Author: admin

Ok. I will apologize in advance because I may have quite a few posts the next couple months. There’s just too many activities!

I just got back from Red Lodge on Monday night. Red Lodge is a little less than an hour south of Billings. It’s just outside of where you hop on the Beartooth Highway to enter into Yellowstone. Everyone kept recommending this town so Casey and I headed down there Sunday morning to check it out! We stayed at Rock Creek Resort . Loved it! It backs right up to the mountains and the river runs right behind it. I highly recommend it if ever passing through this way.

Red Lodge is a really cute little mountain town. There’s one main street with actually quite a decent variety of art galleries, boutique shops, restaurants and bars. We started off at Red Lodge Ales . It’s right at the start of town and was also highly recommended so, when in Rome. It was super nice out so we were able to sit on their patio – had a few beers and some food. Both food and beer were really good!

We then ventured in to town and parked at one end and pretty much made an appearance at every gallery and store that was open on the street. Had some nice chats with the store owners. The town is quite the tourist attraction in the summer so I think the owners get a kick out of asking where people are coming from. Inevitably people are fascinated with travel nurses and think it is “the coolest job.” We don’t disagree. After we made it to all the shops we went back to one end of town and started our eating and drinking tour. We began at a cute little steakhouse with a really nice outside patio that overlooked the street. Good people watching!  On our way to the steakhouse we had passed a bar that looked like a lot of locals would go there so we headed there next. The bar is called The Snag Bar. It was basically love at first drink in there. The owner’s name is Carl and we are obsessed with him. He is the friendliest guy ever and was so welcoming to Casey and I. We both tried a local Red Lodge brew, both of which were fantastic. We asked Carl five million questions about where to hike and he so kindly obliged. We loved this guy so much that we left to go grab a quick bite at a restaurant called Bogarts (really awesome atmosphere and really good mexican food) and then headed back to the Snag.

Quick history on The Snag. It was built in 1902 and the tin walls and ceiling are still the original. So is the whole bar! The bar itself was made in Chicago and they shipped it up this way and then it was carried by wagon to the town to place into the building. But it’s so interesting because the tin wall and ceilings have this intriguing lady imprinted in all the tiles. If you click on the hyper link you’ll be able to see it. But she almost looks like the Starbucks siren. We asked Carl what the meaning was behind this but he didn’t know. His wife is the local art teacher in town and they were so interested in this woman that they made her the logo for the bar. Ok..carrying on…

Casey and I had planned on having one last night cap at the Snag and then we were going to head back to the resort to sit on our patio and have some wine. We took a different route. We ended up talking to this guy, Dylan, who was born and raised and still lives in Red Lodge. He is super cool and so nice. He introduced us to his crew he was hanging with all of whom were incredibly welcoming and a ton of fun! Two of the girls were actually travel nurses and ended up staying around Montana because they loved it so much. This seems to be a theme. Anyway we ended up grabbing a few numbers, closing down the bar and finally heading back. Then Dylan actually took us hiking Monday!

Monday, as a lot of you saw, we spent hiking through the Beartooth Mountains. We met Dylan in town and all went in his truck to the trailhead. There are multiple reasons why I was super happy Dylan came with us and one of them was his truck. After driving down the road that took us to the trailhead I’m not sure my little Honda Civic would have faired very well.

Anyway, it was so beautiful! The mountains still have a lot of snow in them but the weather is warm. I think it was about 70 and sunny while we were hiking which was perfect. We had decided at the beginning of the hike to just go until we couldn’t walk any further because of snow pile up. We ended up going about 8 miles round trip. Our end goal had been a lake in the middle of the mountains but the snow was way too deep. We were able to stop by this awesome waterfall and just relax on the rocks for a bit and enjoyed a beer. The pictures don’t really do things justice.

We did have multiple occasions where we had to either walk through snow, on snow (if it was iced over) or maneuver around the snow by climbing on rocks, trees etc. It was actually fun until the end of the hike when all of us were soaked. It felt like I was walking in a lake because I had so much snow in my shoes haha. If we fell in the snow or sunk into the snow it was up to my waist, so it was no joke. It was a really good trail to break in my hiking shoes because it wasn’t a terrible incline. So I was happy about that. Oh! We saw a moose on our way into the trail! It was so cool – talk about a large animal. I find it interesting because most people we spoke with in Red Lodge told us they were more scared of a moose than a grizzly. Sooooo, noted. In addition, we saw rockchucks (I’m not sure if that’s the right spelling). These little guys were so cute! I have a picture of one standing on it’s hind legs barking at us on my instagram. They cracked me up.

We got done with our hike and headed back home. We stopped at Dylan’s house and he lives in this super cute little log cabin. He said if we head back to Red Lodge this summer we can pitch a tent at his place and do some “glamping.” So that was cool. Really glad we met him and we all had such a good time together! The people in Montana are insanely nice. It is very bizarre. I’ve only been here a little over two weeks but almost everyone I’ve met has been extremely welcoming and nice. Casey and I are both not used to this hospitality and it’s a really really nice breath of fresh air!

Last night I did another hike with the Meetup group I joined. It was a really nice evening. We did it just before sun set and the lighting was so pretty (as I mentioned in my insta photo). We did Phipps Park, which I had hike last week but didn’t realize there was a longer hiking trail along the ridge. We did the longer trail last night and I loved it. I will definitely be back to do that again. After the hike I went with two of the guys and did trivia. I love trivia so much! It was a lot of fun. We sucked, but it was a lot of fun 🙂 I think I will miss the next two weeks of hikes with this group because of work but hope to join back up in a few weeks.

I work the next three nights now but Casey and I are headed to Bozeman area this weekend to explore the town and do another hike somewhere. I think we may stop at some hot springs as well. Multiple people have recommended Chico hot springs to us. So stay tuned for the next adventure!

I posted a few photos below of the Lake Fork hike and my Tuesday night group I hike with.

Cheers!

 

I made it to Montana last Sunday afternoon. My dad drove with me and we had a really nice time traveling out here together! Luckily when we arrived on Sunday it was sunny and 70s so we were able to explore because Monday was about 35 and rain/snow.

Sunday Dad and I went to lunch at Montana Brewing Co. downtown Billings. Really excellent beer and good food served as well! They have a nice little outdoor patio so that will be fun to visit in the summer. It also looks like a potentially solid spot to watch the World Cup over the summer so that’s exciting! We then went down to Riverfront Park and hiked around for awhile. It’s a really nice little park on the Yellowstone River. I’ve already been back there to walk around and just sit by the river with some coffee.

Billings is surrounded by what they call the RimRocks. It’s this huge wall of sandstone bluffs that surround the city. I was so curious about how these formed and turns out that this area used to be an outlet of the Arctic Ocean. As the ocean started to recede the waves slammed up against the coast compacting different elements of sand. This constant movement and compacting is what formed these RimRocks! Then the Yellowstone river started carving its way through these rocks and that is how the town became outlined. I found that very interesting. It’s so weird to think that this used to be completely underwater. Although, I guess everything used to be completely underwater but just bizarre when you see things like that. Anyway, Dad and I went and walked along these. There’s really great views of the Beartooth Mountains from up there. I’ve gone running along that path a few times since being here. Really pretty and very peaceful!

I started work Wednesday. My orientation group was me and another travel nurse and that was it. Turns out me and this other travel nurse, Casey, really hit it off so that was happy. We’ve already done a little hike together and hit up a brewery in town. We are planning out a few hiking trips over the next couple months. She’s from Seattle and also on her second travel assignment. So it will be fun to have a travel buddy. Also, as it turns out, the girl that she is renting a room from (who is also a nurse) is really good friends with the nurse that trained me at the hospital the last two nights. She and I also hit it off and are planning on doing a day trip or two next weekend. She is from Wisconsin as well and has been doing travel nursing for 3 years and loves Billings so she is actually permanently moving here. So I’m happy to have met two people in the first week here that seem like we share similar interests and will have some fun together.

Meeting them has helped my outlook quite a bit. I’ve told a lot of you that I’ve had a harder time adjusting to this Montana move than I did North Carolina. I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with the fact that I was only home from Vietnam for 24 hours before jetting off to Montana. In addition, which I’ve also told quite a few of you, I am living with a guy, his wife, their 5 year old daughter and three other guys who are renting from him and living downstairs. I was in such a rush to find housing before Vietnam that I did not ask questions and had no idea this was the case so I have been a bit shell shocked. It’s been quite an adjustment living with 6 other humans that are complete strangers. That being said, they are all incredibly nice and seem really laid back. I suppose you have to be to open your home to that many random people. I have my own room and my own bathroom – thank the good lord for that. My bedroom is upstairs and all the guys are downstairs. Also thankful for that. I have actually only met one of the guys. I haven’t even seen the others. They apparently work at the oil refinery here in town and I hear them get home around 9pm and get up at 4:50am so they must work awful hours.

Anyway, I am sure I will adjust. I am already starting to feel a little more comfortable. I say this as I am sitting in a coffee shop typing this up because I’m trying to stay out of the house haha. I told a few people I am going to have to print up a photo of my dream home and plaster it everywhere to remind myself why I am doing this. My ultimate goal is to save enough money to buy a house by the time I’m done traveling and I am saving a ton of money by just renting a room instead of an entire place. Full on gypsying here.

The weather has been gorgeous so I have been able to hike and go for runs around town almost every day since I’ve been here. I actually have a pretty solid tan going already! You all know how I love my summer tan. I am looking forward to getting paid this upcoming week. With every paycheck I need to start purchasing legit hiking gear. First on the list are some nice hiking shoes. I think I’d have some issues trying to hike through these Rockies in my running shoes.

Speaking of hiking, have any of you heard of the app MeetUp? I had discovered it when I went down to North Carolina and had joined a few “adventure” and “hiking” groups but never utilized it because of my work schedule. So I joined another adventure and hiking one before heading out to Montana. Last night I forced myself to actually go to an event. I’m really glad I did it. I met up with 8 other people at one of the parks in town and we did a two hour hike through this really gorgeous park. I was nervous going there, of course, as I did not know a single person. Turned out to be a lot of fun! Isn’t that always the way though? You are nervous to do something and then once you start in on it you’re always glad you did it. It’s like exercise. You hate the thought of it but you never regret it afterwards. Anyway, there was quite an eclectic mix of people who went and all different age groups. One of the ladies on the hike had grown up in Sheboygan and one of her brothers lives in Mequon and works at UWM. I’ve only been here a week and have met 4 people from Wisconsin. So funny. A few of us went out to dinner and grabbed a drink afterwards. We are doing another hike next week and then trivia after – love me some trivia!

I was thinking on the way home from the restaurant last night how it’s funny, my life, the last few months. I am constantly pushing past my limits of comfort. This is exactly what I set out to do but it is interesting the ebbs and flows of emotions that come along with it. I think it’s good though. This whole year is about me learning as much as I can and there’s not really a better way to do that than to push the limits. Plus good stories come from these types of things 🙂

So, I looked into fly fishing lessons because I fully plan on living out A River Runs Through It while I’m here. So stay tuned for photos of me in high waste rubber boots and a fly fishing pole. Lessons are insanely expensive though but I’m hoping to try and find somewhere that I can at least try it out. I think that’d be hilarious.

I’ll leave you all with the image of me struggling in the middle of a river in rubber boots. I’ll post after a few adventures next weekend. I am heading to Red Lodge next week with the two girls I had mentioned earlier. It’s supposed to be a cute little mountain town right outside Yellowstone and not too far from Billings. Looking forward to that!

Peace.

I am happy to say that my first solo international trip was wildly successful! Vietnam is a beautiful country with quite an interesting history and the people (aside from the aggressive shoe shiner) were incredibly welcoming and so sweet. This may get lengthy but I will try and tell my stories in the shortest way possible so you guys don’t cry from boredom. Here we go!

Friday was my first day in Vietnam. I reserved this day for leisurely exploration since I had just completed a 22 hour flight. Which by the way – I bought Bose noise cancelling headphones prior to this adventure and WHAT A LIFE SAVER. It’s unreal how amazing they are. I could not hear the airplane engines at all and muffled out most other talking/baby crying etc. Absolute magic.

Anyway, so Friday morning I just wandered around Saigon. This country has been invaded and taken over many times and one of the countries that had control for about 100 years was France. So there is quite a bit of french influence in the architecture there. I visited the Opera House, Notre Dame Cathedral and Post Office – which was designed by Gustave Eiffel. Last stop of the afternoon was Independence Palace also known as Reunification Palace. This was the home and workplace of the President of South Vietnam during the war. This was also the site of the fall of Saigon. Tanks crashed through the gates in 1975 and this ordeal was the end of the war and unifcation of North and SouthVietnam. Super interesting site!

So, one of the things I was very nervous about my visit was trying to navigate through the millions of motorbikes. There are 14 million people in Ho Chi Minh City and 8 million motorbikes and ZERO road rules. No joke these bikes are just coming at you from all directions all the time. Most the blogs I read (yes I read posts specifically on how to cross the street) said to go at a slow steady pace. This actually turned out to be one of the best pieces of advice I had. If you ever go there, do this. Despite the fact that it is terrifying to have bikes coming at you inches away from running you over they really do navigate around you. Quite the adrenaline rush. Also people get fairly impatient and will just ride up on the sidewalk and continue to ride down the sidewalk beeping at you, the pedestrian, to get out of the way…on the sidewalk. Sure. Makes sense.

Speaking of pushy people. Let’s discuss the gentleman who walked up to me and asked if I wanted my shoes shined. I said no to which he responded with bending down, taking out his toothbrush and trying to take my shoe off. My shoe, by the way was a leather strap sandal…good luck shining that bad boy. I basically had to shove him away. No means no, bro. That being said, a lot of people make their living down there by selling anything that they can. I was shocked by the amount of people who sat all day on little pieces of cardboard trying to sell whatever good it was they had. I went on a motorbike food tour Friday night and we went to a lot of back alley places, which I loved. I was basically the only tourist at these places which was so ideal. Anthony Bourdained the crap out of Vietnam. Almost every place we went to we ate on tiny little stools in these TINY little places which I’m pretty sure were both the family’s restaurant and place of living. As we were walking down some of the streets I saw families laying on the floors of these places. So crazy. I can’t imagine.

Saturday I had booked a “social” tour to the Mekong Delta. This meant that I went with 9 other people in a van down to this region which is about two hours south of Saigon. It was so much fun because it was mostly solo travelers and one couple. There was an Australian woman, a northern Vietmanese woman, myself and another American chick from Cali, a German couple and a solo German guy. I got lucky with the group – we had a ton of fun together.

On our way down to the delta we drove through Coconut Country. These people’s entire livelihood is based on coconuts. Anyway, there was a guy back in the day who formed the Coconut Religion. It sounds like this was more of a cult. He built his house in the shape of a coconut, tied his hair in the shape of a coconut, worshipped a coconut and managed to convince his followers that they could ONLY eat coconuts. I was dying over this. The religion ended up being outlawed due to the fact that people were malnourished from only eating cocunuts. Laugh out Loud.

Driving through the countryside you will notice random above-ground grave sites. Families worship their ancestors and when a family member dies they bury them right smack dab in the middle of their rice fields. Nothing like a little dead body aroma to your rice 🙂 ..but they believe that by doing this it brings them good fortune. It was so bizarre though to see all these random small grave sites in the middle of people farming.

Hilarity ensues on this next day of adventure. Sunday I booked a motorbike tour to see the Cu Chi Tunnels. For those that aren’t familiar these are the underground tunnels dug (by hand) by the Viet Cong to combat the Americans during the war.

So first of all. The roads in Vietnam are not the most smooth in the world. So we were about 10 minutes in to this bike trip and my spine was basically jolted through by head and my tailbone was probably broken into 4 little sore pieces. We stopped and had bahn mi for breakfast – I also found it interesting that this is a breakfast dish there. So good though. Anyway, after breakfast we drove for awhile to fully make sure that my spine was all the way through my head. At one point my guide asked if I liked offroading. Before I had time to respond we made a sharp turn onto a small dirt road and went through all these fields to then make a pit stop at a cafe. I had some coconut water here and I’m not sure if this upset my stomach or what the deal was but by the time we reached the tunnels I was basically on the verge of pooping my pants. I got so nervous because we were in the middle of the wildnerness, hour away from home and I was wearing light colored shorts. I was sweating profusely both because it was 100 degrees out and because I was getting those waves of pain/urge to poop my pants. Luckily I had brought two tabs of immodium with me incase this happened. So my guide went to go grab something and I popped one in. Thank the good lord this helped..for the moment.

So we proceded into these TINY tunnels. To even get down into the tunnel I had to swivel my hips because they barely fit. Then we get down to the tunnels and there are bats. Please keep in mind that I am fully on my knees with nowhere to turn and I had to walk up to these bats which refused to fly away until I was about half an away from it. It then started flying and I screamed. And then it flew BACK towards us! At this point I’m like hell no. I’m about to get rabies from a vietmanese bat all while I’m trying not to have diarrhea and sweating liters of fluid. My tour guide was so casual too. He was probably getting a kick out of this either that or he was real annoyed. Bless his heart, he didn’t say a word.

So we get out of these tunnels and I look and sound like I just ran a marathon. Sweat is pouring down my face and I can barely talk. Turns out running crouched over through a small hot tunnel is hard. Anyway, we ate lunch and started the trek back home where the diarrhea sensation started to kick in again. Also, my guide had a little trunk box on his bike and which acted as my back rest. Except it had two notches on it where my back was resting. So now my tailbone is mince meat, my spine is through my skull and I have two huge bruises on my spinal discs. And I’m about to poop my pants. My butt was completely numb and I needed a break so bad but I refused to ask for one because I needed to get home. But! My guide was like oh we are going to stop for a drink. Super. Anyway, I managed to make it home without a code brown but definitely bruised and battered.

I had only booked a hotel for the first 4 days and left the last 3 days open ended. I decided to fly about 8 hours north to Nha Trang. This is a city that sits on the South China Sea and also backs up to the mountains. Really pretty!

I had told my tour guy the day before that I was going here and he told me that it’s pretty but it is a huge mecca for Russian and Chinese tourists. I did not know this and he was not wrong. It’s such a huge place for Russians that they are starting to open up their own stores and restaurants there and the Vietmanese people are starting to leave the area. It was a gorgeous place but not somewhere I would return. You can tell that in the next year or two it is going to be like a Wisconsin Dells type situation. Super cheesey and touristy. Such a bummer. But! I really enjoyed my time there.

The sea was so pretty, the colors were awesome! And the mountains were gorgeous. I also had quite a humorous day here – although at the time I wanted to cry. I wanted to hike this one mountain trail that I kept reading about. There was a major language barrier while I was trying to tell the hotel staff and then the taxi driver where I was trying to go. The cab driver ended up just dropping me off at a random place along the base of the mountain and told me to climb up. What. So I start walking up this sidewalk and get stopped by a herd of goats who are being chased by someone on foot and someone on a motorbike honking at them. Hilarious. I turned around and started back down to where we came from to find the start of the trail. I never found the trail. I ended up in this back roads village where I also ran into a herd of cows. Accompanied by no one. Three of them started growling at me and coming towards me. So then I was like, cool, I’m not going to die from rabies but I will get trampled by angry mountain cows.

I walked for four hours in 100 degree heat but finally made it to this Po Nagar temple I had been wanting to see. Temple was gorgeous – those are the pictures I had posted on insta. I got back to the hotel and didn’t even care about life after all that walking. I decided to go lay at the beach for a few hours which was super relaxing and I swam in the sea a bit too. The best medicine!

So this basically rounded out my trip. I would defintely return except next time I would explore northern Vietnam! But I feel pretty proud about doing all this by myself and it was really rewarding. I highly recommend a trip there if you ever get the chance!

Next order of business and then I’ll stop this novel. Two days before I left for Vietnam I accepted my next assignment for travel nursing. Tomorrow morning I am heading to Billings, Montana for 13 weeks. This may seem odd but I was really hoping to be out this way for summer. Billings is close to Yellowstone and a several hour drive away from Glacier National Park! I am so happy about this! It will be so fun to be out there for summer. I am hoping to make a trek up to Banff in Canada as well. Also! My good friend, Jared, from college lives out there and I got in contact with him and we plan on hiking and doing several things together this summer which will be so fun 🙂

My next post will be my welcome from Montana post!

I added a few pictures below. Enjoy!

 

 

As I’m typing this I’m literally crying because I’m so sad to be leaving this area on Monday. A and I just had the best mini vacation down to Savannah! I couldn’t even wait a few days to write about our adventures! You know that light, peaceful feeling you get after a really, really good summer day with friends or family and you’re just sitting there in silence after the day is done and you feel infinite? That’s the feeling I had when we were driving back this afternoon and it was just the best.

Let me preface this with the fact that on the way down to Savannah some metal plate underneath my car came loose. It was just hanging in the middle of my car so the entire time we were down there my car sounded like it was on the verge of a breakdown. A called it the popcorn machine. So imagine this while I’m driving through serene, peaceful Savannah for three days. Got some sweet looks.

We arrived to Savannah early afternoon on Monday. Checked into the hotel and wasted no time getting out and exploring. I had made reservations at The Olde Pink House (which I posted a photo of and the story behind on insta) so we drove down to the historic district and explored a bit before dinner. Savannah’s historic district is built around 22 squares or parks. Basically in any direction there’s a new square every other block or so. They all have names based on historical figures and they are all landscaped beautifully. After exploring a few of these we went to dinner. The Olde Pink House was so pretty inside! They let you explore the 11 different dining rooms and each is so unique. Dinner was excellent, I highly recommend this if you ever visit Savannah. It’s pricier but worth it. I got the lobster tail with mash potatoes and butter beans. A got their fried chicken with mac and cheese. They prepare their fried chicken for 5 hours! It was SO good!!

Tuesday morning we got up early and went to the Sentient Bean. An eclectic coffee shop that displays local art on their walls. I was also happy because they sell quite a few vegan options. Also, it is directly across from Forsyth Park which is one of the main places I wanted to check out. Forsyth Park is Savannah’s Central Park..on a much smaller scale of course. The main attraction at this park is the fountain. It is over 150 years old and quite elaborate. After this we just kept walking towards downtown and the river. A major point of interest for me was to see the Mercer-Williams house. The house was the scene of the murder in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. A, bless his soul, has never read the book and probably could not care less but he treated me to a guided tour of the house! Williams was the man who owned the house until his death in 1990 – although, his family still owns it and his sister actually lives there now. Anyway, he was known for his antiques and his building restoration. He saved and restored 50-something buildings in Savannah! That’s crazy! He also ran an antique shop out of his carriage house. Therefore, this particular house has some incredible works of art and different pieces throughout. Some date back to the 1500s. It was awesome to see! A even enjoyed it! 🙂

I had been wanting to find a piece of art that is representative of the South to remember my first travel nurse assignment. The Savannah College of Art and Design aka SCAD is located in town and they have their own shop. We wandered in there and one of the first things I saw was a live oak draped in spanish moss sketched into a restored piece of maple wood. SO COOL. Plus it was done by a Savannah artist which is even better! I’m excited to someday display that wherever the heck I end up in this world.

Along the river downtown there is a nice little cobblestone riverwalk with a bunch of restaurants etc. We ended up eating at this place called Huey’s on the river. Cute place with a nice view, it was a little chilly so we ate inside but still had a view up against the windows. I had a shrimp po’boy that was delish! After lunch we drove over to Bonaventure Cemetary. This sounds like a really bizarre destination if you don’t know about it but it is a historic landmark and a main attraction because of “the book” (Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil). I also posted a photo of this and the story behind it on insta. Absolutely the most scenic and beautiful cemetary I’ve ever seen..also an odd statement.

Because no grass grows under my feet, we left the cemetary and went right back downtown. A waitress had so kindly informed us the night before that open container is legal anywhere in the historic district. So, we grabbed a few beverages and walked across the street to hang out by the river for awhile. Later that night, after relaxing for a minute, we went to Leopold’s Ice Cream parlor. Famous place that has been run by the same family since early 1900s. Each night there are lines down the block for the icream. It was worth it! We got into the car to head back to the hotel and A goes “I made it through the day, I made it!” … I get a little crazy with my determination in seeing ALL THE THINGS I suppose. I had made him walk almost 10 miles that day. Oops.

Wednesday was the best weather day so we got up early and went to Wormsloe Plantation. This plantation originated in the 1700s!! There is a 1.5 mile drive into the land that is lined with live oak. It’s unreal. The grounds are HUGE. Also you feel like you are in a jungle while walking through them. The land backs up to a small river. When it was a running plantation the owner had armed guards and boats so that he could warn the local military if the Spanish were about to invade. Very interesting site. Unfortunately, you can’t see the house because it is still a private residence but the grounds itself are well worth a visit.

Next and final stop was Tybee Island! A and I both wanted our ocean fix so this was perfect. We sat on the beach for awhile enjoying the sun and water. I’m a partial lobster – again. Worth it though. We grabbed lunch at Tybee Island Social Club – really good and quite unassuming. It’s next to a pretty cheesy and decked out seafood place which was packed for that reason. This place was much quieter but the food was excellent. A and I reluctantly pulled ourselves out of the sun and headed back to Greensboro.

It was just the best way to end my time here. A is heading back up to Lake Placid in the next week or two and I will head home and then onto wherever I go next. I am extremely sad about that. He really made North Carolina what it was for me and I am VERY lucky to have met him. He asked me if I would watch him race this up coming season and I said of course I would! He brought up each of us going our own way a few times during the trip but in typical Jen fashion I couldn’t talk about it because it made me sad. I originally told people that I thought I would try to date a different person each place I was assigned but I don’t think I can do that. This would be way too hard to do every three months haha. Also, there’s a zero percent chance I would ever find this perfect of a scenario again. So for now I’ll just count myself lucky for meeting him and being able to get to know him!

Anyway, enjoy the photos below! This will be my last post until after I return from Vietnam in mid-April.

Earlier this past week I wrote a post that was chalk full of angst and complaints. Before I posted it I decided to save the draft, wait a few days and decide if I still wanted to post it. I’m glad I did that because I just revisited the post and man, what a debbie downer! I have been working quite a bit and also up until this last week (after multiple complaints to the owner) had a very noisy neighbor so I hadn’t really been sleeping. I had a bad day and was emotional so I’m glad I decided to hold off on that one.

I deleted all the complaints and sadness and instead I’ll share an experience I had last week with a patient. It’s not really much different than most nights with my patients but again, I think I was over tired and just VERY in tune with emotions. So, here we go.

I had this patient, an elderly woman (not behind a counter) — points if you know that reference. She was incredibly independent up until the last couple of months when she has had some unfortunate health issues arise. I took care of her for two days and the first day and a half she was pretty angry, rude and occasionally mean towards myself and I’m sure other staff. At some point around 2:30am I went in to give her some medications and was helping her get situated in bed. She started to tell me how she’s having a really hard time accepting the idea of depending on others right now for help and then told me how her current health predicament came to be. I listened and just let her talk as she clearly needed to blow off some steam. One thing lead to another and she started telling me about her two dogs she had had (they passed away a few years ago) and then about how her husband convinced her to quit her job many years ago and open a barber shop with him. The two of them worked together for 11 years before he passed and then she continued to run the shop and cut hair for another 20 years. I was standing there listening to her and looked at her eyes. She was just staring straight up at the ceiling but her eyes were constantly moving back and forth. You could tell that she was reliving all of these memories as she was telling them to me. She continued on to tell me about a few of her clients and then how she got to the point where she couldn’t stand long enough to cut hair anymore so she finally had to retire. Often times when I am in a patient’s room my mind is constantly thinking about the next thing I need to do and even though I’m listening to the patients, I’m not LISTENING. To really listen to someone, so much so that it feels like you are watching a video of their memories is something that does not happen very often. I guess that’s it. It was really cool to actually listen to someone and hear what they have to say. I hope everyone does that occasionally.

Onward. I ventured up to Virginia two weekends ago to visit Andy. I was able to meet his group of friends from Scottsville and check out the town. It’s a cute little town. Sunday we went to a small local brewery called James River Brewery and listened to some live music and then got some coffee and walked down by the James River. There is a huge levee built by the river because apparently it used to flood up through the town to the tops of some of the buildings. Pretty unreal. Sunday night we went to dinner with two of Andy’s friends who I really really enjoyed. They were super chill, solid people. I was glad to be able to spend a bit of time with them.

My travel recruiter started sending my application to places for my next assignment. I’m really hoping to get out west somewhere near some form of mountains. I think it would be really fun to be near mountains for the summer to explore and hike around. So we will see what works out. Stay tuned!

I can’t believe I only have one week left here in North Carolina already. I’m actually really sad to be leaving. I have really enjoyed my time down here so far. This state is really unique and there are so many different climates and environments within such close proximity to each other. Perhaps I will be back in this region some day! In other news, I’ve managed to turn my parent’s house into an Amazon warehouse the last few weeks in preparation for my Vietnam trip. I’m totally going to look like that person who gets new white shoes and wears them for the first time and the whole world knows it’s their first time wearing these new kicks. Oh well. Should be some good stories coming from this trip.

Andy is on his way to my place for the day and then tomorrow A and I are going down to Savannah, GA for a few days!! I’m so excited to check out Savannah and the surrounding area. I’ve heard it’s gorgeous. Plus, I read Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil a few months ago and I’m low key freaking out about seeing some of the sites from the book. Also, if you haven’t read that book, I HIGHLY recommend it.

I was going to wait to write a post until after Savannah but I’m pretty sure I’m going to have an obnoxious amount of photos and things to say from that venture so, stay tuned!!

Cheers.

 

Get comfortable because I’ve got quite the plethora of activities to discuss in this post.

I’ll start with the title of the post, I suppose. As I’ve stated before it has been really nice weather here but we have had a few cool days the last few days. By cool, I mean 60. So I clearly still think this is nice and have been warm whereas people here think it is freezing. A few days ago A and I were driving somewhere and I was melting because he had the heat on full blast. He goes “what’s  wrong with you, you midwestern polar bear?” I thought that was a funny name to bust out and very true. That’s all.

Ok onto adventures. Last week was Comedy Fest in Greensboro. So last Friday we went to a comedy show at this place called the Idiotbox. I obviously have no idea what I’m getting myself into with any of these adventures so it was funny when we walked in for the show and it was in a tiny room in the basement of an internet cafe. If anyone has been to an internet cafe before please picture the crowd you’ve seen there and that’s what we’re dealing with here. Nothing against this crew at all but A and I could not have stood out any more. We had to wait about a half hour before we were able to go downstairs for the show so we got some wine and were just sitting amongst 100 people playing video games and board games. The people watching was most excellent. But aside from that the actual show itself was really good. It was only $12 to see 5 or 6 comedians perform and almost all of them were entertaining. It was a lot of fun. Prior to the show we went to Hops Burger Bar. It’s kind of like Stack’d in Milwaukee with all these different kinds of burgers. Really good. I had the nutty patty versus an actual beef patty. I was a little apprehensive but it tasted amazing and it was huge!

Early Sunday morning we ventured off towards Wilmington, NC. It was 80 and sunny so I decided I wanted to hit up the beach! Greensboro is in the middle of the state so it’s  not really by any large bodies of water and I needed my water fix. Anyway, so Wrighstville Beach is this cute little beachtown on a barrier island just passed Wilmington. I really loved it. The houses on this island were so wonderful. These huge beach houses on stilts with porches that wrapped around the entire house and all these huge windows. Almost all of them had hammocks on the porches. I was v jealous. We walked through town a bit and ended up eating at this restaurant called South Beach Grill. It was just across the street from the Cape Fear causeway so it was nice to stare at the water and all the boats as we ate on the porch. Then we just went to the oceanside beach and sat there for a few hours. It was so nice out and I was SO happy to see the ocean!! Just before the sun set we left to go back home. I’d love to go back to Wilmington sometime and spend a day exploring that town. It seems like a really neat area. Also in typical Jen fashion, I got roasted. You’d think at some point in these 31 years of my life I’d learn to just put on some damn sunscreen the first time I’m out in the sun.

Something else. A and I were walking through town and a car drove by and yelled something. A asked if I heard them and I said no, but as a girl I typically ignore most comments being yelled out of cars anyway. I guess this group of guys yelled “traitor” to A. I asked why and he said “because I’m walking with a pretty little white girl.” The guys in the car were all black. It will forever be weird to me that this is a thing still. But, I digress.

Here is my current segment of “things I’ve learned” : Cut if off apparently means turn off. I noticed people saying this all the time. Example is “Can you cut off that light for me?” Weird. Next, Cookout is a fast food restaurant not an activity of grilling burgers etc. I had heard people saying they had Cookout many times while here and just assumed they grilled out. I finally figured this out last week. Third and last is that people REALLy love Jesus here. I work in a hospital system that is not religiously affiliated with anything and there are Jesus signs everywhere. One bathroom on a unit I’ve worked on has a Jesus themed bathroom. Like a bible verse is hanging on a banner on the wall. Also I had a patient’s family member come in with a denim bedazzled hat with “I love Jesus” in red jewels. The love is real you guys. So real.

So I had watched this documentary a few years ago called Searching for Sugarman. It was about this musician named Rodriguez who had been briefly popular back in the 70s. He even won a grammy. But then he kind of fell off the face of the earth. So this documentary shows the search to find him and they found him in Detroit, Michigan which is where he is from and still lives to this day. His music could be compared to Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel etc. It’s really good and I really enjoyed learning about him and his music. So when I saw that he was going to be playing in Raleigh I decided to go.

I had mentioned this concert to A and he asked if he could come with me. I tried to warn him because it’s not really his music scene at all. But he really wanted to go so I was like ok man, this is happening. He was actually a really good sport about it. And the concert was pretty good. It was kind of humorous though. I’m not sure if Rodriguez has had some health issues but the dude could barely walk. He definitely could not see because he had to have these two guys come out on stage just to put his hand on the microphone. And despite there being a microphone you could barely hear him when he spoke. His encore though, he was loud and came out with a sleeveless shirt on. So it only took him 2 hours to warm up. 🙂

Prior to the concert we went to this restaurant called 42nd Street Oyster Bar. It was SO good! It’s this old school seafood place that had been opened since 1931. We sat at the oyster bar which was fun because they shuck the oysters right infront of you. I tried three different oysters and then had grilled shrimp and mashed potatoes for my entree. I highly recommend this place.

The following morning we went to checkout the State Capitol building and walk around a bit. It was a really pretty building. Although way smaller than I would have thought. After the little history lesson we went to get brunch at a place called Beasley’s Chicken and Honey. I threw aside the vegan thing for a second because there was no way I wasn’t trying the chicken and waffles. I also ordered a buttermilk biscuit. Everything was beyond delicious. The restaurant is one of a few that Ashley Christensen opened up in the area. She is a James Beard award winner for Best Chef in the Southeast. Definitely lived up to that at this restaurant!

Last activity for this post. Yesterday was my birthday so I went out with another travel nurse. We started at a brewery called Natty Greene’s on Elm Street here in Greensboro. Had a few brews and then went down the street to this dive bar called the Bearded Goat. Small place but I’m also down for the dives. I made the unfortunate mistake of asking this guy what beer he was drinking because it was like the color of molasses. This guy was like 50 years old and looked like he belonged in the internet cafe I had mentioned earlier. So when he took that as an opener to start talking to us I had immediate regrets. Needless to say we peaced out right after that first beer. I think that’s when we ended up at this club called the Boiler Room. I can’t even describe to you guys how out of place I was at this place. This is one of those places that has a dress code like “no baggy pants below your waste” and “no backwards hats.” Sooo you know the type of establishment it was. Now picture me walking into this bar wearing a chambray shirt, skinny jeans and loafers. SO FUNNY. Also I’m 31. But whatever. It was fun. We were dancing a bit and some guy for whatever reason pointed to his friend and said “that guy is a genious and a millionaire and he’s only 26.” At some point this millionaire started talking to us and he is from Northern Michigan. He somehow bought a development company down in NC and was down there for business. I don’t know. It was all so bizarre. Ok also. Some guy walked by me and goes “are you looking to get pregnant?” I was like WHAT. He goes “ya, that’s a new pickup line I’m trying out.” Dude. That is the worst. Toodles. Ugh.

So those are my adventures lately. I have to go try and drag myself to work tonight. I work quite a bit this week and have to move air bnbs on Thursday in the  middle of a three night in a row deal so that won’t be fun. Stay tuned for next time. Next weekend I am going to visit Andy in VA so that should be good.

 

Yo. This update will be pretty random. Although, I guess they all are. I worked the last two nights, have off tonight and work the next three nights after this so I figured I’d throw in a post. I have five days off after that though! I am hoping to make a trek to the ocean or Asheville in those couple days!

So, I worked one night last week and was hardcore into my slumber when I woke up to a SUPER low flying (and loud) military jet over the neighborhood! For those that are aware of my plane obsession you know how happy I was when I saw this. Also, a little sad because I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep until this jet stopped flying. I can’t contain myself and have to constantly watch out the window to wait to catch another glimpse. Anyway, Piedmont Triad International Airport is about 10 minutes from where I am staying. I guess it is not rare to see military jets circling and flying low in this area because they use that airport as a take off/land training base. I was wondering why several people who were walking their dogs did not even look up when the jet flew over. I was like HOW ARE YOU NOT LOVING THIS!?

Last Thursday it was gorgeous out, 70s and sunny. So A and I went hiking at Pilot Mountain which is about 35 minutes northwest of Greensboro. My mom and I had passed this on the way down here and were intrigued so I decided to check it out! It was gorgeous. The top of the mountain has these two huge stone “knobs” (that’s what they called them) at the top that stick out in the skyline. It was really cool because these knobs made the circumference of the top of the mountain a little smaller. There were trails going around each of these which made for awesome views the entire hike. I am looking forward to going back and doing the entire hike up the mountain. We got there a little later so just did some hiking up top before the sun went down too much!

After hiking we came back and watched the Olympics. It’s really kind of weird watching the Olympics with someone who knows, competes with and is friends with the athletes we were watching. Dick’s Sporting Goods is one of the US Men’s bobsled team sponsors. A does “appearances” and speaking engagements and stuff for them on his off time. So last week he had to go to the headquarters in Pittsburgh for an engagment. He sent me a few photos and videos. His picture is on elevator doors and huge banners throughout the headquarters. Apparently they pick a few athletes to showcase and he is one of them. I told him that must be so odd walking into that campus and seeing yourself plastered everywhere. Kind of cool though.

Just before writing this post I rebooked a trip to Vietnam. I was supposed to go in January and that didn’t happen so I figured it would be a waste of life and money to let a ticket go since I had already paid for it. So, I forced myself to book another flight and I am headed there in April after I am done with this assignment in NC. I am going by myself so that should be interesting. I talked to a few people who have been there and they’ve all said they felt super safe there so meh, we’ll find out! I am mainly excited to eat all their food! I can’t wait to try everything! I figure I’ll book a few tours so I am with people along the way but I’ll be primarily around Saigon so there will be plenty of tourists. Not sure if I’ll go the hostel route or not. I am so picky about sleeping so I may just get my own room. Plus, if I end up catching a travel bug I’m not exactly looking to share a space with people. It’s so cheap to travel there anyway that spending a few bucks on a room will be nothing. According to a lot of blogs I’ve read I should be able to do the whole trip for under $200. SO CRAZY!

A few final sappy thoughts before I sign out for this week:

I received a card from a good friend this week that came at a really good time. Plus the card is awesome. I’ll post a picture because I just feel it is very representative of how I have been feeling the past several months and what I am trying to achieve from all this. Anyway, the point is that that card reminded me how insanely lucky I am for all the people in my life. Family and friends. I feel like I always have such a great support system and many times a week and even many times a day I think about how grateful I am for everyone. So, thank you to those who see this! I know people go through a lot of things and mine is insanely minor and this may seem silly but I am still struggling every day and having such good friends and family is just the best. I don’t know what people do without that!

Next sappy thought is how crazy is it that we can do whatever we want with our lives? I’ve been struggling with the idea lately that I am at my own mercy. I keep thinking “well I need to do this next” or “I should go here next because…” or “I need to be settled in a year somewhere.” But also I don’t have to do any of that. Despite the fact that I was supposed to be moving to NYC I had been on the way to a “settling” down track prior to all this happening and that’s just because that’s where I was in life at the time. So it has been hard to get out of that mindframe and realize that I can do whatever I want as long as I drive myself in that direction. It’s pretty cool. I just need to learn how to appreciate it a little more. Which is what this year is all about so I will get there. But I guess what I realized is that even if you are “settled” down you can still do whatever you want and that’s so awesome. I always get really irritated when people complain about things but never do anything to change them. You can literally do anything. I’m so fascinated by that! That being said. I also feel beyond lucky that I have the means to be able to do this. By that I do not mean money. I mean living in a place where I am not afraid to step outside and I am not fleeing from war and scared of getting bombed every day. I will continue to be grateful for that for as long as it lasts. This is also why I am trying to do the most I can with it! There are people who would kill to be able to do any of this!

Finally, I went for a run yesterday and there are actual flowers blooming from the ground. I think I have mentioned this in all my posts but seriously…I will continue to freak out about this for the rest of my days here. It is February 19th and there are tulips and random flowers BLOOMING. I can’t believe how much things like that help the psyche. If I were home right now we wouldn’t be anywhere near flowers. Not even buds. Probably not even grass! So, I’m thrilled about that. It’s supposed to be mid 70s the next several days too so I’m sure that will help things right along 🙂

Ok, time to watch more Olympics!!! Rave on, folks.

 

I didn’t update last week because I woke up after a few night shifts in a row with what can only be described as the plague. It then proceeded to last for a week. I am actually still dealing with swollen lymph nodes and a lingering cough but at least I can function like a normal human being again!

Speaking of work. I just finished week three of this gig. I have reached the point where my anxiety is fairly minimal prior to going into work. So that’s nice. I realized there isn’t a whole lot I can do if I am placed somewhere I am uncomfortable. Which is basically everywhere. I knew this was going to be challenging since I chose a travel assignment where I am a float nurse for an entire hospital system. I have yet to be on the same floor more than once. It has definitely lived up to the expectations. I am kind of glad I decided to do this though because I definitely think it will make the rest of my travel assignments seem like a piece of cake.

Piggybacking on the float nurse deal. Since I am not assigned to one floor and this hospital is huge I haven’t had much of an opportunity to meet very many people nor other travel nurses. Which is kind of a bummer but oh well. Luckily I am still interested and hanging out with the guy I mentioned in the last post. Poor guy is going to be so tired of me dragging him all over the place by April. But for now! It’s awesome for me 🙂 He’s pretty much up for whatever and he is a lot of fun so I’m having a good time. Also, going forward I shall call him A.

Post plague, A and I spent a day together last week. He wanted to take me to the botanical gardens (major brownie points for that thought) but it was raining. So we ended up going bowling, which was so fun! Then we had dinner and went to a brewery. Yesterday, we went to a super cute winery about a half hour west of Greensboro called Westbend Winery. The space was really nice and they had a live folk band playing. The owners were working too which was fun, we got to chat with them for a bit. They were also handing out chocolate and macaroons with the wine. Not mad about it. The new owners had redone the tasting room and had an outside patio area with an overhang and two firepits. It was raining yesterday but it was 70 degrees so it was super awesome they had the overhang. We got to sit outside for a bit and enjoy a glass of wine after our tasting. We then went to dinner at this place called Crafted: the art of tacos. SO good! I got a po’ boy taco and a falafel taco. They had a half hour wait at 7:30pm on a Sunday. So, that’s always a good sign. The owner is local and uses local ingredients etc, which I’m all about so that made me happy.

Whenever I go somewhere new I google “locals guide to” fill in the blank. It hasn’t failed me yet and I’ve always ended up finding awesome suggestions and hole in the wall places veruse chain restaurants etc. So I did this with Charlotte, NC and decided to venture down there today. A taught me that Charlotte is called Queen City. I researched why and apparently it is named after Queen Charlotte, the wife of King George III. I guess she was Queen at the time of the city’s founding.

One of the locals suggested a spa in South Charlotte and that’s where I started my day. A lovely facial and massage later I headed downtown. I paid a visit to the Bechlter Museum of Modern Art. First of all, it only cost $8 for admission and there were two special exhibits going on and they didn’t cost extra. How exciting is that!? The two exhibits were really excellent. My favorite was an exhibit of Mexican photographers primarily from the 30s-40s who had captured life in various parts of Mexico. Super interesting. Also, I love photography in general so I was pretty into it.

After this I went to the 7th Street Public Market. I was a little surprised at how small it was. The website made it seem like it’d be the size of Milwaukee’s but it was about a third of that. Also, it was about 5pm and half the stores were closed already. I’m wondering if maybe it is more there to serve the business folks during the day. Regardless, it was cute and I ended up getting a dish from this italian place that was sooooo delicious. It was olives, onions, chick peas and peppers on top of a bed of pepper infused noodles. YUM! I sat in a park outside the market and ate for a bit. The whole city seemed really clean and I really dug the vibe. I am looking forward to going back when it is a nicer day to just wander around a little more as it was another rainy day. BUT! I did find flowering trees AND noticed that they already had their flowers planted along the streets for the year. I looked like an idiot photographing all that but whatever. I was too excited.

That’s pretty much it for the last few days since I was sick. But, I have a few other thoughts. First of all, I think a lot of you know but I’ve been trying to eat a primarily whole food plant based diet since November. Since doing this my eczema has vanished. It’s beyond exciting! I haven’t had to use my steroid cream once this winter! Even after working multiple shifts in a row which would usually trigger even worse onset of eczema. Also, I now have zero intestinal issues. The only time I have a problem is when I stray from the diet. My energy level is way up and my skin is looking the best it has in forever. It really is crazy. If anyone has any of these issues I highly recommend researching this! Not to mention that in general it’s just very healthy and helps with everything. I am so happy I started doing this!

That’s enough for now. It’s supposed to be 70s and not rainy later this week so I am hoping I will finally be able to go hiking. So, stay tuned for next week!

 

I feel like it’s a little weird that I haven’t had a total meltdown yet about being here, moving away, starting a new job and not knowing a single person. So, I’m not really sure if I just have zero feelings because I don’t have any idea what to expect or if there is one looming down the road. Nevertheless, I made it through week one.

I didn’t even cry when I was an hour late on my second day on the floor at the hospital. I completely overslept. That was fun. #dayshiftproblems Especially because I was already stressed out due to the fact that I was orienting on a cardiac step-down ICU unit and I have no idea what I’m doing. My preceptor was really awesome though and all my patients are alive so I consider that a victory. I have one more night of orientation tomorrow night (we get a whole 3 shifts) and then I have my first solo shift on Wednesday night.

Anyway, so a few things I’ve noticed during the last week here: other runners are very friendly here which makes me happy, incredibly large crows or magpies or whatever they are, abnormally small squirrels and accents that I have a hard time understanding.

I can’t imagine what I sound like to these people around here. I had to ask my preceptor more than a few times to repeat herself because I could not decipher her accent. I got to a point where I just started doing the laugh and head-bob deal. Based on the looks I received from her a few times I’m pretty sure those were inappropriate responses. Oh well.

The first time I told someone at work that I came from Wisconsin they immediately asked me how much I love cheese. For crying out loud. They were actually very disappointed when I told them I can’t even really eat cheese. Ok, also, it’s very weird and I feel somewhat alarming how many people outside the Midwest do not know where or what Lake Michigan is. HOW!? I’ve experienced this several times when I have gone out west to California but I just thought they were idiots. Turns out that must be an actual thing everywhere other than the Midwest? It’s basically a freshwater ocean so I do not understand the lack of education. I’m going to start dropping Great Lakes pamphlets everywhere.

I told people I would discuss my dating life, if one were to exist, on here so here goes. I’d actually sooner die than date anyone right now but I figure it would do me no good to sit down here and wallow in self pity. So, I jumped on an app for the heck of it and managed to find one human that looked cool enough to talk with. We ended up going out to dinner on Saturday night and actually had a really nice time. Dude is on the US men’s bobsled team and was actually supposed to be going to the Olympics next week but hurt his back. I’d be crying but he’s surprisingly upbeat. We had a coffee date today and so far he seems pretty legit. So we will see if it continues to go well. He’s also only here until the end of spring because they start training in Lake Placid, NY and then compete for the rest of the fall/winter. I was just telling someone that it has taken everything in me to not bring up Cool Runnings. I’m trying really hard to act casual. Stay tuned.

Andy and dad came down to visit yesterday. Andy is only 2.5 hours north of me right now so that was fun. We went to a brunch place called Scrambled! which was delicious and obviously popular as we had to wait an hour. During the wait we visited a coffee place called Common Grounds. Some dude playing a ukulele (I think) was selling the coffee so the vibe was pretty sweet. After brunch we visited the historical museum. It was literally just the history of Greensboro. Which was surprisingly interesting. Turns out this town was a huge textile town and one of, if not the, largest manufacturers of denim. Wrangler is based here. Also did you know Wrangler owns Northface? I did not.

I think that’s it for now. It’s meal prep time for the week.

I think I managed to add a “follow” button on this site? Please feel free to comment or whatever and let me know if it actually works. I had to do some legit code generator stuff to get it on here without having to pay some fee so I’ll feel very good about myself if it works.

Ta Ta For Now!

Shalom. I officially started my year of adventure on Wednesday when my  mom and I started the trek down to Greensboro, North Carolina. Here, I will be starting my first travel nurse assignment tomorrow!

We rolled into Marietta, Ohio on Wednesday night to find people in a frenzy over 2 inches of snow they had received the night prior. Apparently the Ohio Valley does not see very much snow? Schools and businesses were closed and people were wiping their cars down with their arms. We had zero bothers. My tiny Honda Civic plowed right through the whole 2 inches and we made our way into town to explore!

We got back to the hotel where I retrieved my hand-me-down Xanax. I figured I am being as open minded as possible this year and that included letting my mom in on my side hustle. Turns out the last 4 months of my life have caused a few sleepless nights and this just does the trick. Works like a charm.

Thursday morning we carried on towards North Carolina. Not without stopping at the Tamarack of West Virginia. We have passed this place many times on the way down to see Andy and finally decided to check it out. It’s an art museum of sorts filled with local artists’ work. If you ever want moonshine jelly, ANYTHING carved out of wood or perhaps a glass blown cat figurine by all means stop on in. That being said I actually did want to try the moonshine jelly. Anyone ever watch Moonshiners? Nervous.

Anyway, we made it to Greensboro. I am staying in a three bedroom house (all to myself) for the first half of my assignment. It’s really cute and in a nice little neighborhood. It doesn’t appear as though I’ll get mugged or robbed while here so that’s a plus. I am going to go on a run soon and check it out a little more. It’s over 60 degrees here today. We arrived to 6 inches of snow so I am thankful it has been warm the last few days because BYE! I just came from that garbage I am not about to deal with that here. Give me ALL the sunshine and ALL the warm weather 🙂

Our first morning in town we hit up Green Joe’s Coffee. Here is where the pone comes into play. I ordered a blueberry SCONE with my coffee. I took a big bite and it tasted like a cornbread cake. Turns out in the South they often serve pones. These are oval shaped breads made of cornmeal. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t a scone.

Next we visited Duke. I hate Duke. A lot. But we were in Durham and the chapel is iconic soooooooo. The chapel really was gorgeous. Actually the whole campus was really pretty. I recommend checking it out if ever in the area. In other news, basically the entire town of Durham was shut down still from the snow they had received TWO DAYS AGO. So my mom and I were pretty much the only humans wandering around only to find most things closed. We stayed in town long enough to eat at Dashi – a gourmet ramen place. SO GOOD. So that was a win.

We went to Little Brother Brewing yesterday afternoon downtown Greensboro. Super cool place! They had the windows open and the beer was great. It’s small and they brew it right in the front room. Also one of the brewers is married to a lady who runs Jerusalem Market a few doors down so they serve authentic food from the market. I had the falafel wrap and we both had chips and hummus (gotta love them chickpeas). Elm Street downtown Greensboro was great. Reminded me a bit of Brady Street or the Third Ward in Mke.

Well, that’s it for the first few days. I am going to go for a run and then probably spend the rest of the afternoon and night freaking out and wondering what the heck I am doing with my life while I cry, eat too much and binge on Netflix. Cheers!