... with fig sauce. OMG. Some of you are old enough to remember the line; "I can't believe I ate the whole thing."... Yup! Then Friday the radiologist who was at OSU for many years and retired some time ago to devote more time to training dogs and enjoying life in Corvallis stopped in the clinic with her dog Billie. I hadn't seen her since she was in Champaign "boning up" on Nuclear Medicine with Dr. Twardock. She took us out to lunch at "Bombs Away".. They have this $5 lunch (mexican) that makes the $5 footlong look like a snack and with so much more flavor... and probably cholesterol, etc. That was good. Kind of a dive, but good eating. We followed that with dinner at El Sol De Mexico with those in the radiology group that could make it.. Lots of Mexican in one day, but that's just fine with me. Oh, I forgot, we also did a carry out one night from "Local Boys" which is a campus favorite of lots of cheap flavorful food... It is traditional Hawaiian... If you remember from a previous post, our great surprise at eating there was the lack of pineapple.. to us Hawaiian means pineapple, but that is apparently not true. OH, while we're on food. Across the parking lot from the vet school is the sports complex. A past OSU graduate is working part time in radiology and his wife works for the OSU football program in this building at the end of the football field called the Valley Football Center. Y'all have heard about the "training table" where the athletes eat. Four days a week, anyone can eat in the cafeteria where the athletes eat for $7. Well, one lunchtime, we went over and partook.... again, mmmmmmm! and lots of it. Supposedly they are also open during dinner in the early evening, but we haven't hit that yet. This veterinarian grew up near Buffalo, Wyoming in the Bighorn mountains when we crossed on our last trip home from Washington State. Again that small world is shrinking. I have put some pictures here that Georgia took last nite at El Sol de Mexico with some of the radiology group. Notice. Sara's dad is Columbian and her mom is German/Austrian... Does she remind anyone else of our little Bruno whose mom and dad are Kneller and Perez.. Obvioulsy, we thought she was darling.

Before I leave this post there is one more little item. If you go back to last June when I was walking along the track to work, you will find my idea of the "classic Oregon home". At that time one morning, I met the lady of the house tending their raised garden boxes and also met their little dog. Last night, as I passed their house, "Chuck" was out looking over his workshop with a beer in one hand and a cigar in the other, making plans of upkeep. I stopped and we chatted. He is a high school guidance counselor and as a side, a singer/songwriter. I'm pretty sure I posted a picture of their cute little house by the tracks last June. I also met their cat whom I surprised Friday morning. Guess he wasn't quite awake until I nearly stepped on him. Although I, again, am making my doctors happy with this twice a day mile walk, I don't think it is causing me to loose weight. Seems the old falciform ligament is storing up plenty for that impending famine. As a parting shot, here is a picture Georgia took of her mother and her great, great grandson Bruno!!

Darn I forgot this part, so am adding it later. All who have followed this jibberish know that breakfast is my meal and I have "searched the world over (really just much of the USA)" to find the perfect breakfast spot. Until this trip, the B&B in Gas City, Indiana; Sammy's on Mattis in Champaign, Illinois; and Tommy's 4th street bar and grill in Corvallis were my top 3. You can imagine then that as we headed into town down 4th street I was anxious to see the 1940's decor of Tommy's.. I couldn't find it in the dark. The next morning, still in the dark, I drove past the spot I remembered and still couldn't find it. so not to waste the opportunity, I headed over to Sam's Station on Harrison. That is a good breakfast, but a little expensive and they aren't very flexible with their menu items. I had remembered some other suggestions, so with the help of the internet, I found Sharon's Cafe out south of town (I think). Although I liked Tommy's better, it did take Tommy's place among my top 3. Plus, although like most northwest eating, "home fries" are actually little cubes of potato. I was however able to get a half order of extra crispy home fries with onions, one egg over easy, sausage links and whole wheat toast with no disapproving looks from the waitress (who by the way is from Indianapolis). Now comes the part that put Sharon's solidly among my top 3. When she dropped off my breakfast, she LEFT THE CHECK... Why is that such big deal? I think from growing up on the farm, eating is something I do to put food in my body and get on with life, rather than a social occasion. With that, again I think with the thought of getting back to the field, or later onto some other work related issue, I am a very fast eater (Right Georgia?) So I find my self sitting and waiting for the check quite often when I am eating alone... Don't like that!!! At Sharon's there's no waiting for the check... After all who is going to add a desert after eating a breakfast? When you walk into Sharons (once you find it), you see the clear decor of native american, wolves and owls.... all over the place. So, I asked about Tommy's. Seems somewhere between June and January, it burned down. So I drove by the location in the daylight and sure enough most of Tommy's is gone and the rest is charred and boarded up. Another landmark gone. Oh, to clear my conscious, I have decided I should go out for breakfast only on Saturday mornings while here. The rest of the time I'm being a good doo bee and eating shredded wheat or peanut butter toast. There I feel better.

A little less west

This week Georgia's "Cowgirl Up" hitch cover and floor mats are right at home. Although we didn't have to travel as far, we are now in "Cowboy Country"; the land of the Oklahoma State University Cowboys who squeeked out a football victory over Colorado last nite. Cowgirl stadium is just up the road. We are housed in Granduate Student and Family Housing in a neet little 2 bedroom apartment. Just outside our door you can see the bright lights of Boone Pickens Stadium and hear the announcer from the football game. Also we were warned that traffic would be intense from about 5:30 to 6:30... and it was. "Our street" McElroy was solid for that full hour. Really nice folks here also. and as with everywhere (when you reach this age) I ran into several people from my past at Illinois. Today, I get to touch base with the dean of the OSU (south) vet school, Dr. Mike Lorenz who was a "young buck" with me at UGA. Here are a few pictures. Carreker Hall where we "live"; the front of the vet clinic; Zara who keeps us all on track; Carolyn and Sue, 2 of the technologists (John wasn't available) and a shot of the radiology vet students when they are not doing radiology. All across the nation senior veterinary students are studing for and taking the NAVLE (North American Veterinary Licensing Examination) and they are all freaked out... happens every year. For the first time in years, I had to take an exam; the Oklahoma Veterinary Jurisprudence Exam. Had me a bit uptight also... Apparently I passed because I am allowed to work in the clinic here. Oh, the male student second from the left is actually from Valparaiso, IN. We are now looking forward to home, but also returning to Stillwater next spring.

Cody to Custer

Again, before we start, it's time for another healing finger update. Probably the last time, at least for a while. Now that that's done, Here are some pictures to give you a touch of the scenery between Cody, Wyoming where we stayed after spending a cold evening waiting for Old Faithful in Yellowstone. We were here on our "family vacation" of 1976, and Georgia really loves Cody. Although we "breezed through" and had to get on the road to cross the Bighorn Mountains, we did get to see the "Buffalo Bill Trail Town", a replica of the old west and some fantastic lifesized bronze sculptures. The sculptures were very like the Remington Art of the old west. These life sized sculptures are all around their gallery. Their website is: http://www.mtgcody.com/

The scenery changed as we went east from Cody, with sparce "grassland" (where the antelope roam). Then we hit the Bighorn Mountains. After that we finally got back on the interstate. That was good because it was getting dark. We arrive in Rapid City, ready for a good night's sleep. You Illinois people; I don't want to hear you complaining about the wind. Have you ever been to Rapid City??? It is windy! Today was a short trip to Mount Rushmore and back through Custer State Park where we were flooded out when camping in 1976. Saw lots of Buffalo poop there, but no Bison.. Did see a few wild turkeys and deer. As usual. there will be many more pictures for my facebook friend.

Day trip to Palouse Falls

We didn't get out Saturday, so had to modify our plans to go to Kennewick, WA for a weekend trip and modified it to a day trip to Palouse Falls State Park and return via Clarkston, WA and Lewiston, ID which is really one city divided by a river (The Clearwater, I think). These cities are located near the spot where Lewis and Clark met Sacajawea. If you don't know who she is, you need to look her up. But before we get to the trip, here are this week's pictures of the healing fingers. Only one little scab left, then we will see how much scar tissue will remain. We had a beautiful day with some sunshine. That may be the last sunshine we see in Washington if the weather reports hold true. We headed to familiar Colfax just north of Pullman, then went southwest toward Walla Walla about 50 miles. We wound our way out of wheat country where the green fields of winter wheat were interspersed with the short amber wheat stubble. As the wheat fields diminished, more rugged terrain with sparce vegitation (much sagebrush) came into view with lots of cattle scattered on the hills. Tiny towns would crop up here and there. We did find a McDonald's in one little town. Fortunately Mapquest accurately guided us to the State Park, but we were beginning to wonder as we left the state highway and although we weren't in the mountains found ourselves winding back and forth on little serpentine roads. Then out in the middle of "nowhere" was a sign "Palouse Falls State Park". We crossed 2 cattle guards (again; if you don't know what they are, look them up.) We came up over a rise and there was a little parking lot. I went to the bathroom and saw the sign about local inhabitants. I didn't tell Georgia about it til we were leaving. We didn't see any. Probably too cold??? We walked down to the rail and OMG Would you believe this is sitting here in the middle of someone's "pasture field"??? I think they call it a range out here. The falls itself is 198 feet high, but appears to start about half-way up the wall of the cliff. The falls is the Palouse River dropping before it winds it's way to the Snake River about 6 miles away. The Snake joins the Columbia near Kennewick where we had planned to go on Saturday. To give ourselves the chance to see more different terrain, we chose to take the "long way" back to Pullman. Believe it or not, there about 20 miles from the park, we went through Starbuck, Washington. No green and black labels here. The only green we saw had a yellow deer on it. I doubt there is a latte in town. Then we hit US 12 which follows the Lewis and Clark trail to Clarkston. By the time we got to Clarkston, it was dark, so we didn't get to see as much of this town as we would have liked. We went across the river to Lewiston, Idaho, then climbed up out of the valley on 195 where we had had come down in August on our way through the Nez Perce reservation to Missoula, Montana. After we got to the top, the road straightened out and we went about 30 miles to Moscow where we had a great Pizza at Gambino's. Got one large enough that I will be eating pizza for lunch for 2 days. But really good pizza. Once we were in Moscow, we felt we were essentially "home" as it is only about 8 miles from there to our room. A short, but satisfying trip to see more of this beautiful creation called earth. Oh, then to top it off, on PBS last nite, we say "Cloud, Stallion of the Arrowhead Mountains". Pretty interesting since we just came across the Montana Rockies last week and saw free ranging horses.

What a trip...

Before I update you on our recent trip west, I need to indulge the followers of the healing fingers. I think we're making progress.

We left Tuesday evening, later than we planned and made it to Madison, Wisconsin. That was OK, we could make up the time the next day. Well, that was fine until I decided to surprise Georgia and stop by the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN.. I think it was worth it as she seemed to really enjoy being in shopping heaven, even if it was only for a couple of hours. That night we made it to St. Cloud, MN, knowing that we could make it to our next planned stop by the next evening by driving a little extra. About here there was a little disappointment, however because we had expected that we would be at the right place and time for beautiful fall tree colors. However, we forgot about the cold snap that swept across the area just ahead of us and frosted the trees before they had developed their color. Our goal for that evening was Glendive, Montana, just across the North Dakota, Montana line. We didn't take into account that the pheasant season had just started and eastern Montana was included in the hot pheasant hunting country, so every rooming place was surrounded by pick-up trucks and filled with hunters. It had gotten dark about Bismarck, ND, so that also made the trip a bit unpleasant since we were missing the scenery we had come to view. We decided that rather than taking the "through the country" route that we had planned for daytime travel to Glacier National Park, we needed to stay on the interstate and go on to Billings for the night. 3 hours later, we find that Billings is hosting the Northern International Livestock Exposition (NILE) as well as a state teacher's convention, so every room in Billings was booked. On to Bozeman where we had secured a room. After a few hours of sleep, we found that Bozeman was a beautiful spot on the earth surrounded by several mountain ranges. We also experienced our first Hilton Garden Inn..... good place. To give us some time at Glacier, we pushed on to stay in Great Falls, Montana, only 3 hours from the east entrance to the park at St Mary. Check out this western disabled parking spot in Great Falls. My, my, I have never seen such majestic mountains as we saw going up the "going to the sun" road. Oh, another small surprise. Although the web site said the park would be open til Oct 18, we found building except a couple of primitive rest rooms locked up without a person in sight. There were a few adventerous souls on the road and we did enjoy the free trip up into the park. We know the road would be closed to going completely across, so that wasn't a disappointment. If you get near this area, it is worth the trip. On the way out, just past St. Mary we rounded a curve and Georgia got a dream come true experience. There along the road was a band of horses. She jumped out and started snapping pictures. We made it to Kalispell, MT where we had booked a room (no more chances taken) about dark, so we didn't get to go into the west end of the park. Got a good night's sleep before making the last leg of the trip to Pullman. We took state roads southwest to get to I-90. Just outside Plains, MT after talking with Greg on the phone, Georgia saw a herd (flock) of Bighorn sheep resting on a cliff along the road. That was a thrill for both of us as the horses and a few deer were about all we saw besides cows to this point. Well, we did see a herd of bison on the blackfoot reservation. Once we hit I-90, we were ready to be in Pullman. Believe it or not, as beautiful as it is, we were no longer impressed with scenery. I think we have OD'd again. Since we went through Moscow, ID on the way, we stopped at one of our favorite Mexican Food places (Casa D' Lopez) so we could crash when we got to our room in Pullman. So now, with one day of work under my belt, we are settled in for a couple of weeks.

Another Monday later

I think this week has brought wonders in the healing process. Still some tender areas and some "tingly" areas. Maybe next time, I'll take more time with the camera.

Healing progress

For those few of you who are following the progress of my finger healing, rather than asking the obligatory "how are your fingers?", here is the update from this morning. At this point they have released me on my own recognisance (sp)... Bandage as I like (mostly to not freak out other people), and call them if I have questions. For those of you who have not formerly witnessed the miraculous, healing response of the mammalian body, I'll post pics every once in a while so that you can see how we are designed to overcome adversity.